Background
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought unique challenges to parents of young children, due to the closure of schools and childcare centers, and increased caregiver burden. These challenges may be especially pronounced for youth with foster care backgrounds, as they lack critical support and resources to rely on during emergency situations.
Objective
The purpose of the present study was to examine the experiences of these vulnerable young parents since the beginning of the pandemic.
Participants and setting
Our study included 17 young parents ages 18–26, who had recently aged out of foster care or were currently in extended care. Participants were predominantly female, and Black, Indigenous, or people of color (BIPOC).
Methods
Youth participated in virtual focus groups or individual interviews and described their experiences and challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic. A structured thematic analysis approach was employed to examine key themes in youths` accounts.
Results
Analysis resulted in five major themes: (a) employment disruptions and economic hardships, (b) educational challenges for parents and children, (c) parental and child mental health concerns, (d) insufficient resources and barriers to service receipt, and (e) “silver linings”.
Conclusions
Young parents with foster care backgrounds faced numerous challenges due to COVID-19 and struggled to access critical resources and supports. Implications for policy, practice, and research are discussed.
w thousand deaths due to COVID-19 nationwide as of late September 2021 (CDC, 2021). Understanding community members' beliefs and attitudes towards mitigating the virus's spread, including attitudes towards vaccination, is critical to public health. Young adults are key to combating the spread of COVID-19, particularly as they may be asymptomatic carriers and unknowingly spread the virus (Abbasi, 2020;Boehmer et al., 2020). A recent meta-analysis regarding vaccination has found that norms, perceived behavioral control, and, most strongly, attitudes, predict vaccination intentions (Xiao & Wong, 2020). Yet, few studies have been conducted to explore young adults' concerns regarding vaccination, including subgroups of young adults that may be at heightened risk because of social conditions. Young parents in foster care and those who have recently aged out of foster care are disproportionately likely to reside in group settings
Early childbirth is common among young women ageing out of foster care and may impede their educational progress. However, few studies have explored access to postsecondary education among young mothers who have been in foster care. The present study used data from a large, national sample of young people in foster care (National Youth in Transition Database, NYTD) to examine the link between early childbirth and young women's access to postsecondary education between ages 19 and 21, controlling for an array of covariates. The study sample included 2,207 young women who had completed a high school diploma or GED by age 19 and who participated in three NYTD interviews at ages 17, 19 and 21. Childbirth between ages 19 and 21 was linked to decreased access to postsecondary education. However, no relationship was found between access to postsecondary education and childbirth by age 17 or childbirth between ages 17 and 19. Implications for policy, practice and research are discussed.
Independent students pursue higher education without financial, practical, and sometimes emotional support from family. For these students, asking for assistance when needed is key for college persistence. Decisions around help-seeking are shaped by multiple factors but are often portrayed as a solely individual decision. This study examined factors affecting help seeking among independent students enrolled in a four-year university. Within a process evaluation of a campus support program for independent students, we conducted in-depth, individual interviews with 23 independent students ages 18–23, as well as 5 university staff. Students described a range of psychological and relational factors influencing their willingness to seek assistance and identified significant barriers to help-seeking. In contrast, staff interviews focused more on perceived student deficits in help-seeking. Both groups also identified institutional factors that influenced student efforts to seek assistance. Findings can inform the development of effective campus-based services to support the retention of independent students.
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