Researchers Seek to Ease Transition to Adulthood
Most teens leaving the nest head to college or go out into the world to live on their own. And most know they can rely on the folks back home for support.
However, not all maturing young people gearing up for independent living have that home support network. The challenge is greatest for teens, especially those in the age range of 16–18, who have been waiting for adoption, lived in a series of foster homes or been in the state welfare system.
As they "age out" of provided care, these youths find that reaching adulthood doesn't magically bring with it a smooth transition to an independent life.
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A University of Louisville research team is working on a plan to help social work supervisors ensure that young people launch into the world with the skills they need to cope and excel—despite the rocky starts that some of their clients have had.
A three-year, $980,591 grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Children's Bureau is designed to develop training for the supervisors and their teams of workers who, in turn, will mentor the young people as they prepare to become self-sufficient.
Kent School of Social Work professor Anita Barbee, who is leading the study with assistant professor Becky Antle, will build on previous research they have conducted. Several other Kent faculty and staff members and students will lend their expertise in areas ranging from knowledge of the independent living system to the challenges of providing social services.
"The biggest issue is they are at high risk," Barbee says, because they haven't had instruction, support and good role models over time as a family-centered child might have had, according to Barbee. Lacking that feeling of belonging to a permanent family, the young adults are vulnerable to mental health issues, crime, homelessness and substance abuse.
The life skills the young people will need include areas such as education, jobs and housing, as well as to how to form relationships and access services they require. The training will emphasize collaboration, cultural competence and healthy permanent connections such as friends and other family members.
The research group has been working since October to develop the curriculum, assemble its advisers and talk to children facing this situation. The pilot program was launched in Green County, Ky., in August.
Later in the fall the program should be ready to roll out to train 30 supervisors and their teams of workers in rural and urban settings, with a goal of training 300 people by the end of the grant's third year. The training, some of which will be in Web-based modules, will be evaluated so that changes can be made before it is used broadly in the social service network.
