Discussion

Audiences

Child Welfare System

Independent Living Services Learning from Youth I need a child welfare system where it's not REALLY hard to get back to your family. They always find reasons for it to not work out. I need the child welfare system to get better workers; To get people who are qualified. I need a child welfare system that gives me a say in who my caseworker is. I want to meet them first. I need a child welfare system that gets me clothes and shoes and underwear when I come into care. I need a child welfare system that doesn't put kids in 'the shelter'. Kids deserve a nice house. I need a child welfare system that gives parents just a little bit of mercy before removing. I need a child welfare system that listens to kids who are making reports. I need a child welfare system that trains their people on how to work with teenagers. I need a child welfare system that places me close to my fam-ily so it's not like "hey family, do you want to come visit?" and the response is "No, you're too far away." I need a child welfare system that tells me the truth. I need a child welfare system where my first call with my mom and sister isn't after being separated for a year. I need a child welfare system that gives families one more chance and enough time to make a change before removal. You can't do a 180 in two weeks. I need a child welfare system that gives me warning before being removed. I need a child welfare system where kids in care have a clean car and a house that looks nice. I need to start independent living services sooner, so it's not a rush to the finish line. I need a way to get to services (e.g., transportation to the Flight Center). I need more financial support to afford care for a newborn. I need a copy of my basic documents. I need education on financial stuff; taxes; how to pay bills; types of accounts. I need someone who helps me navigate college prep. I need a person to help me practice for life. I need someone to go to if things don't work out.

As indicated in the Results, multiple subthemes emerged that demonstrated youths’ perspectives of self-determination, connectedness, and self-advocacy as they navigate the path to independent living. Researchers also recognized that youth frequently process prior and current experiences of trauma and that the three proposed domains are interdependent. When reflecting on their self-determination, youth discussed a number of environmental barriers that influenced their self-determination, as well as how they perceived their motivation within the high-stakes environment of foster care. These responses can be further explained within the context of self-determination theory (SDT). SDT is a theoretical framework that is used to understand why humans behave in various ways, their motivation (intrinsic and extrinsic), their personality, and the impact of their environment.42,43,44,45 SDT specifically proposes that selfdetermination is driven by whether people feel competent, connected, and autonomous; additionally, it suggests that people need to feel ready to grow and be internally motivated.42,43,44 On the other hand, if a person perceives their environment to be controlling, judgmental, or punitive, this may discourage the development of intrinsic motivation and can decrease a person’s perceived competence.42,43,44 The youth in the current study shared multiple barriers that inhibit their practice of self-determination. They portrayed foster care as an environment that is often uncertain, autonomylimiting, or perceived to be stressful, or unsupportive. In addition, a number of youth reported feeling that they were completely reliant on themselves. This may indicate strong intrinsic motivation and research supports that self-imposed motivation is highly important for youth in their achievement of goals.13 However, it also raises concern that youth may not feel like they can reach out to or depend on others - a concern that is elevated given the state of youths’ vulnerability and uncertainty about their future that is conveyed in the results. Interestingly, independent skills programming was not a prominent topic of discussion among the youth in this study despite direct prompts and repeated opportunities for specific reflection. Prior literature supports that independent living programs can be helpful in promoting self-determination;15 however, youth in this study were more prone to discussing the role of social connections (whether with family, friends in school, or supportive adults met through foster care) and access to resources or knowledge (e.g., how to accomplish their goals or get their needs met) when discussing their self-determination needs or motivation to succeed.

As a primary finding, youth in this study emphasized the importance of their connections with family of origin, other youth in foster care, friends at school, and a couple of youth noted the connections they made with child welfare partners (e.g., GAL and house parents). Youth reported these connections to be comforting, normalizing, instrumental, and