Abstract
The project is an exploratory quantitative secondary data analysis from the National Youth in Transition Database (NYTD) completed by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. This study analyzes the relationship between enrollment in foster care and the prevalence of negative life outcomes (i.e., homelessness, substance abuse, and incarceration). Participants’ responses to select variables were analyzed from the NYTD in order to identify the relationship between foster care enrollment and negative outcomes. Several chi-square tests were conducted to determine the relationship between foster care enrollment and negative life outcomes among the population. The analysis shows a trend in which youth who were enrolled in foster care at the time of survey completion reported an increase in negative life outcomes when compared to youth who had aged out of foster care. This project informs us that the foster care system may be one that contributes to the high prevalence of negative life outcomes among its youth. Implications for social work practice and policy are discussed.