Field Center Faculty Directors Dr. Johanna Greeson and Dr. Sara Jaffee, along with Program Manager Sarah Wasch recently completed an online survey study, “The Experiences of Foster Youth During COVID19.”

“Our goal was to assess how older youth in foster care and those who recently aged out of foster care are faring with COVID19 in the key areas of basic needs, education, employment, finances, personal connections, and health/mental health”.

We received responses from over 200 young adults spanning 32 states in nearly 200 cities around the USA. Youth aging out of foster care and those who have recently aged out are among the most marginalized groups in the USA. They experience countless hardships when they transition from foster care to adulthood on their own, and with the added difficulties of COVID19, these young people are among those bearing the heaviest burden of this crisis. By gaining a clearer picture of these burdens, stakeholders can better advocate for the needs of these young people.

We are thrilled to share our preliminary results, which are now also available on our website https://fieldcenteratpenn.org/ and will be shared on social media using the hashtag #COVID19Impact.

Link to the preliminary results: THE EXPERIENCES OF FOSTER YOUTH DURING COVID-19

Please feel free to share the findings as we seek to best address the needs of this vulnerable population. We look forward to sharing a more thorough report in the coming weeks, followed by peer-reviewed articles over the coming months. For more information, please contact principal investigator and Managing Faculty Director at The Field Center for Children’s Policy, Practice & Research, Dr. Johanna Greeson at jgreeson@sp2.upenn.edu.