Exploring the expansion of occupational therapy's role within foster care transitions
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Each year, thousands of youth aging out of the United States foster care system face numerous challenges as they transition to independent living, suddenly expected to navigate adulthood with limited access to resources, education, and essential life skills. This capstone project aimed to explore existing service gaps for transition-aged youth at FamilyForward, an organization focused on supporting families and children, during this critical period. A qualitative research study was completed, utilizing semi-structured interviews, to assess service gaps and needs within the transitional period of aging out within FamilyForward's foster care program. The semi-structured interviews were completed with six foster care service providers within the FamilyForward organization. A thematic analysis of the interview data revealed six overarching themes highlighting identified gaps within the transitional period. The gaps identified were: skills gap and lack of exposure, support systems for youth, autonomy of youth, collaboration, rural specific barriers, and education about occupational therapy (OT). These findings demonstrate a match between the identified gaps within this organization, and the scope of OT, indicating a need for expanded OT services within this population. In response, a program proposal was developed to guide the expansion of OT services at FamilyForward. This proposed expansion aims to proactively support youth before they age out of foster care, helping them address and build skills necessary for a successful transition to adulthood.
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