Youth Voice Journal

An International Multi-disciplinary Journal of Evidence-based

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ISSN:2056-2969 Online Journal Platform: http://www.youthvoicejournal.com

Aging-Out of Foster Care: Examining

Outcomes through Social Learning and
Narratives
Matthew M. Le Claire & Jennifer L. Lanterman
To cite this article: Le Claire & Lanterman (2017): Aging-Out of Foster Care: Examining Outcomes
through Social Learning and Narratives, Youth Voice Journal

To link to this article: http://youthvoicejournal.com/2017/12/20/matthew-m-le-claire-jennifer-l-

lanterman-aging-out-of-foster-care-examining-outcomes-through-social-learning-and-narratives/

Published Online: 20 December

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Aging-Out of Foster Care Le Claire & Lanterman

Aging-Out of Foster Care: Examining Outcomes

through Social Learning and Narratives

Published in the Youth Voice Journal, December 2017

http://youthvoicejournal.com/
IARS 2017
Submission date: 06/03/2012
ISSN(online): 2056 2969

Matthew M. Le Claire & Jennifer L. Lanterman

Abstract

This study uses triangulation to examine the presence and influence of risk factors in the lives

of individuals who aged-out of foster care (N=25). Using Akers social learning theory as the

theoretical framework, participants are examined through the concepts of differential

association, definitions, differential reinforcement, and imitation. Compared with state and

national averages on risk factors, aged-out foster care participants are more vulnerable than

the general population. The results of this study suggest that aged-out foster care participants

disproportionately experience risk factors associated with crime, but can be positively

affected by independent living facilities.

Key Words

Aging-Out, Crime, Foster Care, Social Learning, and Sociology

____________________________________________________________
Corresponding Authors:

Matthew M. Le Claire, currently based at the University of Nevada .Matthews research interests
include: Aging-Out, Crime, Foster Care, Social Learning, and Sociology.

Jennifer L. Lanterman, currently based at the University of Nevada .Jenniferss research interests
include: currently based at the University of Nevada.
ISSN (online): 2056 2969
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Aging-Out of Foster Care Le Claire & Lanterman

Introduction

Foster care is a system that provides supervised care for orphaned or neglected youth

(Childrens Aid, 2017). Reasons for foster care placement include: parental neglect, abuse

(e.g., mental, physical, or sexual), exploitation, child protective services intervention, parents

or guardians lacked sufficient funds to support their child, child engaged in radical behaviour,

and displacement due to natural disaster (Craft, 2017). The goal of foster care is to reunite

children with their parents, but this is not an option for some children. Some children are never

adopted and move from foster home to foster home until they are too old for the program;

once a youth reaches the age of 18, they are considered an adult in the eyes of the court and

age-out of foster care (Childrens Rights, 2017).

A nationwide study estimated that between 20,000 and 542,000 young adults in

foster care annually age-out (Childrens Aid, 2017; Shared Justice, 2017). The Adoption and

Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS) statistics show that as the age of a

participant increases, the likelihood of them being placed with a family decreases (National

Resource Center for Child Welfare Data and Technology, 2013). The outcome for aged-out

youth different from the general population; they face increased unemployment, substance

use, and criminal justice involvement (Vaughn, Shook, and McMillen 2008; Rebbe, Nurius,

Ahrens, and Courtney, 2017; Shah, Liu, Eddy, Barkan, Marshall, Mancuso, Lucenko, and

Huber, 2017). The young adults who age-out of foster care are more likely to live in poverty

and turn towards crime without a stable family unit to assist them (Childrens Aid, 2017).

The purpose of this study is to examine the impacts of aging-out of foster care in

order to explore what effect it has on the lives of these individuals; it also provides a new

perspective by examining aged-out participants through Akers social learning theory,

which examines definitions favorable to crime and how they are reinforced through

experiences (Akers and Sellers, 2009). The current study examines individuals who have

ISSN (online): 2056 2969

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