7% reported couch-surfing or being homeless as aresult of COVID1955% reported being food insecure as a result ofCOVID19, including only having access to “some”food, “very low” access to food, or being unable toaccess food

48% reported COVID19 having a negative impacton their employment, including being laid off, nolonger having reliable gig work, or havinghours/income being severely cut32% reported applying for some form of publicassistance that they did not already have duringCOVID19, including 14% applying forunemployment

31% lost access to academic or post-secondaryeducational supports due to COVID1921% did not have access to personal support toensure that their educational goals were notdisrupted22% reported that their school/institution did not doa good job communicating with them duringCOVID19

This study examined the experiences of 18-23 yearold youth in foster care and aged out of foster careduring the COVID19 crisis in April 2020 (n=281)living in 32 states (+Washington, DC). Youth agingout of foster care are a vulnerable population, andwith the COVID19 crisis sweeping across thenation, these young people are among thosebearing the heaviest burden of its economic andsocial consequences. Our goal was to gain aclearer picture of these burdens by deploying anational online survey over one month of the crisis.Findings include:

Housing & Basic Needs

Finances

Education

THE EXPERIENCES OF FOSTERYOUTH DURING COVID-19

Johanna K .P . Greeson , PhD , MSS , MLSP

Sa ra Ja f f ee , PhD

Sa rah Wasch , MSW

M A Y 2 0 2 0

52% reported COVID19 having a negative impacton their health/mental health care

For those in foster care, 14% reported that theircaseworker has not done a good jobcommunicating with them during the crisis59% reported having reliable access to a computerduring the crisis

Physical and Mental Health

Personal Connections

Our findings suggest that young people in fostercare and those aged out of care are experiencingsubstantial challenges during COVID19, related toall aspects of their safety and well-being. This studyis the first to take stock of the burden that thisalready highly marginalized population is bearing inlight of the COVID19 crisis. We offer the followinginitial recommendations:

" I am afra id that i f the stay -at -home

orders are st i l l in place when I turn

21, then I wil l age out of the system

and lose al l of my support ,

especia l ly f inancia l ly . "

~ Young adul t in foster care

Ensure that eligible youth are housed andconnected to foster care services, includinginstituting a moratorium on discharging youthfrom care, suspending school and workrequirements for extended care, and expeditingprocesses for youth to re-enter care.Professionals and other caring adults shouldcheck in on youth in foster care and youngadults who have recently exited foster care asfrequently as possible during this time, providingemotional support and reliable information. Distribute concrete resources directly to youthto alleviate financial or interpersonal stressors,including gift cards, bags of groceries, laptops, orWiFi hotspots.

1.

2.

3.

" I get very depressed not being

able to vis i t my s ib l ings who

are in a separate foster home. I

worry about them and thei r

safety ALL day. "

~ Young adul t in foster care

This protocol (#842854: The Experiences of Foster Youth During COVID-19) receivedapproval from the University of Pennsylvania Institutional Review Board.

P H I L A D E L P H I A , P A