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Foster care case managers are responsible for the wellbeing of foster youth in the foster care system. Teens (ages 13-17) in foster care are most vulnerable to serious risks, such as sex trafficking. Such risks have been heightened by the advent of internet-based technologies that connect foster youth with unsafe others at unprecedented frequency and speed. This thesis examines how case managers tackle the challenge of online safety as it relates to adolescents in the foster care system in the United States. I conducted 32 semi-structured interviews with case managers who worked with foster teens (ages 13-17) within the past 5 years. After each interview, I transcribed the recording and conducted qualitative data analysis to identify emerging themes. I found that foster teens face numerous online risks with sexual-related risks (e.g., sex trafficking) and contact-related risks (e.g., unsolicited contact) being most prominent. However, case workers may not be prepared to address all of these challenges because of lack of online safety training and support from foster parents. Also, case workers are overburdened with many responsibilities that make online safety a secondary priority. This thesis identifies the gaps in which case managers are trained and highlights the need for more support to handle online safety challenges. Therefore, this thesis recommends that the foster care system must place a higher priority in establishing support groups and collaborative training among foster parents, case workers, and foster children to fully manage foster youth online safety.

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The purpose of this exploratory study was to examine the lived experience of nine African-American men and women who spent a significant amount of their childhood and adolescent years in the foster care system and the effects on their adult development. Participants were recruited for semi-structured interviews using purposeful and snowball sampling. Participants included nine African-American men and women ages 25 to 55 (mean = 43.3) identified as being raised for a minimum of five years in foster care with no less than three changes in foster care placement, they were legally and gainfully employed in a chosen field with evidence of progressive responsibility for a minimum of three years. They graduated from the foster care system at age 18 or 21 without being adopted and were reported to be in good physical and mental health. Participant interviews were audio-taped and transcribed verbatim. The resultant data corpus included transcriptions of the audio taped interviews, demographic and supplemental question forms and documents authorized for use by participants such as interviews and autobiographies. Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis was used to analyze the data corpus. The analysis resulted in eleven sub-ordinate themes that were organized under four super-ordinate themes that served to explain the lived experience of being raised in long-term foster care. The four super-ordinate themes were: Feeling thrown away while needing to belong; Participant's perceptions of memorable relationships while in care; Navigating the pathways to resilience; and Finding meaning through reconciling the past and creating a future. Study results were discussed in terms of a life-span exploration of the participants' lived experiences that included their time before placement, during placement and at emancipation/after placement. The substantive findings of this study showed that the overarching themes centered on how the participants navigated the multiple and complex relationships they were exposed to and what they learned about themselves and internalized based on the messages they received in those relationships. Of additional significance was the development of coping strategies to manage those feelings and beliefs that ultimately contributed to their resilience and survival. / Counseling Psychology

In this study, I explored Adult Foster Care (AFC) provider experiences. AFC is a small-setting option for community-based long-term care. This option varies considerably in accessibility and structure across states; due to the nature of the state's approach to AFC, this initial research effort focused on AFC provider experiences in North Carolina. As of 2013, there were 632 AFC facilities in North Carolina (NC DHHS, 2013). AFC homes in North Carolina are licensed by the state and allow service for 2-6 residents per home (Mollica et al., 2009). The approach to research was informed by literature on AFC, the disabilities context of AFC, and Child Foster Care (CFC). The theoretical framework guiding the study included theories of care and relational reciprocity; power, difference, and hierarchy; and intersectionality. I conducted semi-structured, guided interviews with 26 providers. As a context for grounded theory data analysis, I also relied on reflexive material stemming from my positionality as a care worker. Emergent codes related to issues of the providers' motivation for beginning work as an AFC provider; providers' personal and professional roles; perspectives on giving residents a choice; balancing "family" with business; reciprocity and how residents express their affection and care to providers; providers' values; and dialectics of power and care. Findings shed light on implications for state and organizational responsibility to the AFC system, and practice context for provider-resident relationships. / Ph. D.