Dual-System Youth and Emancipating from Foster Care: Examining the Relations Between Delinquency, Independent Living Services, and Criminal Justice Involvement

<p>Youth who touch both the child welfare system (CWS) and juvenile justice system (JJS), termed dual-system youth, represent a particularly high needs population at risk of poor outcomes into adulthood. Among CWS involved children, youth aging out of foster care are particularly high risk of dual-system status. To help these teenagers in foster care prepare for adulthood, states offer independent living services (ILS). Despite the high risk of JJS involvement of these youth, we know very little of the association between ILS receipt and dual-system involvement. This dissertation has two aims, the first focusing on ILS and delinquency onset during foster care, and the second on their association relating to outcomes after foster care. Aim 1 asks: Does ILS receipt change as teenage youth move between placements and become involved with the JJS? Aim 2 asks: How do JJS involvement and ILS predict incarceration in young adulthood? Multiple datasets are merged from the National Data Archive on Child Abuse and Neglect (NDACAN) repositories. Aim 1 fits a multistate model, predicting transitions between different states representing combinations of ILS receipt and delinquency status. Aim 2 fits Bayesian generalized linear mixed models predicting the occurrence of incarceration in two time periods:17-19 years of age and 19-21 years of age. Aim 1 finds that ILS receipt and delinquency onset are significantly associated with placement type and demographics (gender, race/ethnicity, rurality), but the degrees of association depends on the particular combinations of ILS receipt and delinquency status. Aim 2 finds that early receipt of ILS is associated with decreased risk of incarceration between the ages of 17-19, with some evidence that ILS receipt after age 17 is associated with decreased risk of incarceration between 19-21. Implications for policy, practice, and future research are discussed.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Social Work

Year dc:date.available

2024

Author dc:creator

• Jones, Dylan Monahan

Contributors dc:contributor

• Brett Drake

• Social and Behavioral Sciences
• Social Work

Statement dc:rights

• I have not registered my thesis with the U.S. Copyright Office, and do not intend to.

Language dc:language

English (en)

Identifier

https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/brown_etds/32

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:openscholarship.wustl.edu:brown_etds-1031