Related Experiment Video
Updated: Dec 11, 2025

Assessing the Coherence of Parents' Short Narratives Regarding their Child Using the Five-Minute Speech Sample Procedure
Published on: September 19, 2019
Predictors of remaining in foster care after age 18 years old
Sunggeun Park1, Nathanael J Okpych2, Mark E Courtney3
1University of Michigan, United States.
Background:
The Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008 created the option for U.S. states to extend the foster care age limit up to the 21 st birthday. The law provides foster youth extra protections while they transition to adulthood.
Objective:
To inform states' efforts to better design and implement extended foster care (EFC), we examine the impact of the policy change on length of EFC stay and factors associated with youth's time in EFC.
Participants And Setting:
We use two samples of foster youth in California that extended the foster care age limit to 21 in 2012: 37,827 youths who turned 18 between the years 2008 and 2014 and 711 youths who participated in an interview-based panel study.
Methods:
Leveraging California's child welfare administrative data and California Youth Transitions to Adulthood Study's (CalYOUTH) survey data, we investigated predictors of months youths remained in EFC with linear regression and Cox proportional hazard regression.
Results:
Almost half of youth eligible for EFC remained in care until their 21 st birthday. These cohorts stayed in foster care up to 16 months longer (p < .001) than previous cohorts without an EFC option. Multiple individual factors were associated with youths' length of stay in EFC. However, a youth's county of placement made a greater difference on their time in EFC-up to 16 months (p < .05).
Conclusions:
Our findings underscore the importance that placement location has on how long youth remain in EFC, and expands our understanding of how county and state context shape EFC participation.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
Attachment Styles
Theory of Romantic Attachment in Adulthood
Influence of Parents and Peers on Identity
Parental Influence on Identity Development
Parents serve as primary guides and managers in an adolescent's life, offering support instrumental in decision-making and personal growth....
Relationship with Other Adult Family Members and Siblings
Psychological and Sociocultural Causes of Schizophrenia
Cognitive Development During Adolescence

