Promotive and risk factors as concurrent predictors of educational outcomes in supported transitional living

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Children and Youth Services Review, 33, 2498-2503.

Extended care and maintenance (ECM) is a transitional living program that provides financial, instrumental, and emotional support to former youth in out-of-home care in the province of Ontario.  Youth who have been discharged from out-of-home care are often ill prepared for the transition, and are more likely than the general population to exhibit behaviours associated with poorer outcomes (e.g., homelessness, unemployment).  This study examines promotive and risk factors associated with educational outcomes of youth participating in ECM.  Promotive is a broad term including assets, resources, adaptive factors and protective factors.  Three variables of interest were included in the data analysis: 1) The highest level of education attained; 2) The highest level of education aspired to; and 3) Whether or not the youth was participating in education, employment or training.  Secondary data from the Assessment and Action Record from the Ontario Looking After Children project (OnLAC) were analyzed.  Promotive factors: 1) Gender, age, developmental assets, and self-care skills were predictive of educational attainment and aspirations; development assets was presented as the strongest and only variable that was predictive of all three educational variables of interest.  Risk factors that were predictive of educational variables were soft-drug use and the number of cognitive impairments.

 

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Canadian CW research
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