Sense of Community Through Supportive Housing Among Foster Care Alumni

Authors

Forenza, B., Lardier, D.T.

Type
Journal Article
Year published
2017
Journal
Child Welfare
Accession number

25572

Title

Sense of Community Through Supportive Housing Among Foster Care Alumni

Volume and issue

95, 2

Abstract

This journal article presents findings from a study that questioned the perception and experience of community among young adults who resided in supportive housing since aging out of foster care. To help answer this question, researchers conducted focus groups and individual interviews and administered the Brief Sense of Community Scale with a sample of 16 foster care alumni from a focal supportive housing program in a densely populated Northeast U.S. city. Together, the qualitative and quantitative results show the importance of a sense of community and its more discrete mechanisms of emotional connection, membership, influence, and needs fulfillment among this population. More specifically, the findings indicate that the study participants had access to a variety social network relationships and sociocultural resources through their supportive housing program otherwise not readily available.

Availability details

Article available for download on the Child Welfare League of America website: https://www.cwla.org/child-welfare-journal/