Settings for Success among Emancipating Foster Youth: Youth and Workers in Communication and Collaboration

Yates will examine the state-wide implementation of a policy (AB12) to extend services for youth transitioning out of foster care in California. Yates will examine (1) how youth’s experiences in various settings before and after emancipation from foster care contribute to their developmental trajectories, (2) how child welfare workers’ relationships and communication styles with youth influence youth’s decisions to stay in foster care and their adjustment, and (3) how and why the developmental trajectories of youth who aged out post-AB12 differ from youth who aged out pre-AB12. This project involves gaining new expertise in child welfare policy and the analysis of communication dynamics. She will be mentored by M. Robin DiMatteo, distinguished professor of psychology and director of the Health Communications Laboratory at the University of California, Riverside; and Mark Courtney, professor in the School of Social Service Administration at the University of Chicago and an affiliate (and former director) of Chapin Hall.