Description

This presentation shares the benefits and challenges of engaging in a research partnership aimed at learning directly from the experiences of youth in foster care. Youths’ digital art projects will be shared. Presented with members of the Kansas Youth Advisory Council and DCF.

Background:

As a part of KS Strong, the Voices of Foster Youth study was developed in partnership with the Kansas Youth Advisory Council (KYAC). This study used arts-based (Kara, 2015; Leavy, 2017), participatory action research (PAR) methods (Bradbury, 2015) to center and learn from the lived experiences of Kansas youth in foster care. This presentation was delivered as a roundtable discussion. KYAC representatives, practitioners, and researchers will discuss what they learned and share key findings from engaging in this research together. KYAC representatives shared sample projects developed by youth.

Methods:

PAR methods were used to design the study. PAR is a process and attitude toward knowledge development that: (1) emphasizes the participation of all stakeholders in research processes, especially those who are most directly impacted by it; and, (2) facilitates meaningful change (Bradbury, 2015). Arts-based research refers to the process of utilizing art to develop knowledge (Kara, 2015), and is often used within projects where emotions and experiences are central to the topic (Leavy, 2018). Utilizing PAR frameworks designed for engaging youth (Richards-Schuster & Plachta Elliott, 2019), KU, DCF, and KYAC developed this project collaboratively. The primary aim of the study was to lift up the voices of Kansas youth with foster care experiences and share their insights through an art project. Youth participants responded to prompts developed by KYAC. The prompts included questions about several topics related to the youth’s experiences including identifying resources and supports to thrive, advice for placements, and what they appreciated about an impactful caseworker. Art projects such as poems, pictures, and videos were documented and disseminated digitally.

Findings:

Findings in two substantive areas were shared during this presentation: (1) Lessons learned from youth, practitioners, and researchers engaging in this arts-based, PAR process together; (2) Findings identified from the youth’s projects about their experiences in Kansas foster care and recommendations they have for effective services.

Implications/Conclusions:

More than 2,200 youth between the ages of 13-18 were in foster care in 2019 alone (DCF, 2020). Professionals, legislators and community members alike share a role in providing effective services to youth in foster care. However, little is known directly from the youth who live and experience foster care firsthand. While it is important to understand and quantify outcomes of foster care, qualitative data that rises from the voices of youth are also relevant and meaningful. Youth who have encountered foster care know their experiences best; what helped, what hurt, and what can be done in the future to best meet their needs. By centering lived experiences of youth in foster care, community stakeholders are better prepared to more fully address their needs, as defined and understood by the youth experiencing them day in and day out.

References

Bradbfury, H. (2015). The sage handbook of action research: Sage.

Kara, H. (2015). Creative research methods in the social sciences: A practical guide: Policy Press.

Leavy, P. (2017). Handbook of arts-based research: Guilford Publications.

Richards-Schuster, K., & Plachta Elliott, S. (2019). A practice matrix for involving young people in evaluation: Possibilities and considerations. American Journal of Evaluation, 40(4), 533-547. doi:10.1177/1098214019832113

Suggested Citation

Clark, S. L., McCall, S., Akin, B. A., Reichart, M., & Kansas Youth Advisory Council (2020, November 17). Sharing the Voices of Foster Youth: A Roundtable Discussion Exploring Lessons Learned from a Digital Arts, Participatory Action Research Project Centering the Experiences of Youth in Kansas Foster Care. Kansas Governor's Annual Conference for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect, Topeka, KS. (Refereed).