Using Catalano and Hawkins’ (1996) Social Development Model as a theoretical framework, this study consists of an examination of the county-level percentage of youth in foster care who demonstrated educational achievement at the age of 18. Ten community-level risk and protective factors derived from the Social Development Model served as the independent variables. Secondary data for a sample of counties within Florida were gathered from multiple government sources from the years 2018 to 2022, and then merged and linked at the county level, allowing for separate analysis for each year. Sample sizes varied across years and ranged from 52 to 57. At the bivariate level, county-level poverty rates, high school dropout rates, and unemployment rates had significant positive associations with educational achievement. The county-level percentage of participation in organized sports and school band were found to have significant negative associations with educational achievement. In the regression models, county-level poverty rates, participation in organized sports, and participation in school band significantly predicted educational achievement.
Given that the effects had an unexpected direction, findings from this study do not support the use of the Social Development Model in understanding county-level educational outcomes for youth exiting foster care. However, results point to the need to test alternative frameworks, such as those that suggest limited economic opportunities as drivers of educational enrollment and other frameworks that emphasize the negative effects that a lack of social capital can have on youth in environments where participation in extracurricular activities is valued. The combination of this county-level study and past studies focused on the individual level, point to a need for future exploration through multi-level modeling, which could disentangle individual effects of risk and protective factors from contextual effects of the community.
Outline of Studies:
Major: Public Affairs (Social Work Track)
Educational Career:
B.A. University of Colorado – Boulder, 2002
MSW Saint Leo University, 2011
Committee in Charge:
Dr. Julie Steen
Dr. Olga Molina
Dr. Xiaochuan (Sharon) Wang
Dr. Elizabeth Dooley
Approved for distribution by Dr. Julie Steen (Julie.steen@ucf.edu), Committee Chair, on April 10, 2023.
The public is welcome to attend. Please contact Committee Chair for details regarding attendance.
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