Abstract

There are approximately 500,000 youth in the United States foster care system today. Every year 25,000 young people between the ages of eighteen and twenty-one leave the system and enter into society. They face many challenges. This project focuses on a set of interrelated questions. How does policy affect workers in the system and their ability to help youth age out? How do workers address the challenges they face in order to effectively do their job? Finally do how youth manage the hardships they must face? I examine these questions through the frameworks of Karl Marx, Paul Farmer, Philippe Bourgois, Paul Willis and Pierre Bourdieu. My study focused on one local area: Wayne County Ohio. I interviewed six professionals in this field and discovered that there is a disconnect between federal policies and on the ground implementation. I also found that within this smaller community workers have found great ways to counteract the strain put on them by the Child Welfare System

Advisor

Nurse, Anne

Department

Sociology and Anthropology

Disciplines

Courts | Educational Leadership | Social and Cultural Anthropology | Social Work

Keywords

foster care system, social workers

Publication Date

2014

Degree Granted

Bachelor of Arts

Document Type

Senior Independent Study Thesis

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© Copyright 2014 Clara S. Hobson