Abstract
The following banded dissertation is comprised of three separate products that together provide a complete exploration of the dominant markers of success for former foster youth as they transition into adulthood. This banded dissertation reveals how those markers may not be adequate when applied to ethnically diverse members of this vulnerable population. The first product is a conceptual manuscript that provides an overall theoretical and contextual orientation from which to examine these concerns, namely a sociocultural and situational framework. The second product details findings from a thematic analysis of eight semi-structured individual interviews with youth who had recently emancipated from foster care. A hermeneutic phenomenological approach was employed to analyze major themes presented by interviewees. Major themes identified through the analysis included; education, family and other informal supports and obligations, community, and financial struggles/employment. The third product contained within this banded dissertation is a summary of an oral presentation given at the Council on Social Work Education’s 64th Annual Program Meeting, entitled Expanding Interprofessional Education to Achieve Social Justice, a national peer-reviewed conference for social work educators and practitioners. At this presentation both appraisals of success for former foster youth as they transition into adulthood, as well as social work education’s place in more appropriately serving this subpopulation were discussed.