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Supportive Adults May Help Young People in Foster Care Develop Healthy Racial Identities

BlogChild WelfareJul 23 2024

Authors

Notes

Alexander Gaither is one of three youth/community researchers who partnered with Child Trends on this work.

Racial and ethnic identity develops during childhood and adolescence through racial socialization, in which parents and other adults teach a young person about family history and cultural traditions, and how to interact with their own and other racial and ethnic communities. However, racial socialization may look different for young people who are or were involved in the foster care system. This blog draws from a larger study on racial/ethnic identity shifts among foster youth to indicate how adults within the foster care system can help young people develop healthy racial identities through supportive practices. (All direct quotes are from individual interviews conducted as part of this study.)

For many families, racial socialization includes helping young people build a healthy racial and ethnic identity and preparing them for racial discrimination and stigmatization. Research shows that racial and ethnic identity can change over time as people are socialized to experiences and learn new information. But young people who are or were in foster care may have limited access to parents and other adults who hold cultural information. These young people need supportive opportunities to explore their racial and ethnic identity (or simply “racial identity”). Understanding why some young people shift their identities over time can inform strategies for adults in the child welfare system to ensure that young people in foster care can access important cultural information.

Adults who interact with youth in foster care should build comfort in having conversations about young people’s race, ethnicity, or culture to support healthy identity development. Currently, entry into foster care may deny or delay young people’s access to information about their family of origin, such as their original birth certificate, information on their ancestry and culture, and connections to individuals with a shared identity. And adults in the foster care system, including caseworkers and foster parents, may not be prepared to talk about racial identity. For instance, young people in our study reported being unable to access resources to explore their racial identity because their caseworkers and foster parents were often unwilling to have conversations about race and sometimes restricted access to information and experiences that could connect youth with their culture and identity.

“All of my case workers were always White women and one White male the whole time, and so they could never understand [exploring racial identity], and it was never brought up to me, ‘Hey, you’re different’ or, you know, like, I never felt comfortable having those conversations which did influence [how I understood my racial identity].”

– Young woman, 21, who changed from White to Hispanic/Latino

Adults in the foster care system should also be aware of how structural biases in care or employment settings may impact youth’s development of identity. Some young people shifted their racial and ethnic identity in response to perceived societal biases, such as stereotyped messages of how specific racial and ethnic groups behave. For example, one 24-year-old young woman who changed her identity from Black to an unspecified race or ethnicity said her shift represented an effort to distance herself from the racism experienced in her foster care placement. While in care, she was prevented from styling her hair or putting on makeup because, she was told, these activities “took too long” and she would “make a mess.” Her White peers, however, experienced no such restrictions. While some respondents reported pride in their racial identity, they still felt the need to change or adjust their identity due to previous experiences with unfair treatment and stereotypes. Some youth felt obligated to change the way they identified to ensure a response from employers due to discriminatory job application practices and reported an increase in application reviews and response rates after changing their racial identity on forms.

“I’m not embarrassed to be Black, but sometimes like for things like [applying to jobs], I’m embarrassed to put African American because I might not be approved or accepted.”

– Young woman, 26, who selectively uses her Black identity

Finally, adults can support youth’s development of racial identity by encouraging them to learn more about their racial, ethnic, or cultural heritage. Some young people changed their identity after learning new information about their history and being exposed to examples of positive cultural expression from their extended family. One participant spent time with a grandparent and learned to make traditional foods, while another conducted research (e.g., DNA ancestry test, contacting family members) to inform her shift in racial identity. Other youth reported an expansion of their cultural understanding that contributed to their identity shift after spending time in communities with people of similar racial and ethnic identities. In contrast, young people placed in communities where adults and other youth did not look or sound like them reported a sense of disconnection from their culture and sought out communities where they could explore their identity.

“It was mostly White and Latino and Indigenous people that I was around, so I think it was a lot of impostor syndrome.

– Young woman, 33, who changed from multiracial to Korean American

Young people receive messages about race and ethnicity from a variety of sources and may change their identity to align with new and evolving information. Our findings highlight the need for child welfare systems to reduce barriers faced by young people in foster care who are developing a healthy racial and ethnic identity. Interviewees suggested that child welfare agencies: 1) Help young people make positive connections with kin; and 2) train adults in cultural competency to support youth in exploring their racial identities.

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Acknowledgements

This research was funded by the Annie E. Casey Foundation. We thank them for their support but acknowledge that the findings and conclusions presented in this report are those of the authors alone and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Foundation.


Contributions

We thank the 29 young people who shared their experiences—both positive and negative—with us. It is only through their generosity that we were able to conduct this study and advance research and practical knowledge about youth and young adults who have been in foster care. Additionally, we thank several colleagues who provided input on early drafts, including Karin Malm and Alyssa Liehr. We also thank the Youth Research Advisors, Ramatou Diakite and Teddy Smith, as well as our colleagues at the Annie E. Casey Foundation who provided input on the project and a review of the manuscript, including Sandy Wilkie, Maria Fernanda Mata, Kimberly Spring, and Jeff Poirier.


Suggested Citation

Flannigan, A., Ibarra, A., Rosenberg, R., & Gaither, A. (2024). Supportive adults may help young people in foster care develop healthy racial identities. Child Trends. DOI: 10.56417/7842n8059u

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