Expanding Territory
There is a pressing need to strengthen the full range of social capital resources for young people in foster care.
This brief discusses the meaning of social capital and how it affects the growth and development of kids in foster care. It shows how school, neighborhoods, peers and family all play a critical part. The brief is part of the Jim Casey Youth Opportunities Initiative issue brief series for foster youth engagement.
Young people build social capital in the context of four communities: Family, school, neighborhood and peers.
There is a pressing need to strengthen the full range of social capital resources for young people in foster care.
Young people’s ability to create and maintain social capital is hindered by their past experiences and trauma, and by child welfare policies and practices that do not promote healing and building of relationships.
The most secure, long-lasting and strongest social capital for young people aging out of foster care is a permanent nuclear and extended family.
Social capital is fundamentally about how people interact with each other, meaning the value created by investing in relationships through trust and reciprocity. The three keys for foster kids include: (1) the quantity of an individual’s social relationships, (2) the quality of those relationships, and (3) the resources those social relationships can bring to the table.
We hope you'll find value in this report. We’d love to get a little information from you, which we'll use to notify you about relevant new resources.
