“Why is my skin so intimidating to you?”: Exploring social connectivity and racial identity of youth of color with foster care experience

ABSTRACT

Social support, racial/ethnic identity, and foster care exposure are concepts largely understudied in child welfare research. With the rise of racialized violence against persons of color and the COVID-19 pandemic, these intersecting identities are of great importance. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 14 youth of color with current or past foster care exposure. Three themes were identified 1) feeling uncomfortably me, 2) not equal in opportunity, and 3) skin as a threat. Increased mental health support by caseworkers and understanding collective racial trauma is needed to help foster youth of color as they strive to achieve self-sufficiency in emerging adulthood. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Journal of Public Child Welfare is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)