Supportive Housing in Foster Care: The Views of Young People

Abstract

This study investigated Finnish young people's experiences of supportive housing. Supportive housing is an after-care programme that should support the transition from foster care to independent adulthood. It is directed mainly at young people who have been taken into foster care by social workers. The sample consisted of 39 young people (23 males, 16 females) aged 17–26 who had been residents in supportive care in Helsinki for 3–36 months. Their experiences were collected by use of a quantitative questionnaire. The data indicate that most of the participants felt their needs were met in supportive housing. Despite the overall positivity, two important issues should be noted. First, the results reveal some gender differences, indicating that boys had a somewhat more positive experience of supportive housing than girls. The second key issue is that many respondents did not get much support for acquiring hard skills such as managing financial, employment or health care issues, or for planning life after supportive housing.