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Relationships Matter: Understanding the Role and Impact of Social Networks at the Edge of Transition to Adulthood from Care

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Child Adolesc Soc Work J
DOI 10.1007/s10560-017-0494-4
Relationships Matter: Understanding theRole andImpact
ofSocial Networks attheEdge ofTransition toAdulthood
fromCare
ÉlodieMarion1· VeronikaPaulsen2· MartinGoyette1
© Springer Science+Business Media New York 2017
process directed towards conventional goals to an acknowl-
edgement of the de-standardization of the transition pro-
cess, which involves nonlinear and fragmented movements
between dependence and independence, and individual-
ized trajectories (Bidart 2006; Bynner 2005; Furlong etal.
2006; Molgat 2012; Rogers 2011). However, transition to
adulthood appears to be different and more challenging for
youths under state care and in out-of-home care facilities at
the time of the transition, regardless of different countries’
legislative contexts (Courtney and Dworsky 2006; Mendes
etal. 2014; Stein 2008; Stein etal. 2011; Stott 2013).
Indeed, as in the case of Quebec province, youth pro-
tection services cease to be dispensed at the age of 18
according to the Quebec Youth Protection Act (Quebec
2007). Therefore, those who remain in care on the eve of
their 18th birthday face an accelerated transition to adult-
hood compared to youths in the general population, which
means they are not given the opportunity to undergo a
gradual transition to adulthood, as with youth in the general
population (Geenen and Powers 2007; Rogers 2011). Such
accelerated transitions are often described as “instant adult-
hood”, and for youth leaving care, this “not only includes
the requirement to live independently, but also removes
them from the emotional and personalized support they
may have received while in care” (Rogers 2011, p.423). It
is also known that many of these youths have previously
experienced psychosocial difficulties (Yergeau etal. 2007),
troubled family dynamics (Esposito etal. 2013) and/or a
lot of pressure to become self-sufficient and independent
(Paulsen and Berg 2016). These factors may have an impact
on their transition process.
Keywords Social network analysis· Social support·
Transition to adulthood· Care leavers· Residential care·
Professional transition· Housing transition
Introduction
Several factors have recently contributed to a growing rec-
ognition that the transition to adulthood is an important and
often stressful turning point in life. Transition is a multidi-
mensional concept characterized by “change of stage, from
one situation to another, from one period to another or from
one status or role to another” (Gherghel and Saint-Jacques
2013, p. 18). The transition from youth to adulthood is
characterized by identity exploration, instability, self-focus,
possibilities and the feeling of being in between (Arnett
2006, 2007). It is also an age of increased independence
and decreased parental support (Sulimani-Aidan 2015).
Furthermore, it is a period characterized by the need for
support and guidance from supportive adults (Paulsen and
Berg 2016). Today, for most youth, traditional transition
markers (for instance, completing an educational degree,
finding employment and attaining financial independence,
forming a family and moving to an independent dwelling)
occur later than for previous generations (Bidart 2006; Fur-
long 2009; Molgat 2012). There has been a shift away from
youth transition to adulthood being understood as a linear
* Élodie Marion
elodie.marion@enap.ca
1 École nationale d’administration publique, ENAP, 4750
Avenue Henri, Julien, Montréal, QCH2T3E5, Canada
2 Norwegian University ofScience andTechnology, NTNU,
Trondheim, Norway
É.Marion et al.
1 3
Literature Review
Network andSupport During Transition toAdulthood
Thus, there seems to be no doubt that transition to adult-
hood from care is an important area of research. Of par-
ticular interest are youth relationships, youth networks and
youth support, as little attention has been given to support
derived from specific relationships (Lee and Goldstein
2015). There is also a need for additional research focus-
ing on the people that youth who are leaving care turn to
for support (Rutman and Hubberstey 2016). Besides this,
an association has been found between relationship and
resilience (Drapeau etal. 2007; Ungar 2013) as well as the
importance of relationships and family during the transi-
tion process (Geenen and Powers 2007). Moreover, social
support appears to be correlated to readiness to leave care
(Benbenishty and Schiff 2009; Refaeli etal. 2013) and to
less need for help in the future (Refaeli etal. 2013). In brief,
relationships are part of the “key areas that help determine
how successful a youth is likely to be in the transition pro-
cess” (Reid 2007, p.34). Nevertheless, not all youths have
access to social, emotional, practical and financial support
during their transition period (Barry 2010; Höjer and Sjöb-
lom 2010; Paulsen and Berg 2016).
Regarding previous research on this topic, fields inves-
tigated include the nature of support, such as types of sup-
port that young people in care seek and receive (Höjer and
Sjöblom 2010; Singer et al. 2013), and the provision of
support (Collins etal. 2010; Hiles et al. 2013). Addition-
ally, specific relationships such as relations with the birth
family (Hiles etal. 2013), with foster carers (Lo etal. 2015)
and with staff (Strolin-Goltzman et al. 2016; Sulimani-
Aidan 2016) have been examined. The role of natural men-
tors has also been studied (Greeson etal. 2015) and is seen
as a promising way to smooth the process to independency
for former foster youth (Greeson et al. 2015). Moreover,
recently, Nesmith and Christophersen (2014) focused on
identifying programs that have a demonstrated impact on
helping youth develop a supportive network before leaving
care.
While we can note that these essential research studies
are mostly descriptive, we also found that others examined
issues such as the role of practical support during the tran-
sition period (Hiles etal. 2013), the link between support
and readiness to leave care (Dinisman and Zeira 2011) and
the effects of social support on the well-being and function-
ing of young people leaving care (Melkman etal. 2015),
including educational outcomes (Strolin-Goltzman et al.
2016). Lastly, research looking at both perceived and actual
support (Daining and DePanfilis 2007), at permanent rela-
tionships (Courtney 2009; Scannapieco et al. 2007) and
at more “formalized forms of social support” (Harder
et al. 2011, p. 2433), are encouraged since they are less
examined.
Social Network Theory andAnalysis
That being said, our analysis of the present literature found
that few studies have used social network theory and anal-
ysis to examine the lives of young people enrolled in the
process of leaving care. By social network, we mean “a
set of relationships between a set of actors” (Forsé 2008,
p. 10). Considering the fact that “the social networks of
transition-age foster youth are likely influenced over time
by child welfare involvement, which can weaken or disrupt
natural support relationships” (Blakeslee 2015, p.123), the
study of this particular topic appears to be relevant. In fact,
social network theory can help us better understand the
social support context of youth aging out of care while pro-
viding a systematic method, called social network analysis,
to identify youths’ networks of supportive relationships
(Blakeslee 2015).
Social network theory supports the idea that we do not
grow up alone and that people have an impact on others’
lives. This idea is also one of the four principles of the
life course theory initiated by Glen H. Elder, among oth-
ers, which stresses that peoples’ lives are interdependent
(Elder 1994, 1998). This means that we are all embedded in
meaningful relationships and communities (Furlong etal.
2003). It also includes the idea that the “entourage is likely
to influence decisions of a person while proposing options
and potentiality” (Bidart and Longo 2010, p.217). In fact,
“considering networks means to stop treating individuals
as blocks that goes alone or that are guided by global and
abstract instances” (Bidart and Longo 2010, p.218). Thus,
we consider that “social regulation, structuring links and
the support a person receives are partially manifested in
multiple relationships with key players through the sociali-
zation process and various types of exchange” (Gherghel
and Saint-Jacques 2013, p.46). This also includes the idea
of sociability (Bidart and Degenne 2005), which “refers to
the sum of relations an individual has with others, as well
as to the shape of those relations” (Mercklé 2004, p.39). In
this regard, several authors have pointed out the relevance
of sociability in the lives of individuals (Delcroix 2010).
For example, Callu and Joubert (2010) have demonstrated
the role of sociability in the structuring of young people’s
personality and identity, and Muniglia and Rothé (2013)
have demonstrated its role in the measurement of youths’
quality of life.
As for social network analysis, first, two types of net-
works can be distinguished: (1) personal network, and
(2) complete network (Bidart and Degenne 2005). Per-
sonal network analysis can be understood as the prelimi-
nary stage of a complete or comprehensive social network
Relationships Matter: Understanding theRole andImpact ofSocial Networks attheEdge of…
1 3
analysis. Indeed, personal network analysis aims to iden-
tify all the individuals, or alters, that the ego relates to,
and then looks at the context or nature of these relation-
ships (Degenne and Lebeaux 2005). As for the complete
analysis, it considers the personal network plus the rela-
tionships between all alters (Degenne and Lebeaux 2005).
Moreover, with regards to the complete analysis, networks
can be described “in terms of their capacity to provide sup-
port as a function of size, composition, and density, and in
terms of actual support provision through identified rela-
tionships” (Blakeslee 2015, p.123). In sum, networks can
be studied from an objective point of view and a subjec-
tive one. Indeed, it is possible to consider the composition
of networks and the meaning of relationships (Bidart and
Degenne 2005) as the focus of studies of social support.
Social support refers to the qualities of the relationships in
the network, which means that there is mainly a focus on
the interaction between the participants in the social net-
work. Social support may be derived from formal sources
such as professional social services and from informal
sources such as family, friends or peers (Pinkerton and
Dolan 2007). European research (Hedin 2016; Stein 2008)
has demonstrated the importance of informal and formal
support, such as social, emotional, financial and practical
support, in the process of leaving care. If informal sup-
port from a youth’s biological family, for example, is lack-
ing during this phase, formal support from social services
becomes more urgent (Stein 2012). Theories regarding
social support also take into account that relationships are
not necessarily supportive but that some relationships can
also be a burden and create problems.
Study Purpose
Finally, in order to better understand the challenges faced
by youths in care at the edge of their transition to adult-
hood, this article focuses on relationships, as these are
identified in the literature as determining factors in a suc-
cessful transition (Coyle and Pinkerton 2012; Reid 2007).
Altogether, we have studied the social networks of youths
in out-of-home care at the eve of their transition to adult-
hood using social network theory and personal network
analysis. At the time of Hiles etal.’s (2013) systematic lit-
erature review, there were no Canadian studies on the topic.
Therefore, we have studied the networks of 61 young
people from Quebec province who were part of a particu-
lar program called Quebec Youth Qualification Program
and its correlation and impact on educational and housing
outcomes. Based on a broader program evaluation that took
place in the province of Quebec, this article has three main
objectives: (1) to describe the networks of youths before
they leave care; (2) to examine the relationships between
their networks’ characteristics and pre-transition outcomes;
and (3) to explore factors, including network characteris-
tics, which might influence these outcomes.
Methods
This study is based on face-to-face interviews with youths
who were about to leave care. The sections below describe
the population and sample size and the procedures, vari-
ables and the carried-out analysis.
Population andSample Size
The 61 respondents were part of Quebec Youth Qualifica-
tion Program’s (PQJ) pilot-test evaluation. PQJ is designed
to serve the most vulnerable adolescents receiving services
according to Quebec’s Youth Protection Act. There were
33 boys and 28 girls aged between 17 and 19 years old.
The perception of youth workers was that youths who par-
ticipated were among the most vulnerable youths receiving
youth protection services. All eligible youths for the pro-
gram must have been in care for more than 2 years at the
time of the evaluation, and participation in the program was
voluntary. The program aims to ensure that a majority of
the youths attain employment or are integrated into an edu-
cational program by the end of the program. It also aims to
develop young peoples’ networks by providing support sys-
tems connected to various youth care centers. The program
took place in four regions (urban, semi-urban and rural)
and involved two youth workers and 20 youths per region.
The population of the study was 80 youths. However, the
face-to-face interview response rate was 76%, meaning 61
young people participated. “Severity profile assessment”
was an instrument used in the program. Based on the com-
pletion of the “severity profile assessment” forms by every
youth worker on behalf of the youths they were responsi-
ble for, means comparison was conducted. “Severity profile
assessment” was measured on a scale of 18, and the mean
score for youths who didn’t participate was 10.8 on 18 and
9.8 on 18 for youths who participated. A T test revealed
that the 19 youths who did not participate were not statis-
tically different from the other 61, based on their profile’s
severity. This means that it is possible to consider our sam-
ple as representative of the youths who participated in the
program.
Procedures
The study was conducted according to the ethical guide-
lines of Laval University and Institut nationale de recherche
scientifique (INRS) and was approved by both ethics com-
mittees. To begin, the project coordinator contacted youth
workers to explain the evaluation. Youth workers then
É.Marion et al.
1 3
asked youths if they wanted to participate in the study.
If the answer was yes, the youth worker gave the contact
information of the youth to the project coordinator. A face-
to-face interview was then organised, and a written consent
form was signed by the young person. Considering Article
21 of the Quebec Civil code, which ensures the protec-
tion of minors and people who are unable to consent with
respect to research participation, it was possible to get an
exception with regard to parental consent. This was pos-
sible because our research was considered as involving
minimal risk. Furthermore, asking for parental consent
might have compromised the research design, and, more
importantly, it would have contradicted the philosophy
of services for transition to adulthood. Indeed, asking for
parental consent appears to contradict the notions of self-
sufficiency and agency promoted for this population. The
interviews lasted about an hour and a half and were con-
ducted by a research professional. Face-to-face interviews
with young people included the completion of a biographic
calendar and a questionnaire about their networks. The net-
work questionnaire included two types of name generators
(Bidart and Charbonneau 2007). A name generator is an
instrument used to identify relationships. The young peo-
ple were first asked simply to name people in their network
without considering specificities such as education or spare
time. For example, questions used included, “can you tell
me about people with whom you discuss important things
or that you feel close to?” Secondly, a contextual name gen-
erator was used to make sure that the youths identified as
many people as possible in their network (Bidart and Char-
bonneau 2007). For example, questions were asked such as,
“with the exception of people you have already mentioned,
are there any people you know better at work or people
you talk with more?” The young people were further asked
about their practicing of different activities over the last
6 months. A question was then asked with respect to this
activity, such as, “are there any people you know better or
with whom you talk more in this particular context?” By
using these different sampling strategies in the interview,
we received an overview of the young people’s personal
networks and factors that might influence their outcomes.
Analysis
With regard to social network analysis, we used personal
network analysis, as presented earlier. This means that we
look at the relations of an ego, which here refers to a youth.
We also examined social support, and more precisely, the
formal relationship between the youth and his or her youth
worker. We first conducted descriptive analysis followed by
correlation analysis and, finally, logistic regression. These
analyses were chosen because of their relevance to our
three research objectives.
Dependant Variables
Pre-transition to adulthood was studied according to two
dependent variables: professional activity and housing
plan. Professional activity was measured by a nominal
scale regarding the status of the 61 youths, including:
in school, employed, in school and employed, and not
employed or at school. Afterwards, nominal categories of
professional activity were transformed into a dichotomy
(inactive (0) or active (1)). Young people who were in
school, employment, training or internship or were look-
ing for employment were considered active, and all oth-
ers were considered inactive. The housing plan variable
considers the plan that young people have in mind for
housing facilities for the coming months. A dichotomous
variable was created, including the absence (0) or the
presence (1) of a plan. It is important to note that when
we talk about a plan here, it is not referring to a formal
plan but to whether the youth knows where he or she will
go or what he or she will do with regard to housing after
leaving care.
Independent Variables
First, demographic variables were considered. Consid-
ering the fact that gender differences were studied with
regard to transition to adulthood from care (Courtney
and Dworsky 2006; del Valle etal. 2011; Schiff and Ben-
benishty 2006; Van Vugt etal. 2014), this variable was
included, as was age. As for networks, four variables
were included. The first two are the number of alters in
the network and the number of alters listed as important
by the young person. As all the young people were part
of the PQJ intensive intervention program, during which
they were accompanied closely by a youth worker, we
thought that the presence or absence of this worker in
their extensive networks could have an impact on tran-
sition areas. Therefore, for each youth, a dichotomous
variable was used representing the absence (0) or pres-
ence (1) of the PQJ youth worker involved in the youth’s
extensive network. A dichotomous variable was also used
relating to the importance given by the young person to
the youth worker: (0) not considered important, and (1)
considered important. Finally, a variable named Risk fac-
tors was created, and this included major problems in the
youth’s life that may prevent successful transition. The
absence (0) or presence (1) of each of the following areas
was noted and then aggregated: mental health diagnosis,
substance abuse, delinquency, prostitution, physical dis-
ability and parenthood. This numerical variable therefore
took values from 0 to 6.
Relationships Matter: Understanding theRole andImpact ofSocial Networks attheEdge of…
1 3
Results
Descriptive Results
With regard to professional activity, the status of the 61
youths was: in school (n = 9), employed (n = 7), in school
and employed (n = 10, 13%), and not employed or at school
(n = 35). Of the last 35, 7 were in an internship or were
looking for employment, and 28 were inactive. Thus, 33
young people (54.1%) were in a professional activity, and
28 were inactive (45.9%). Concerning housing plan, it turns
out that 14 young people had no plan in mind (23%), while
47 young people had a plan (77%).
As for independent variable, first, 33 boys (54.1%)
and 28 girls (45.9%) between 17 and 19 years old partici-
pated. The mean age was 17.82 with a standard deviation
of 0.742. More precisely, 22 youths were under 18 years
old (36.1%), and 39 were over 18 (63.9%). The mean of the
number of alters in their network was 16.27. This included
an average of 4.39 important alters, which represented 27%
of their network. We found that in 38 cases (62.3%), the
PQJ youth worker was considered important. Moreover, 23
out of 61 youth (38.4%) mentioned having as their princi-
pal alter a youth worker (in 36% of the cases, it was the
PQJ youth worker). Finally, the mean of the risk factors
was 1.65 out of 5, with a standard deviation of 1.05, which
means that the majority of the youth had between one and
three risk factors. The means and standard deviations of the
independent variables are presented in Table1.
Bivariate Results
The results of our bivariate analysis linking each independ-
ent variable with the dependent variables (professional
activity and housing plan) are presented in Table 2. For
interval scale variables, R coefficient is presented. The only
exception is for gender, as it is considered a nominal vari-
able, and the coefficient presented is rho, from a Spearman
correlation.
The number of alters in the network and the number
of important alters in the network are not significantly
related to professional and housing transition. Regard-
ing the importance given to the PQJ youth worker in the
young person’s network, we found that a higher number of
youth who see the youth worker as important were actively
employed. We also found a moderate relationship between
these variables (R = 0.242).
In addition, risk factors are related to professional
activity (R = 0.224). Youth who are inactive with respect
to professional activity have a higher number of risk fac-
tors on average (mental health diagnosis, substance abuse,
delinquency, prostitution, physical disability and parent-
hood). Finally, we found that by looking at R coefficient
(R = 0.368), a greater number of girls had a housing tran-
sition plan in mind, while being a boy is more related to
professional activity (R=-0.271).
Multivariate Results
Additional relationships were explored through multi-
variate analyses. The same model was repeated for both
dependent variables (professional activity and housing
plan). The predictors presented above were used. Table3
shows the results of the multivariate analyses. With respect
to the dichotomous variables, we used logistic regression.
Thereby, the odds ratio is presented.
Table 1 Independent variables description
Independent variables Mean Standard-
deviation
(SD)
N
Gender (B = 0, G = 1) 0.459 NA 61
Age 17.82 0.742 61
Alterper ego (N) 16.27 5.50 61
Importantalter (importantalter/alter) 0.27 0.12 61
PQJ youth worker as importantalter 0,62 0.30 61
Risk factors 1.65 1.05 61
Table 2 Bivariate analysis of dependant variables
t p<0.1, * p < 0.05, ** p < 0.001
Professional activity Housing plan
Alterper ego (N) 0.022 0.179
Importantalter(N) 0.141 0.154
PQJ youth worker as
importantalter 0.242t− 0.031
Risk factors 0.224* 0.096
Gender (B = 0 G = 1) − 0.271* 0.368**
Table 3 Multivariate analysis results
t p<0.1, * p < 0.05, ** p < 0.001
Professional
activity
Housing plan
Importantalter(N) 0.955 1.237
PQJ youth worker as important 2.33t1.164
Risk factors 0.634t1.360
Personal disposition 1.016 0.966
Gender (M = 0) 0.275* 9.034**
R20.215 0.299
Pvalue 0.062t0.011*
É.Marion et al.
1 3
With respect to factors relating to professional activ-
ity, boys seem to be 3.63 times more likely to be active in
employment or in educational programs than girls. Regard-
ing risk factors, the higher the number of risks, the less
likely youths are to be employed. This means that the more
risk factors the youth has in his or her life, the less likely
it is that he or she will demonstrate professional activity.
Thus, for each risk factor added, the youth is 1.57 times
less likely to end up employed or enrolled in an educational
program. Finally, when a youth considered his or her PQJ
worker to be important, it increased his or her chances of
having a professional activity by 2.33. The multivariate
analysis encompassed the creation of a regression model
that included all the independent variables presented above.
As we can see in Table3, while looking at the R2 coeffi-
cient, the independent variables included in this regression
model explained 22% of professional activity, as described
in this study.
For housing plans, we found that girls were about nine
times more likely to have a housing transition plan than
boys. As for the regression model, it explained nearly 30%
of the housing transition process described in our study, as
R2 = 0.299.
Discussion
The following section will be divided according to our
research questions. Firstly, the composition of young peo-
ple’s networks when leaving care will be discussed. More
precisely, the general composition and the place of the ILP
case worker in the youth network will be discussed. Sec-
ondly, the relationship between the network characteristics
and the pre-transitional outcomes, including the relation-
ship between the composition of the network and the transi-
tion to adulthood and the social network’s impact on pro-
fessional and housing outcomes, will be presented. Finally,
the concluding section will aim to present implications for
practice.
The Network Composition ofYoung Care Leavers
Examining the number of alters and the number of impor-
tant alters in the young people’s networks when leaving
care, we found that very few of the youths were very iso-
lated. This finding corroborates a study by Collins et al.
(2010) that suggests that many youths who are leaving care
do have connections, and a study by Singer etal. (2013)
that found that most youths felt that they had received at
least some form of support from their social network dur-
ing their transition process, meaning they know someone
they can rely on. At the same time, some youths reported
that they had very few relations or even nobody to turn
to. It is important to pay attention to the few youths who
appeared to be isolated, especially when several research-
ers have pointed to a lack of social networks, and, thereby,
social support, as one of the main challenges for young
people leaving state care (Blakeslee 2012; Goodkind etal.
2011; Höjer and Sjöblom 2010; Paulsen 2016), and to the
fact that having support made an important difference to
them (Rutman and Hubberstey 2016).
At the same time, while we found that most of the
youths in our study were not isolated, we also found that,
compared to 96 youths of the same age attending CEGEP
in Quebec, young people who were leaving care had a
smaller social network (Poirier and Lavoie 2006). CEGEP
is an institution in Quebec that takes place after secondary
school and before university. Indeed, 96 youths interviewed
in a parallel study presented an average of 30 alters in their
network, which is almost twice as much as youths who will
soon be leaving care (Poirier and Lavoie 2006). An exten-
sive network is also related to economic outcomes and sta-
tus attainment (Granovetter 2005; Lin 1999). The limited
number of alters surrounding care leavers might therefore
impact their professional activity.
The Place ofIndependent Living Program Case
Workers inYouth Networks
Our findings reveal that 62% of youth considered their PQJ
youth worker to be important. This finding is in line with
the findings of Collins etal. (2010), who asked care leavers
about a mentor, meaning “an important adult in your life
who is older than you, has taken a special interest in you,
that you can count on to be there for you, and who inspires
you to do your best” (Collins etal. 2010, p.131), and who
found that almost 70% of the youth in their study had such
a person and that for more than 33% of them, it was a child
welfare professional. It was also notable that most partici-
pants cited adults encountered in the child welfare system
(i.e., program staff members, therapists or a foster mother)
(Collins etal. 2010).
Close connections between a young person and his or
her independent living case worker may be a source of
resources and emotional support during the transition to
adulthood (Curry and Abrams 2014). The relationship
to staff could be an important factor for a positive transi-
tion process (Goyette 2010). However, we know that for-
mal relationships often end at some point, so even if the
youths have such a relationship now, it is unclear whether
these relationships will last. Moreover, social network dis-
ruption of young people aging out of care can cause psy-
chological distress (Perry 2006). This author suggests that
this consequence might be explained, in part, by the struc-
ture and strength of the youths’ new networks. If this is
the case, strong and supportive ties with new people may
Relationships Matter: Understanding theRole andImpact ofSocial Networks attheEdge of…
1 3
replace weak or absent ties within the old network as a pro-
tective factor (Perry 2006). Social networks must, then, be
part of the intervention before, during and after the transi-
tion in order to ensure continuity and avoid disruption. This
question seems even more relevant in light of Singer etal.’s
(2013) results, which show that youths tend to include
“temporary” relations, such as child welfare profession-
als, in their networks and that some youths seem unable to
make the distinction “between ideal and actual relational
permanency” (Singer et al. 2013, p.2115). Many of the
youths in this study expressed a reliance on child welfare
professionals for an immense amount of various types of
support (Singer etal. 2013), often due to limited support in
their informal networks (Paulsen and Berg 2016). Finally,
considering that a formal network can sometimes represent
something other than the informal network of family and
friends (Singer etal. 2013), recognition of the contribution
of formal networks is essential to ensuring that all types of
necessary support are provided to youths.
Relationships Between theComposition ofNetworks
andPre‑transition Outcomes
Based on our bivariate analysis, it seems that there are no
relationships, or at least no direct relationships, between the
number of alters, the number of important alters and the
two dependant variables observed. This leads us to suggest
that what is important might not necessarily be the num-
ber of alters but the quality in the support provided. In this
regard, the relationship between a formal alter and a young
person can take many different forms. Some forms may
impede professional activity such as “doing for” the youth,
while other forms or relationships can facilitate transition,
such as “doing with” or accompanying the youth in his or
her process, as this promotes youth empowerment (Goyette
2010). Following this idea, Pinkerton and Dolan (2007)
found that youths prefer advice linked to the decision-mak-
ing process rather than advice about how to do something.
Social Networks’ Impact onProfessional Activity
andHousing Plans
First, let us recall the fact that considering the PQJ youth
worker as important increases a young person’s chance
of having a professional activity by 2.33. We might think
that this result supports the idea that the creation of a trust-
worthy relationship between the youth and the employees
of youth protection agencies is important. This has been
underlined in previous studies showing that the support of
residential staff and peers contributes significantly to the
readiness to leave care (Dinisman and Zeira 2011; Paulsen
and Berg 2016) and that having a mentor, which includes a
caseworker who is considered a mentor, was significantly
associated with completing high school or a GED (Col-
lins etal. 2010). Furthermore, with regards to employabil-
ity and education, Merdinger, Hines, Osterling and Wyatt
(2005) have suggested that a major factor contributing to
the educational success of young people in care lies in the
strength of their social support, as Strolin-Goltzman etal.
(2016) have also pointed out. Indeed, while looking at care
leavers enrolled in a university program, they found that
nearly 87% of the participants reported that they had either
a friend or family member to ask for help or advice from
if needed (Merdinger etal. 2005). This finding might be
a result of youth workers’ particular competence, experi-
ence and knowledge of the system, which informal network
members would not necessarily have. Furthermore, this
result can be interpreted in light of youth “buy-in” to the
system as a result of agreeing with their ILP worker.
Furthermore, with respect to the professional activ-
ity model, we found that the more risk factors there are,
the more chance a youth will have of possessing no pro-
fessional activity. Following this idea, researchers have
recently emphasized the importance of looking more
closely at specific risk factors, which could also be seen as
representing youth subpopulations. Promotion of services
surrounding mental health (Rahamim and Mendes 2016;
Stein and Dumaret 2011; White et al. 2015), substance
dependence (White et al. 2015), parenthood (Putnam-
Hornstein et al. 2016; Radey et al. 2016) and disabilities
(Broadley 2015) have been proposed.
Finally, our housing transition model does not sug-
gest the importance of our network variables. However, it
does show that girls were 9.03 times more likely to have a
housing transition plan in mind than boys. While boys are
3.63 times more likely to have a professional activity than
girls, this finding might underline an obstacle to girls’ over-
all transition to adulthood. To our knowledge, there is no
actual convincing explanation of these findings in the lit-
erature, and this suggests the importance of looking more
closely at gender differences in further research.
Limitations
Considering the sample composition, and more precisely, the
fact that youths were selected based on their overall vulner-
ability, some predictors do not present a high level of signifi-
cance. Moreover, given the sample of 61 youths, it was pos-
sible to select only a few predictors for the model. For this
same reason, marginally significant factors were also con-
sidered. Considering that our study was based on a sample
of youths transitioning from a residential care setting who
have agreed to voluntarily participate in an independent liv-
ing program in Quebec, our results are generalizable only
to those particular circumstances. However, the details we
have provided contribute to a better comprehension of the
É.Marion et al.
1 3
phenomenon, which means that part of this experience can
be transferred. Our findings can also generate questions about
practices or policies.
Conclusion andImplications forSocial Work
Finally, we want to emphasize the importance of the relation-
ship between care leavers and their youth workers for better
outcomes. Indeed, the importance accorded to youth workers
seems to increase young people’s chances of experiencing
active professional integration. Creating positive relation-
ships appears to be essential, and its importance is undeni-
able. The need to build and sustain trusting relationships with
young people is seen as critical to providing effective support
(Collins etal. 2010; Hiles etal. 2014). To create this support,
a proactive approach to engagement and time are required
(Hiles etal. 2014). However, system constraints such as dif-
ficult staff retention (Hiles etal. 2014) and austerity policies
(Coyle and Pinkerton 2012) sometimes hinder the ability to
create the necessary types of relationships. These elements
must be avoided as much as possible and should be decried
and worked on. It is also important to work with informal
network relations, as they can provide a permanent source
of support. Moreover, we should make sure that members of
informal networks are able to provide the different types of
support that youths need.
Acknowledgements We would like to acknowledge the financial
support provided by National Crime Prevention Centre (CNPC) of
Government of Canada, in collaboration with the Quebec Department
of Public Safety for the research, and the research centre Jeunes en dif-
ficulté of Centre intégré universitaire de Santé et de Services sociaux
du Cente-Sud-de l’Ile de Montréal for the financial support provided
for the redaction of this article. Finally, we would like to thank Dr.
Elizabeth Fast from Concordia University for her precious advice.
Compliance with Ethical Standards
Conflict of interest The authors declare that they have no conflict
of interest.
Ethical Approval All procedures performed in studies involving
human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of
the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964
Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical
standards.
Informed Consent Informed consent was obtained from all indi-
vidual participants included in the study.
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