Between 2000 and 2013, the U.S. foster care caseload decreased while the number of children in adoptive homes doubled. These shifts were a result of federal policies prioritizing the moving of children from state custody into legal permanence (e.g., adoption and guardianship) with the presumption they will live “happily ever after.” This study used a mixed-methods multiphase, iterative process to illuminate the congruencies and incongruencies between the young adults' accounts of their foster care experiences and the legalistic, system-focused view of their experiences. This study highlights the limitations of administrative data as the primary source for evaluating systems, assessing child well-being, and for understanding child welfare outcomes.
An important consideration for assessing the success of the child welfare system in finding safe, stable, permanent placements for children involved with the child welfare system is including the perceptions of the young adults with foster care histories. There are often three sides to a foster care story: the lived experiences of the participant, the official case record, and the space in between. This study begins to illuminate this space, through an understanding of the quality and enduring nature of these relationships as reported by young adults who lives were impacted by their foster care histories. Child welfare records indicate a legal permanency status, but the interviews address the enduring nature and quality of the relationships.