Home / News / “They Lay Down the Foundation and Then They Leave Room for Us to Build the House”: A Visual Qualitative Exploration of Young Adults’ Experiences of Transitional Housing (2015)

08/03/2015

“They Lay Down the Foundation and Then They Leave Room for Us to Build the House”: A Visual Qualitative Exploration of Young Adults’ Experiences of Transitional Housing (2015)

https://sswr.confex.com/sswr/2015/webprogram/Paper23416.html

Susana R. Curry and Laura S. Abrams

Search Terms: homeless shelters; young adults; foster home care; employment & education; photography, transition-aged youth

Summary: Although research has established a high risk of homelessness among young people aging out of foster care, little is known about the experience of these youth who are helped to make the transition to independence living though supportive housing programs. Curry and Abrams (UCLA) interview 14 transition-aged youth (18-24 years) using photo elicitation interviews to investigate how young people who have aged out of foster care visually and verbally narrate their journeys through transitional housing programs. Study findings illustrate how transition-age youth experience their gradual independence and the ways in which transitional housing programs can provide critical support during this important period.