Social Work Commons^™

A Social Ecology Analysis Of Childbirth Among Females Emancipating From Foster Care, Svetlana Shpiegel, Michele Cascardi, Michael Dineen

Department of Social Work and Child Advocacy Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Purpose No research has examined childbirth from a national perspective among females emancipating from foster care. The present study fills this gap by: (1) documenting the rates of initial and repeat births among females ages 17 and 19 in a national prospective study and (2) identifying risk and protective factors at age 17 that predict childbirth between ages 17 and 19. Methods This study used data from the National Youth in Transition Database and Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System to identify risk and protective factors associated with childbirth in a national sample of transition-age female youth (N …