Exploring the Meaning and Experience of Family for Youth Leaving Care
A Scoping Review
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 15080592 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Mandi MacDonald (0000-0002-7433-712X, School of Social Sciences, Education and Social Work Queen's University Belfast Belfast UK, corresponding author), Inger Oterholm (0000-0002-4798-5105, Faculty of Social Studies VID Specialized University Oslo Norway), Berni Kelly (0000-0002-4204-6694, School of Social Sciences, Education and Social Work Queen's University Belfast Belfast UK), Ingrid Höjer (0000-0002-4584-1917, Social Work University of Gothenburg Gothenburg Sweden), Ingri‐Hanne Brænne Bennwik (0000-0002-0489-2339, Faculty of Social Studies VID Specialized University Oslo Norway) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Volume | 31 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 636-646 |
| Publication date | 2026-02-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Child & Family Social Work (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1356-7500 • E-ISSN: 1365-2206 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1111/cfs.13298 |
| OpenAlex | W4410169327 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
| References cited | 47 |
Family is important to all, but is a complex issue for young people who are transitioning from out‐of‐home care. This scoping review explores the meaning and experience of family for care‐experienced youth and identifies implications for research and practice to support their social wellbeing. It reports on findings from a review of 31 journal articles that address the concept of family for youth leaving care. The paper explores the range and nature of family relations studied and key themes emerging including how family is conceptualized and experienced by youth leaving care. There is duality in how family is constructed through family practices with chosen individuals but also defined primarily by biological connection. Young people are active in sustaining and managing complex family relations that require a broader, more diverse understanding of family that can support their family‐forming efforts with a wider range of individuals before, during and after their transition from out‐of‐home care
Developmental psychology · Psychoanalysis · Psychotherapist · Sociology · Child Welfare and Adoption · Family and Disability Support Research · Intergenerational Family Dynamics and Caregiving · Psychology
A scoping review on the conduct and reporting of scoping reviews
Care Leavers’ Perspectives on the Family in the Transition From Out-of-Home Care to Independent Living
Rethinking Family Practices
“Family? … Not Just Blood”
Constructing the Meaning of “Family” in the Context of Out-of-Home Care
Youth Transitioning Out of Residential Care in South Africa
Foster children’s views of family
Strangers and estrangement
Foster children
Exploring internal conversations to understand the experience of young adults transitioning out of care
Relationship to parents in adulthood with a background of out‐of‐home care in childhood
Young people leaving care in Sweden
Navigating family roles and relationships
Looked‐after children and their birth families
Risk, resilience and identity construction in the life narratives of young people leaving residential care
Disability is not a word we use’
Care leavers’ notions of the ‘ideal’ family in Zimbabwe
Systematic review of birth parent–foster youth relationships before and after aging out of foster care
Relationships with family members and transition from out-of-home care
Profiles of relational permanence at 22
What doesn't kill you makes you stronger”
Ambiguous loss of home
The experience of Jordanian care leavers making the transition from residential care to adulthood
The Ties that Bind
Supporting Face-to-Face Birth Family Contact after Adoption from Care
Trauma-informed Family Contact Practice for Children in Out-of-home Care
The permanence of family ties
Narrative Inheritance
Family doesn’t have to be mom and dad
The Rebuilding of Fragmented Memories, Broken Families and Rootless Selves among Danish Care Leavers
Scoping studies
My Whole Family Is Not Really My Family'-Secure Care Shadows on Family and Family Practices Among Young Adults and Their Family Members
The Emotional Nature of Birth Family Relationships for Care-experienced and Adopted Young People
Troubling Meanings of 'Family' for Young People Who Have Been in Care
Youth in Transition
Families, Secrets and Memories
Displaying Families
| Unique citing works | 2 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 2 |
| Citation span | 2026 - 2026 (1) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 2 |