Abstract

Foster youth report limited social networks in school as well as lower rates of school graduation (Snyder, 2018). Thus, this project examines the social network and social capital development (domains of personal relationships and trust) for youth (N = 48) in a transition program for high school foster youth (First Star Academy). Using a mixed methods design, we focus on youth perceptions of factors that contribute to supportive social networks for positive academic trajectories and examine the relationship of social capital and networks to likelihood of being on-track for high school graduation. This will contribute to the conceptual understanding of the relationship among social capital domain areas and actual social networks and provide practical implications based on youth perspectives related to practices that support or impede youth progress within systems of education and foster care (funded by the Spencer Foundation, $49,618, 2022-2023).