# Development of a Support Network Enhancement Intervention for Foster Youth

> **NIH NIH R21** · PORTLAND STATE UNIVERSITY · 2020 · $211,493

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract
There is a large subgroup of older foster youth who have limited support network capacity and stability, with
related limitations on adolescent development, social functioning, and overall mental health and well-being.
This population has elevated behavioral challenges as they exit foster care, but they are less likely engage in
formal services and have fewer informal supports to rely on in young adulthood. To improve the mental health
and well-being of this population in young adulthood, the practice field needs innovative strategies to address
depleted social networks while these young people are still being served by the child welfare system. However,
there is no articulated framework linking measurable support network characteristics with indicated practice
strategies to facilitate support and community integration in ways that can improve health and well-being (for
example, by increasing formal service engagement or informal help-seeking). This project will result in a
testable intervention for young people in foster care who are at risk for mental health and/or social adjustment
challenges in young adulthood. The long-term goal if this effort is to disseminate an effective group-based
support network enhancement model for delivery as part of the regular child welfare system service array. The
short-term goal is to use the rigorous Intervention Mapping (IM) protocol to articulate a theory of change for
foster youth support network enhancement, and to design a feasible intervention to address measurable
objectives, in collaboration with mental health and child welfare stakeholders and with young people with lived
experience. This will be accomplished through the following specific aims: (1) conduct rigorous problem
analysis, including a systematic literature review of problem determinants and directed content analysis of
secondary data (N=22), to specify problem determinants at the individual and socioecological levels and to
identify related proximal program objectives; (2) explicate a theory of change model for the program
objectives, and design a program to deliver practical change strategies in the expected implementation context;
(3) pre-test the program design with the target population of youth in foster care (N=40) and with their service
providers (N=40) to evaluate usability and feasibility in various service regions; and, (4) refine the model and
materials for implementation and future efficacy testing as part of the Independent Living Program (ILP)
system serving foster youth across the country. Developing effective programming to assess and address
support network deficits for subgroups of foster youth while they are still being served by the child welfare
systems can help bridge the transition from formal services to informal support in ways that improve young
adult mental health and well-being. This project applies established network theory to address the unique
socioecological challenges experienced by...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9975896
- **Project number:** 5R21MH118525-02
- **Recipient organization:** PORTLAND STATE UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Jennifer Blakeslee
- **Activity code:** R21 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $211,493
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-07-10 → 2022-04-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9975896

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9975896, Development of a Support Network Enhancement Intervention for Foster Youth (5R21MH118525-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9975896. Licensed CC0.

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