Utilization of Transitional Services in Wyoming

There is concern in the United States about making sure that transitional services are offered to youth aging out of Foster Care to ensure their success once they are released from care at age eighteen. This research project seeks to compare and contrast the transitional services that Department of Family Services (DFS) Social Workers and Independent Living Coordinators (ILC's) across the state of Wyoming utilize to assist youth transitioning out. Workers who provide these services to Wyoming youth are contacted through e-mail which contains a link to the online survey. After gathering basic demographic information, survey takers are prompted to rate their utilization of fifteen transitional services required by the State on a continuum, from none of the time to all of the time, using a Likert type scale. Transitional services include: academic support, vocational/career preparation, employment programs, family support/education, health education and risk prevention, housing and financial management training, independent living, mentoring and financial assistance. We expect to find that certain transitional services are employed on a consistent basis while others are not. We also suspect that services will vary according to availability in different areas of the State.