Date of Award

Spring 2026

Document Type

Open Access Dissertation

Department

Educational Studies

First Advisor

Christian K. Anderson

Abstract

Despite decades of policy reform and targeted support, today’s former foster youth (FFY) face disproportionate challenges to higher education completion. This qualitative case study explored the lived experiences of six former foster youth as they transitioned from the foster care system to a community college in Virginia. Guided by a conceptual framework integrating Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, Bridges’ Transition Theory, and Zimbardo’s Time Perspective Theory, this study sought to understand the barriers FFY encounter, the supports they find most meaningful, how they define successful independence, and the role higher education plays in that definition.

Data was collected through preliminary meetings, semi-structured, in-depth interviews, and participant surveys, and analyzed using inductive coding to identify salient themes. Findings revealed that participants’ experiences were shaped by interconnected and occasionally competing needs, particularly in the areas of housing and transportation stability, mental health, and access to trusted personal guidance. Among these, the presence of a knowledgeable and caring advisor emerged as a critical, stabilizing force that influenced participants’ ability to navigate other challenges. Mental health needs, notably absent from traditional hierarchical models, played a central and persistent role in participants’ academic and personal paths. Participants also expressed a profound desire to use their own journeys as a means to inspire future FFY, reframing success as both personal stability and collective impact.

A key contribution of this study is the reconceptualization of former FFY needs not as a linear hierarchy, but as a dynamic, often frustrating “maze,” reflecting the nonlinear and unpredictable realities of FFY transitions. It illustrates what the participants’ stories revealed: when a former foster youth’s needs for reliable personal guidance and strategically placed funding are met, resiliency and higher education success is possible.

These findings have significant implications for policy and practice, including the need for expanding mental health and Independent Living Services to FFY regardless of adoption or aged-out status. States outside Virginia are urged to implement comprehensive, coach-centered programs like Virginia’s Great Expectations to more effectively support former foster youth as they use higher education to overcome the crises from their childhoods and the residual trauma that haunts their adulthoods

Rights

© 2026, Lee Hemmrich Hunt

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