Experiences of the COVID-19 pandemic among young parents with foster care backgrounds: A participatory action PhotoVoice study

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a disproportionate impact on many vulnerable populations, including youth in foster care and parents of young children. In this study, we worked with nine parenting current and former foster youth to share their experiences of the COVID-19 pandemic through photography. Data were collected between January and March 2021 during a series of three virtual PhotoVoice sessions, then transcripts of PhotoVoice sessions and participant-selected captioned photographs were analyzed using thematic analysis. Themes in participants’ photographs included 1) Pandemic Parenting and 2) Making the Best of It. Findings indicate the need to expand mental health services, protect essential workers, and ensure young parents receive support navigating medical and social welfare systems and the process of receiving pandemic relief-related benefits.

1. Introduction and literature Review

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a disproportionate impact on many vulnerable populations, including youth in foster care and parents of young children (Brown et al., 2020, Greeson et al., 2020). In this study, we worked with parenting current and former foster youth across the United States to share their experiences of the COVID-19 pandemic through photography.

1.1. Parenting among current and former foster youth

Adolescent pregnancy and birth rates in the United States have continued to decline over the past two decades, with recent statistics indicating a record low of 16.6 per 1,000 births for females aged 15–19 in 2019 (Martin et al., 2021). Despite this overall decrease, American youth in and aging out of foster care continue to experience early parenthood at a much higher rate than their peers in the general population (Courtney et al., 2016, Shpiegel et al., 2017). Studies estimate that 18 % to 32 % of young women (Courtney et al., 2005, Courtney et al., 2016, King and Van Wert, 2017, Shpiegel et al., 2017) and 10 % of young men (Courtney et al., 2016, 2018) with foster care histories become a parent by the age of 19. By the age of 21, these estimates increase to 35 % to 57 % for young women (Courtney et al., 2007, Courtney et al., 2018, Putnam-Hornstein et al., 2016, Shpiegel and Cascardi, 2018) and 20 % for young men (Courtney et al., 2016, 2018) formerly in foster care.

Youth often face significant challenges during their transition from foster care to adulthood that put them at greater risk for adverse socioeconomic outcomes, including low educational attainment, unemployment, homelessness, mental health challenges, and financial insecurity (Courtney et al., 2018, Dworsky et al., 2013, Havlicek et al., 2013, Naccarato et al., 2010). This transitional period may be especially difficult for expectant and parenting youth, as the existing challenges of aging out are compounded by the stresses and demands of parenthood (Schelbe & Geiger, 2017). Indeed, studies have found that these young parents typically struggle to finish school (Combs et al., 2018, Shpiegel and Cascardi, 2018); have difficulties obtaining and maintaining employment (Dworsky & Gitlow, 2017); reside in unsafe and/or unstable housing conditions (Combs et al., 2018, Connolly et al., 2012); and are more likely to depend on public and government assistance to meet their basic needs (Schelbe and Geiger, 2017, Shpiegel and Cascardi, 2018). These outcomes are associated, in part, with the unique experiences and needs of this population.

Aging out of foster care generally results in the loss of some, if not all, of the services and supports provided by the child welfare system. This has particular implications for young parents who are left to navigate this process largely on their own, without the skills, knowledge, or resources needed to adequately care for themselves and their children (Connolly et al., 2012, Eastman et al., 2019). For example, a lack of social, emotional, and financial supports can limit parents’ childcare options (Radey et al., 2016, Schelbe and Geiger, 2017); create barriers to pursuing education and employment opportunities (Dworsky and Gitlow, 2017, Eastman et al., 2019); and increase stress, anxiety, and feelings of isolation (Narendorf et al., 2013, Radey et al., 2016, Shpiegel et al., 2017). Despite these challenges, many current and former foster youth view parenthood as a source of happiness, motivation, and opportunity for growth, and demonstrate incredible strengths and resilience as they strive to become good parents and provide for their children (Aparicio et al., 2015, Connolly et al., 2012, Haight et al., 2009, Pryce and Samuels, 2010, Radey et al., 2016, Schelbe and Geiger, 2017).

2. COVID-19 pandemic

The PhotoVoice project in this study was conducted from January 2021 to March 2021, approximately-one year after the pandemic began in the United States. Research on the experiences, challenges, and needs of foster youth during the pandemic has found that the pandemic has had significant negative impacts across several domains including healthcare, mental and physical health, family and parenting, housing, employment and financial stability (Greeson et al., 2020, Morton and Daniels, 2021, Ruff and Linville, 2021). Research prior to the pandemic established that these domains do not function independently of each other, and negative impact on one domain often is associated with the disruption of the stability of others (Morton & Daniels, 2021). Research completed during the pandemic has found that the negative outcomes across domains were even more drastic and compounded for youth of color, with Black youth facing the greatest disparities (Greeson et al., 2020, Morton and Daniels, 2021, Ruff and Linville, 2021). Greeson et al. (2020) found that 75 % of their participants reported that they were only one month out from being in financial crisis when shelter-in-place mandates began in March 2020 and approximately half of participants were already reporting issues with food insecurity, disruptions to employment and educational attainment, and increased mental health symptoms. In sum, the lack of system-wide comprehensive mitigation strategies during emergency situations had rapid destabilizing effects for foster youth, and the pandemic further exposed inequities in the systems meant to support foster youth (Greeson et al., 2020, Morton and Daniels, 2021, Ruff and Linville, 2021, Aparicio et al., 2022a, Shpiegel et al., 2022).

2.1. PhotoVoice as a participatory action approach

PhotoVoice is a participatory action research approach aimed at bringing together community members with a shared experience to decide upon a project focus, goals, and products (Aparicio et al., 2021, Wang et al., 1998, Wang and Burris, 1997). Members of the PhotoVoice group work together to raise awareness through photographs of their everyday lived experiences, often followed by advocacy to affect change in practice and policy. For example, in this study, the PhotoVoice group composed of parenting current and former foster youth and the research team worked together to create a photobook, an animated video of their photobook, the current manuscript, a brief report for our funders, and slides for a public webinar to share the process and results of their PhotoVoice project. Grounded in Friere’s popular education countering effects of objectifying research and redirecting power from academic institutions to community perspectives, PhotoVoice has been used as both a research tool and intervention strategy (Aparicio et al., 2021, Barman-Adhikari et al., 2019, Bender et al., 2017, Freire, 1972, Freire, 2013). PhotoVoice is a powerful tool for giving participants a creative way to express their experiences and has been well-received by youth audiences (Aparicio et al., 2021, Bender et al., 2017).

PhotoVoice has been used successfully as an approach across fields and with diverse populations, including marginalized youth, although PhotoVoice studies with foster youth specifically are limited. As part of a 2019 study, LGBTQ + foster youth visually represented their experiences before, during, and after foster care (Capous-Desyllas & Mountz, 2019). PhotoVoice has also been used with Indigenous youth populations (Goodman et al., 2018), low-income youth (Harley & Hunn, 2015), and homeless youth (Aparicio et al., 2021, Barman-Adhikari et al., 2019, Bender et al., 2017, Forge et al., 2018, Johnson et al., 2020). There have also been several studies using PhotoVoice to explore the experiences of parents, including teen parents' perspectives on raising healthy children (Tremblay et al., 2021), young mothers’ sexual and reproductive health needs (Gill et al., 2016) and perceptions of their strengths and assets (Fortin et al., 2015), and low income parents’ experiences with food insecurity (Lindow et al., 2022).

2.2. Current study

The current study is among the first to examine how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted parenting youth in foster care and parenting youth who had recently aged out of foster care. The study was guided by the following research question: How did parenting youth in and who had recently aged out of foster care experience the COVID-19 pandemic from early 2020 to early 2021?

3. Method

3.1. Participants and setting

This study was approved by the Institutional Review Board (IRB) at Montclair State University (designated IRB) and University of Maryland, College Park (relying IRB) in Fall 2020, prior to data collection beginning (IRB# 20–21-1693). Youth were eligible for the study if they were aged 18 to 26, were currently in foster care or had aged out of foster care, and had one or more children while in foster care. Participants were recruited through convenience sampling and snowball sampling via both social media and emails to social service organizations. Interested potential participants texted a central hotline, after which a member of our study team contacted them to explain the study procedures and assess initial interest. Potential participants were then directed to read an informed consent form and, if still interested, sign the form electronically and complete a demographics form.

PhotoVoice sessions occurred virtually, thus photographs were taken by participants around the United States in any location they chose. Participants’ photographs were generally taken in their homes or near where they lived and worked. Participants were living in diverse regions of the United States including the West Coast, Northeast, Southwest, and Midwest. Table 1 includes demographic information of the nine young parents who participated. Participants ranged from 20 to 25 (M = 22) years old and were parenting at least one child. Seven of the nine participants were raising a child under one year old. Ages of participants’ children ranged from 1 month to 8 years (M = 2.3 years). Eight of the nine participants were women. There were diverse racial and ethnic identities represented in the group: three participants identified as White (33.3 %), three as Black or African American (33.3 %), and two as Hispanic or Latinx (22.2 %). All participants were currently in foster care (one participant was in an independent living program) or had recently transitioned from foster care (eight participants). All participants had a high school diploma or GED. Four participants were employed, two were college students, and one was looking for work. Two participants also reported being full-time caregivers for their children.

Table 1.

Participants’ Demographics (N = 9).

Characteristic	n (%) or Mean (range)
Age	22 (20–25) years
Race and Ethnicity
Black or African American	3 (33.3 %)
Non-Hispanic White	3 (33.3 %)
Hispanic or Latinx	2 (22.2 %)
Do Not Know/Prefer Not to Answer	1 (0.1 %)
Sex
Male	1 (11.1 %)
Female	8 (88.9 %)
Geographic Area
West	3 (33.3 %)
Northeast	3 (33.3 %)
South	1 (11.1 %)
Midwest	2 (22.2 %)
Mean Age of Children	2.3 years (1 month-8 years)
Current Educational/Vocational Status
College Student	2 (22.2 %)
Employed Full-Time	2 (22.2 %)
Employed Part-Time	2 (22.2 %)
Not Employed, and Searching for Work	1 (0.1 %)
Full-time Caregiver of Child	2 (22.2 %)
Current Foster Care Status
In Care	1 (11.1 %)
Aged Out/Emancipated	8 (88.9 %)

3.2. Data collection

Participants took part in three structured PhotoVoice sessions facilitated by members of the research team, during which each participant selected a pseudonym. Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, we conducted all sessions over Zoom. Sessions were scheduled based on the group’s availability. Participants who were unexpectedly unable to attend one session met individually with the research team to process the photographs together. One participant was unable to attend the final session, so was offered the chance to comment on the final products via email instead.

During the first session, we came together as a group to discuss the purpose of the PhotoVoice process and gain participants’ agreement on sharing their collective experience as parents during the COVID-19 pandemic with other researchers, stakeholders, and policymakers. Given that participants did not know each other, we conducted an ice breaker activity to build connections and trust in the group. We then provided an overview of PhotoVoice as a participatory action research tool that is used to elicit change in the community. We discussed the various formats through which their photography could be shared to enhance awareness among key policymakers and stakeholders. However, we clarified that we could not guarantee that any immediate change would come from this project, despite our efforts. During our PhotoVoice overview, we showed videos of PhotoVoice project examples, as well as photographs of COVID-19 related PhotoVoice projects. We then proposed two prompts for participants to respond to while taking photographs: “How has COVID-19 impacted you and your family?” and “What would you like to share about your daily life right now?” Each PhotoVoice group identified additional prompts they wanted to address. The first group added: “What are some positive impacts of COVID-19?” The second group adopted the same question, and added a fourth one: “What have you learned about yourself during COVID-19?” After the group selected the questions they wished to explore, we discussed some guiding principles of photography. We asked that participants use their cell phone cameras since this method provided an efficient way to upload their pictures to our cloud-based shared folder or text or email them to the research team. We also discussed how to take pictures of individuals while concealing people’s faces to protect privacy.

During the second session, we viewed the participants' photographs taken to date, and each participant reflected on how their pictures related to the group’s prompts. The group then selected which photographs to use for their final products and collaboratively created captions for each of the pictures. The participants continued taking pictures the week following the second session. During the third and final session, participants once again reflected on their pictures, shared their collective experiences, and sorted through their photography collection to select the ones they wanted to publish along with their captions, using Google Slides to collaborate. We also discussed preferred visual styles for the photobook, which was shared with the participants a few weeks later for their comments and final approval. Participants each received a printed hardbound copy of the photobook, published online through University of Maryland and available to the public in PDF form (Martínez-García et al., 2021).

3.3. Data analysis

Following data collection, a professional transcription company transcribed verbatim (including all utterances and pauses) the second and third PhotoVoice sessions, and the research team checked the transcripts for accuracy against the audio recording. The research team then coded both the photographs and transcripts using Thematic Analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2006). All transcripts and photos were analyzed by two graduate student data analysts with guidance by study principal investigators, and our team engaged in weekly peer debriefing. First, we familiarized ourselves with the photographs and transcripts. Next, we developed an initial set of 180 codes. After comparing the codes across the transcripts and photographs, themes and subthemes were generated, and, finally, codes and photographs were grouped by finalized themes. We elected to use both the photographs and captions the youth selected as well as their discussions during the sessions for analysis because, together, they provided a rich description of participants’ experiences during the pandemic.

3.4. Positionality

Our research team included community-based and university-based partners, with young parenting former foster youth, community-based researchers, graduate students, and university professors in schools of public health and social work (one of whom is a former foster youth and teen parent). We are a diverse group with regard to gender, sexual orientation, and race and ethnicity, including Black, Latinx, and White team members. We practiced reflexivity throughout this study, including regularly reflecting on our personal experience with COVID-19 during team meetings and through reflexive journaling (Dwyer and Buckle, 2009, Gair, 2012, Louis and Bartunek, 1992). Specifically, we included as part of the agenda each meeting a time for checking in with one another generally with regard to the COVID-19 pandemic’s impacts on our lives and specifically in terms of how what we were hearing in the study related to or differed from our own experiences (Dwyer & Buckle, 2009; Gair, 2012, Louis and Bartunek, 1992). All team members engaged with data collection, analysis, and write-up wrote a reflexive journal entry each time they worked with the data regarding their reactions to the study process and any follow up needs, including plans to care for themselves and the team. This process ensured we were authentically re-presenting participants’ perspectives without our beliefs and experiences having undue influence on the analyses (Dwyer & Buckle, 2009; Gair, 2012, Louis and Bartunek, 1992).

4. Results

Thematic Analysis resulted in two themes characterizing experiences of the COVID-19 pandemic among currently parenting youth with foster care backgrounds: 1) Pandemic Parenting and 2) Making the Best of It.

4.1. Theme One: Pandemic parenting

Participants described the pandemic as both an incredibly stressful time in their parenting journeys and, conversely, one that enabled them to spend more time at home with their children. Parenting stress took many forms, including coping with isolation, meeting their family’s financial needs, addressing educational needs, and making decisions about how to keep their children safe.

Parents struggled with isolation and a lack of social and financial support, including having to attend their infants’ medical appointments alone (without their partner or a support person) and keep up with their household’s many needs. As Alexx, age 20, shared: “My sister was always with me for my daughter's appointments [before the pandemic]. It's just lonely since now I have to do it on my own.” Aaliyah, age 25, described the constant stress of providing financially for her family: “Their dad helps me watch the kids now so I can go back to school and work, but it hasn't always been that way. But, financially and everything else, everything’s on my shoulders. Nobody else really helps me. That's one of the biggest things and stresses in my life.” Sam, age 20, similarly shared a sense of overwhelm at having to keep everything going on her own, including continuously keeping up with picking up after her child, while making the day fun and enjoyable for her child. In photograph one (Fig. 1 ), she showed a glimpse of this, including the caption, “Laugh now. Cry later.” As Sam explained, “I live in a studio apartment, so things get cluttered really fast and just makes the apartment look terrible. It’s frustrating ’cause I can’t clean while my daughter’s awake because she’s just gonna continue to mess it up.”.

Fig. 1.

“Laugh now. Cry later.” - Sam (age 20).

Managing both their own and their children’s educational needs during the pandemic was another significant challenge. As Asteria Sakari, age 25, explained: “While I try to work from home, my kids want to play. My kid doesn't like online school. He finds it hard to get up in the mornings and jump on the iPad.” In photograph two (Fig. 2 ) Latti, age 23, showed how she manages to keep her son busy while she works and goes to school. As Latti explained, “He’s always in class with me whenever we’re home.”.

Fig. 2.

“My son is always with me. I have to bring my son to work with me. A marker and paper are all he needs to be entertained.” - Latti (age 23).

Another source of stress included making decisions about how to keep their families safe from COVID-19 and coping with the unknown length of the pandemic. Aaliyah explained, “And having to buy more masks, and, you know, it’s something that if this doesn’t change, and it becomes the norm, I don’t know. It reminds us that we’re not—we might not be able to go back to the way things were.” Latti shared her experience of contracting COVID-19: “'Cause even when I had COVID, the baby didn’t have it, but my mom had it. It’s like we’re in the house. We’re just stuck in the house, wiping down stuff. We’re not, like, sick, but it’s like, we have it. We were asymptomatic. So, it’s like we still have to think about other people, and the baby. And me, I was still breastfeeding. So, it’s, like, surprising that the baby didn’t get it.”

Participants recognized the importance of taking care of themselves during the pandemic to relieve stress. Asteria Sakari described one strategy: “I drive around for self-care. I take my children and they fall asleep in the car. Just a little peaceful moment to myself.” In photograph three (Fig. 3 ), Asteria Sakari showed her attempts to get some rest following a night shift while her children tried to get her attention.

Fig. 3.

“Trying to get some rest after the night shift while my kids try to get my attention.” -Asteria Sakari (age 25).

Participants discussed in detail the negative impact on their mental health and wellbeing of various types of quarantines, from state and local lockdowns to being quarantined due to exposure to co-workers, friends, or family with COVID-19. Although participants expressed understanding why these were necessary, quarantines were a challenge for this group of young parents that often had limited support. Latti shared how even going to the grocery store became a “refresher:”

“After a while, going out to get food was kind of, it seemed like a refresher. It’s like, ‘Oh, my gosh, I’m getting out the house to go buy food.’ But then, it’s like, that’s all you do now. That’s all you do. So, it just becomes, like, oh, my gosh, like, you just gotta go get food again. … And it’s like if you don’t bring a mask, you’re like, ‘Oh, smack. I left my mask. I can’t go in.’ 'Cause they’re not gonna let you in if you don’t have a mask.” - Latti (age 23)

When Latti contracted COVID-19 and had to quarantine in her home, the intensity of the isolation and stress increased:

“Quarantining was driving us crazy. Just even going outside for a little bit of fresh air was the best. For two weeks inside the house. With, you know, knowing that you have the virus. It’s like, ‘Whoa, well, like, I’m—I have this.’ Yeah.” - Latti (age 23)

Illustrating this theme, below, in photograph four (Fig. 4 ), Naveah (age 21) depicted the contrast between the freedom she felt in the “before times” and having to quarantine with her family during the pandemic.

Fig. 4.

“Life before COVID-19: enjoying sunsets while walking around the Bronx. I got to be outside with no curfew.” - Navaeh (age 21).

Most of the participants were essential workers who had to be on-site at their jobs to make a living. The continual exposure brought its own stress: worries about contracting COVID-19 and bringing it home to their families.

“I’m super scared of getting it. One of the, I guess, battery changers for the forklifts, um, he recently passed away from COVID. And his partner, who also works with him in the battery station, is fighting for his life right now—in the hospital. So that scared me even more.” - John (age 20)

“I have my internship and I’m studying social work in college. So, I’m in a room calling clients, doing telehealth, and I have to wear a mask, now it’s gonna be a face shield, and I sanitize everything. And it makes things harder because I’m just overloaded with work. … During COVID-19 we have to stay inside. It’s like you’re trapped. School is online. Doctors’ appointments are online. Everything is online. You wanna go places. You do go places, but it still doesn’t feel the same. In your mind, you’re like, 'Oh, I have to wear this mask. And I don’t know if a person has COVID-19.'” - Latti (age 23)

Participants described employing a variety of strategies to help pass the time, but that some of them made the stress even worse:

“During COVID-19, we were glued to our electronic devices. I needed help for my depression and anxiety. I didn’t want to live like this. It was affecting my family, too.” - Asteria Sakari (age 25)

Illustrating this sentiment, John described how photograph five (Fig. 5 ) showed both the isolation of quarantine and one way their family coped with being at home so much, which was to buy a trampoline for their backyard:

“Before COVID hit, we used to take a bunch of trips everywhere. Now I can't even think about going anywhere without falling into depressive thoughts, like, this is closed and this is closed. There's not even a point in going. So taking [my son] to my bed in the morning and looking out the window and seeing him excited about this trampoline has helped a lot with that.” - John (age 20)

Fig. 5.

Sunshine on the other side - John (age 20).

4.2. Theme Two: Making the best of it

As the pandemic raged on without an end in sight, participants expressed feeling a sense of wanting to use the time to make improvements in their lives. John shared his reasoning for working on his health:

“I’m, now, trying to eat a lot healthier. After hearing that news about, um, my buddies—’cause they weren’t the healthiest. They were, um, [sighs] really outta shape, the ones who, uh, passed away from COVID. And that scares me so much.”- John (age 20)

Participants realized they could make it through very challenging times and take on new roles. As Asteria Sakari explained:

“COVID-19 made me realize that I am not only a mom. I am also a teacher, a nurse…all these different roles. I already knew, but COVID-19 brought them all out at the same time. When I come home from work from an evening shift, [my children] are trying to ask me questions, and I'm like, 'I'm tired. Just give me a few hours before I collect myself.' I used to rest when they were at school. But now I have to help them with school and it's very hard. I have learned that I am resilient. We're all resilient. It's just about taking the time to really appreciate every moment because before COVID-19 it felt like time was just going fast, fast, fast, and now the time has slowed down.” - Asteria Sakari (age 25)

Participants described how the pandemic made them reflect on and appreciate their relationships with their children. The pandemic, while stressful, made it so that they spent much more time together as a family. As Alexx shared, “I don't really have much, but I have time with my daughter.” Illustrating this theme, in photograph six (Fig. 6 ), Breanna (age 22) showed how she is focusing on the joy her children bring to each day. As Breanna explained, “We spent so much time as a family together, and I'm able to actually raise my daughter instead of going to work and then being tired when I come home.”

Fig. 6.

“COVID-19 doesn’t stop her from having quality family time.” Breanna (age 22).

Participants described using the time to learn new skills and to make improvements to their homes. Cooking was an especially meaningful skill to learn as many participants had not been taught how to cook while spending time in foster care. As Alexx explained (Fig. 7 ):

“Growing up in group homes and spending time in hospitals, I never learned how to cook. I used to always eat out and spend money. To have your own place and actually make your own food feels much better..” - Alexx (age 20)

Fig. 7.

Caption: “I just feel proud of the food I can cook.” - Alexx (age 20).

Naveah explained how cooking helped her both to occupy her time and improve her diet and health: “I just love to cook. It makes me feel occupied. While you're stuck in the house, why not learn how to cook and fix up your diet, change it, leave it, and do little things.”

Athena (age 22) described how she appreciated and used the time when home with a mild case of COVID-19 as a new parent (Fig. 8 ):

“My boyfriend works during the day and I work at night, so we only get a couple of hours together before I have to go to work. We both had COVID, and we got those two weeks to hang out, spend time with each other, and it was great. We decorated the baby’s room. It's kind of fun trying to learn how to put the crib together, get decorations.” - Athena (age 22)

Fig. 8.

“She was sleeping a lot, so I went out to the garage and learned how to use power tools to make a wood quilt. This is how I spent my time as a mom with a newborn.” - Athena (age 22).

Throughout the PhotoVoice project, participants expressed wanting to focus on what they had in the present, continue to grow, and make positive changes in their lives. Aaliyah shared these sentiments through photograph nine (Fig. 9 ) and explained,

“I’ve had so many changes in my life since I was young. So, adapting to change is hard for me, but I feel like I’ve adjusted so much in my life as a kid and as an adult, more than I think a lot of people have. But I’m just like, 'If this is the new norm, then it is the new norm.' I’m not sad about it. I’m just more, like, if this is gonna continue, I wanna make masks. I wanna promote a business. I’m thinking of it more on a positive side than on a negative side… So it’s actually pushing me to be a better person.” - Aaliyah (age 25)

Fig. 9.

“In this moment, I live for today because tomorrow is not promised.” - Aaliyah (age 25).

6. Discussion

This study illuminates the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on parenting current and former foster youth. In line with other research, the young parents in this study were coping with immense stress while doing their best to meet their needs and those of their families. Parents shared detailed information about the types of parenting stress, isolation, limited resources, and lack of social and financial support they were experiencing, conditions that existed previously but were significantly exacerbated by the pandemic.

Prior studies have similarly shown how lack of resources and social-emotional support play a role in young mothers’ poor mental health and restrict opportunities for respite from parenting (Connolly et al., 2012). Multiple studies have reported how young mothers with current or prior child welfare involvement feel they are generally on their own with regard to parenting and social support, feeling that there is no one to help care for their children and the responsibility falls on them alone (Aparicio, 2017, Connolly et al., 2012, Dwyer and Buckle, 2009, Radey et al., 2016, Schelbe and Geiger, 2017). Parenting, while joyful, can also be intensely stressful, and parents in our study and others experienced increases in mental health symptoms because of the constant pressure to meet their children’s needs with limited support (Narendorf et al., 2013, Radey et al., 2016, Aparicio et al., 2022b).

The participants in our study also expressed that their children are a source of happiness and provide opportunities for examining how they truly want to spend their time, which was especially true during the pandemic. This aligns with other research that reflects how young parents with foster care histories discuss love and gratitude for their children and the joys of parenting (Aparicio et al., 2015, Haight et al., 2009, Pryce and Samuels, 2010, Schelbe and Geiger, 2017). Young parents in our study, like others, shared personal strengths and feelings of self-efficacy at having persevered (Haight et al., 2009). Parents adapted to the pandemic, like other challenging situations in the past, and displayed optimism in the face of stressful, unsupportive environments by staying focused on one day at a time (Radey et al., 2016).

Our findings highlight a number of important areas for occupational health consideration during pandemics, including how young parents with foster care histories have had increased exposure to COVID-19 as essential workers. Other research on essential workers has found that these workers experience a number of work-related stressors, including coping with thoughts of bringing the virus home to their families and fear of retaliation by employers if they were to bring up concerns about workplace conditions (Gaitens et al., 2021). Indeed, because nearly all of our participants were employed as essential workers and had very young children who could not yet be vaccinated at the time of the study, they experienced major disruptions in employment, childcare, and in-person school for their children. When school was in session, participants struggled with worries about their unvaccinated children being exposed to COVID-19 at childcare and school.

7. Study limitations

A number of design characteristics should be considered that may limit transferability of these findings to youth beyond those in the study. First, this study was conducted during a particular period of time in the COVID-19 pandemic, January to March 2021, when cases of COVID-19 were surging and vaccines had recently become available for healthcare and other essential workers in the United States. Of note, we had only one father in our study and the geographic location of participants differed, which meant that they had varied lived experiences related to lockdowns and other COVID-19 mitigation local policies. Our convenience sample was recruited from social media and email distributions using snowball sampling; it is always possible that other young parents had different experiences than those in our study sample. Because all participants in the study were current or former foster youth, the way their experiences in or after care shaped their specific experiences of parenting during the COVID-19 pandemic was not a focus of conversation in the way it might have been should there have been a mixed young parent group.

7.1. Implications

Implications of this study are numerous in terms of addressing the health needs of parenting current and former foster youth and their families during pandemics. Findings indicate the need for child welfare services to develop clear emergency plans to prepare for pandemics and ensure young parents continue to receive specialized services without interruption. One of the most significant needs presented in this study was for expansion of mental health services available through various modalities, depending on what was preferred by the young parent. Families would greatly benefit from receiving in-home childcare support when centers are closed. Participants would have benefitted from receiving payments through the child tax credit as well as support navigating eligibility and receipt of these benefits. Because many of them were claimed on someone else’s taxes as a dependent the prior year, did not file taxes due to having very low incomes, or did not have bank accounts, distribution of benefits was disrupted, though the parents in this study are certainly among those Americans most in need of pandemic-related financial relief. During the time the data were collected, there was a moratorium on aging out of the foster care system, which is important to reinstate so that young parents are not having to exit foster care as the pandemic lingers. Among youth who elect to leave the foster care system, more effort needs to be devoted in advance of and during pandemics to ensure they have connections to community supports, and that these connections are as streamlined as possible. Young parents need warm handoffs between systems designed for children and adolescents and systems designed for adults as they navigate the transition to adulthood. Our findings underscore the need to protect the health and wellbeing of essential workers, including ensuring they are as protected as possible from contracting COVID-19 and other illnesses. Further research is warranted using PhotoVoice methods for parenting youth in and transitioning from foster care, as youth in this study greatly enjoyed using photography to share their experiences. As with many studies on young parents in and formerly in foster care, fathers were underrepresented in our study; additional research on young fathers with foster care histories is critical to understanding their experiences and devising ways to support their health and wellbeing. Further, a more explicit focus on how experiences as youth with foster care backgrounds shaped their experiences could be helpful in future PhotoVoice studies.

8. Conclusion

This study highlighted the unique experiences of young parents in and recently aged out of the U.S. foster care system as they navigated the COVID-19 pandemic. Through photography, participants shared how they were coping with the pandemic and making meaning of their experiences, working to keep themselves and their families safe. Findings indicate the need to expand mental health services, protect essential workers, and ensure young parents receive support navigating systems and the process of receiving pandemic relief-related benefits. As noted by Aaliyah (25), the pandemic caused many young parents in and transitioning out of foster care to reassess how they were living their lives and what truly mattered to them, sharing “In this moment, I live for today because tomorrow is not promised.”

CRediT authorship contribution statement

Elizabeth M. Aparicio: Conceptualization, Methodology, Formal analysis, Resources, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing, Visualization, Supervision, Project administration, Funding acquisition. Svetlana Shpiegel: Conceptualization, Methodology, Resources, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing, Visualization, Supervision, Project administration, Funding acquisition. Genevieve Martinez-Garcia: Resources, Investigation, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing, Visualization, Supervision, Project administration. Alexander Sanchez: Resources, Investigation, Writing – original draft, Visualization, Project administration. Michelle Jasczynski: Resources, Formal analysis, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing, Visualization. Marissa Ventola: Resources, Formal analysis, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing, Visualization. Amara Channell Doig: Resources, Formal analysis, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing, Visualization. Jennifer L. Robinson: Resources, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing, Visualization. Rhoda Smith: Resources, Formal analysis, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing.

Declaration of Competing Interest

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Data availability

The data that has been used is confidential.