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Youth Departing from Residential Care: A Gender Comparison

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Abstract

Although females represent almost half of all youth involved in residential care in the US, very little is known about this population. In order to examine differences in characteristics of male (n = 308) and female (n = 180) youth departing from residential care, data were collected on 488 youth from a large residential treatment facility in the Midwest. Gender differences were assessed on 16 variables measured at the time of departure across family, education, behavior, and departure domains. Overall, male and female youth departing from residential care were very similar for measures collected at the time of departure. Only three variables (GPA at departure, number of school referrals during the previous 8 weeks, and planned departure) were found to be significantly different between males and females. Implications for future research and the provision of aftercare services are discussed.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Special Education and Communication Disorders, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 202 Barkley Memorial Center, Lincoln, NE, 68583, USA

    Annette K. Griffith, Alexandra L. Trout, Michael H. Epstein & Robert Reid

  2. National Research Institute for Child and Family Studies, Boys Town, USA

    M. Beth Chmelka, Jonathan C. Huefner & Debbie Orduna

  3. The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA

    Elizabeth M. Z. Farmer

Authors
  1. Annette K. Griffith
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  2. Alexandra L. Trout
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  3. M. Beth Chmelka
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  4. Elizabeth M. Z. Farmer
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  5. Michael H. Epstein
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  6. Robert Reid
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  7. Jonathan C. Huefner
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  8. Debbie Orduna
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Correspondence to Annette K. Griffith.

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Griffith, A.K., Trout, A.L., Chmelka, M.B. et al. Youth Departing from Residential Care: A Gender Comparison. J Child Fam Stud 18, 31–38 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-008-9204-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-008-9204-3

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