Peer-reviewed article
Towards a Social Ecological Approach to Supporting Caseworkers in Promoting the Online Safety of Youth in Foster Care
Karla A. Badillo-Urquiola, Zainab Agha, Denielle Abaquita, Scott B. Harpin, Pamela Wiśniewski ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This study interviewed 32 caseworkers in the US who work with teenagers in foster care to understand how they address online safety risks. Caseworkers are most worried about online interactions that lead to physical harm, such as sex trafficking or running away, rather than risks that only happen online. The research found that caseworkers lack adequate training and support to manage online safety alongside their heavy workloads, and calls for better systems to help caseworkers, foster families, and young people work together on online safety.
Key points
- Caseworkers prioritize sexual-related risks that result in physical abuse or offline consequences over risks confined to virtual spaces
- Online safety is often treated as an afterthought due to heavy caseloads and insufficient support
- Caseworkers report inadequate training for addressing online safety challenges
- A social ecological approach involving collaboration between caseworkers, foster families, and youth is needed
- Early prevention in online spaces can support the safety and well-being of foster youth offline
Limitations
This study is based on interviews with caseworkers only and does not include perspectives from foster parents or the youth themselves, which limits understanding of the full picture of online safety support in foster care. The research describes current practices and concerns but does not evaluate whether any specific intervention to improve online safety support is effective.
Abstract
This research examines how caseworkers collaborate with foster families to address adolescent online safety. We interviewed 32 caseworkers who worked with teens (ages 13-17) in foster care within the past 5 years. Using thematic analysis, we found that case managers are most concerned about sexual-related risks that result in physical abuse (e.g., sex trafficking) or online interactions that facilitated offline risks (e.g., runaway, illegal drug activity), rather than risks that only manifested in virtual spaces. Yet, inadequate training and insufficient support left caseworkers at a loss for how to address these challenges on top of their already heavy caseloads, often making online safety an afterthought. We call on the foster care system to place a higher priority in providing collaborative and socio-technical ecological support for caseworkers, foster parents, and children, so that early risk prevention in online spaces can support the safety and well-being of foster youth offline.