Strengthening supportive networks for care leavers: A scoping review of social support interventions in child welfare services

Care leavers often have a smaller network and receive less social support than other youth. This is problematic, as research highlights the importance of having a strong social network on which to rely when transitioning to adulthood. As such, the purpose of this scoping review was to identify studies describing interventions, programs, or methods used by child welfare services to strengthen or enhance supportive networks for care leavers. A literature search was conducted among five databases. The search was limited to articles published between 2010 and 2020 and written in English. To be as comprehensive and inclusive as possible, quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-methods studies were included. Twelve articles were included in the review. The interventions discussed in these twelve studies were divided by the authors into five categories: (1) natural mentoring, (2) formal mentoring, (3) formal mentoring and skills training, (4) network facilitation by intensive family finding, and (5) self-help groups. This scoping review suggests that few studies have been conducted on social support interventions for care leavers carried out by child welfare services. Moreover, the method of evaluation differs among the studies that do exist. The literature is thus too limited to suggest a promising practice, but there are some examples of hopeful interventions. As such, there seems to be a need for more research on social support interventions within a child welfare context.