Exploring the meaning and experience of family for youth leaving care: a scoping review

Family is important to all, but is a complex issue for young people who are transitioning from out-of-home care. This scoping review explores the meaning and experience of family for care-experienced youth and identifies implications for research and practice to support their social wellbeing. It reports on findings from a review of 31 journal articles that address the concept of family for youth leaving care. The paper explores the range and nature of family relations studied and key themes emerging including how family is conceptualized and experienced by youth leaving care. There is duality in how family is constructed through family practices with chosen individuals but also defined primarily by biological connection. Young people are active in sustaining and managing complex family relations that require a broader, more diverse understanding of family that can support their family-forming efforts with a wider range of individuals before, during and after their transition from out-of-home care.