title: Psychometric properties of the Transitions from Foster Care Key Leader Survey.
abstract: This study summarizes the development and piloting of the Transitions from Foster Care Key Leader Survey (TFC-KLS), an instrument designed to measure change in systems serving young people transitioning from foster care to adulthood. The Jim Casey Youth Opportunity Initiative's logic model was used as a basis for instrument development. The instrument was piloted with 119 key leaders in six communities. Seven of eight latent scales performed well in psychometric testing. The relationships among the 24 measures of system change were explored. A CFA testing overall model fit was satisfactory following slight modifications. Finally, a test of inter-rater reliability between two raters did not find reliable reporting of service availability in a supplemental portion of the survey. The findings were generally positive and supported the validity and utility of the instrument for measuring system change, following some adaptations. Implications for the field are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Social Development Research Group, School of Social Work, University of Washington, 9725 3rd Ave. NE, Suite 401, Seattle, WA 98115, USA. Electronic address: amysal3@uw.edu.
authors.forename: Amy M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Salazar
authors.affiliation: Division of Prevention Science and Community Health, Department of Public Health Sciences, Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami, 1120 NW 14th St., Suite 1014, Miami, FL 33136, USA.
authors.forename: Eric C
authors.initials: EC
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Pittsburgh, 210 South Bouquet Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15260, USA.
authors.forename: Kathryn C
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: Monahan
authors.affiliation: Social Development Research Group, School of Social Work, University of Washington, 9725 3rd Ave. NE, Suite 401, Seattle, WA 98115, USA.
authors.forename: Richard F
authors.initials: RF
authors.lastname: Catalano
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D005260:Female; D005581:Foster Home Care; D006801:Humans; D057187:Independent Living; D008297:Male; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011594:Psychometrics; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Foster care; Measurement; System change; System-level intervention; Transition-age youth