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Objective: Savings-group interventions—a form of microfinance involving a small group of individuals who meet regularly to save—have been found to decrease intimate partner violence (IPV) risk among women in countries outside of the United States, but such groups have yet to be used or tested for this purpose in the United States. This study explores whether young women IPV survivors formerly in foster care would be interested in participating in a savings group and whether IPV experiences influence this interest. Method: Survey data were collected from foster care alumnae ages 18–24 years who reported ever experiencing physical, sexual, and/or emotional IPV (n = 62). I analyzed close- and open-ended data using descriptive and regression analyses and content analysis, respectively. Results: Over half (54%) the sample reported interest in savings-group participation. There was no statistically significant association between IPV characteristics (frequency, recency, fear) and savings-group interest, but interest was significantly associated with not having full-time employment and being in a current relationship. Participants were primarily interested for social-support reasons. Uninterested or apprehensive participants reported concerns about money and participating with others. Conclusions: Savings groups may be acceptable for IPV survivors with foster care history if the groups are trauma informed and tailored to address economic and social-support needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Unique service needs exist for expectant or parenting youth with foster care histories (EPY) and their families. Informed by Critical Ecological Systems Theory (CEST), this exploratory qualitative study presents findings from an inductive content analysis of in‐depth interviews and focus groups with EPY and service providers. The study included nine in‐depth face‐to‐face interviews with service providers (n = 5) and EPY (n = 4) as well as five focus groups with service providers (n = 23) and three with EPY (n = 7) to identify the characteristics of service providers, agencies and systems that may act as barriers to service utilization among EPY with a foster care history (n = 10) or juvenile justice history (n = 1). Service provider characteristics included negative attitudes towards EPY and/or those with child welfare experiences. Agency characteristics included a lack of workforce diversity, employee turnover, lack of training about diverse communities, restrictive enrolment processes and eligibility requirements, lack of childcare and transportation and limited accessibility of services. System characteristics included a lack of up‐to‐date information about existing services, territorialism, funding sources that do not prioritize interagency collaboration and a lack of communication/coordination among agencies. Implications include hiring and retaining a diverse workforce, providing training about diverse communities and implicit biases concerning young parents, developing navigation services specifically for EPY and developing processes for sharing data and communicating across systems that interact with EPY. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]