Crime During the Transition to Adulthood: How Youth Fare As They Leave Out-of-Home Care in Illinois, Iowa, and Wisconsin, 2002-2007

The purpose of the study was to examine criminal behavior and criminal justice system involvement among youth making the transition from out-of-home care to independent adulthood. The study collected data from two sources: (1) survey data from the Midwest Study of the Adult Functioning of Former Foster Youth (Midwest Study), and (2) official arrest data. The Midwest Study was a longitudinal panel study that was part of a collaborative effort of the state public child welfare agencies in Illinois, Iowa, and Wisconsin, Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago, and the University of Washington. The participating states funded and/or operated the full range of services supported by the Chafee Foster Care Independence Program. The Midwest Study survey data were collected directly from the youth in the sample every two years over three waves, between May 2002 and January 2007. A total of 732 respondents participated in at least one of the in-person interviews over the three waves. This data collection includes some variables that were directly measured from the original Midwest Study survey instrument and other variables that were computed or derived from variables in the original data for purposes of the current study. To supplement the survey data, the research team accessed official arrest data from each state for this study. Researchers obtained data on all criminal arrests that occurred between the respondents' Wave 1 interview and August 31, 2007, a date by which all of the study participants were at least 21 years old. The study contains a total of 85 variables including indicator variables, demographic and background variables, delinquency and crime variables, out-of-home care experiences variables, and social bonds variables.

本研究旨在考察从家庭外寄养照料（out-of-home care）向独立成年阶段过渡的青少年群体的犯罪行为，以及其与刑事司法系统的接触情况。本研究的数据来源于两个渠道：(1) 前寄养青少年成年功能中西部研究（Midwest Study of the Adult Functioning of Former Foster Youth，以下简称中西部研究（Midwest Study））的调查数据；(2) 官方逮捕记录数据。中西部研究是一项纵向追踪面板研究，由伊利诺伊州、艾奥瓦州、威斯康星州的公立儿童福利机构、芝加哥大学查平霍尔以及华盛顿大学联合发起。参与本研究的各州资助并/或运营了查菲寄养照料独立计划（Chafee Foster Care Independence Program）所支持的全系列服务。中西部研究的调查数据采集工作于2002年5月至2007年1月期间开展，每两年面向样本青少年进行一次数据收集，共完成三轮追踪。最终共有732名受访者参与了三轮调查中至少一次的面对面访谈。本次数据集包含两类变量：一类直接源自原始中西部研究的调查问卷，另一类则为适配本研究目标，从原始数据中计算或衍生得到。为补充调查数据，研究团队还获取了各州的官方逮捕数据。研究人员提取了受访者第一轮访谈至2007年8月31日（此时所有研究参与者均已年满21周岁）期间的全部刑事逮捕记录。本数据集总计包含85个变量，涵盖指示变量、人口统计学与背景变量、违法与犯罪变量、家庭外寄养照料经历变量以及社会联结变量。