From Crosses to Crystals: The Use of Diverse Spiritual Practices by Youth Impacted by Foster Care to Support Wellness.

Purpose: The wellness experiences and needs of older youth impacted by foster care (YIFC), particularly in the area of spirituality, are an understudied area despite the large amount of scholarship addressing the outcomes of this population. To address this gap, this study aimed to identify strategies central to youth's wellness, which ultimately included spiritual practices.

Materials and methods: A research collective (n = 20) of YIFC, allies, and the author implemented a hybrid qualitative youth participatory action study. Drawing on photovoice and constructivist grounded theory methodologies, a diverse set of data was collected by the research collective, including audio recordings from individual interviews and group sessions, member-generated photographs and creative writing pieces, and collectively written pieces in response to wellness prompts. Group analysis using the SHOWeD photovoice analysis framework and author-led analysis using constructivist grounded theory approaches were used to generate findings.

Results: Spiritual practices were a fundamental wellness strategy for older YIFC. Youth's spiritual practices included communicating with nature, praying or manifesting, spiritually connecting with others, and engaging with spiritual texts or objects. Young people faced specific barriers to pursuing spiritual practices related to foster care.

Discussion: Findings support that current foster care system policies and practices may be inadequate to protect young people's rights to explore and engage in spiritual practices.

Conclusion: This study highlights the need for knowledge on how spirituality influences the lives of YIFC and provides recommendations for tailoring foster care policy to better support the spiritual needs and overall wellness of these young people.