How Cultural Connection Improves Mental and Emotional Well-Being of Foster Youth

By Guest Author, Donielle Prince, MS.Ed, Ph.D

CASA Program as an Exemplar of the Science of PACEs

The science of positive and adverse childhood experiences (PACEs) has become increasingly well-known to the general public. However, what may be less understood is how important access to affirming and representative cultural connections is to the mental and emotional well-being of all youth. For foster youth, the nature of their experience in the child welfare system can sometimes mean they become disconnected from their cultural communities. Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) can help prevent this loss and bolster cultural connections for foster youth, creating life-long benefits.

By design, Child Advocates of Silicon Valley’s CASA Program helps meet the core mental and emotional well-being needs of our most vulnerable children. The program’s model of connecting foster youth with Advocate Volunteers reflects the most recent scientific discoveries regarding child well-being. “PACEs” refers to the voluminous body of research on positive and adverse childhood experiences (see Figure 1.a). Research on positive childhood experiences (PCEs) has shown that greater exposure to PCEs can significantly decrease the well-known negative physical and mental health impacts of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). An important finding regarding PCEs was reported by Bethell et.al. (2019): The authors suggested that PCEs are best developed through the presence of meaningful safe, stable, and nurturing relationships.

Día de los Muertos | October 2023
Aztec dancer cleansing the space before beginning their traditional dance at one of our fifteen FY24 events, promoting exposure to PCEs.

CASA Volunteers’ advocacy and mentorship have always been rooted in a belief in the powerful, transformative impact of a significant and positive relationship. By definition, foster youth have encountered at least one of the traumatic adverse childhood experiences. Recent research shows that their well-being is significantly improved by as much exposure to PCEs as possible. Anecdotal evidence, including general storytelling within the CASA community, has long made clear that CASAs make a critical difference in the lives of foster youth. Even more powerfully, recent initiatives led by Child Advocates of Silicon Valley further demonstrate this transformative effect through the use of data on the activities that CASA Volunteers engage in with youth. This data reveals that CASAs greatly increase their youths’ exposure to essential, resilience-building PCEs.

CASAs, Culture and Child Well-Being

A Day at Happy Hollow Park & Zoo | February 2024
CASA Volunteer comforting their youth at Happy Hollow Park & Zoo.

The research on PACEs also points to the importance of having a culturally diverse CASA volunteer force. Two of the PCEs, “participation in community traditions” and “sense of belonging”, highlight the fact that cultural identity is fundamental to child mental and emotional well-being, especially for foster youth who may not only be disconnected from their families, but also from their entire cultural communities when placed in out of home care.

The presence of a safe, stable and nurturing relationship with someone who reflects the child’s identity, has the power to help affirm the child’s sense of, and connection to, their cultural identity. This kind of relationship also provides much needed role modeling, demonstrating to the child that their cultural identity is represented in any kind of future they can imagine. Children learn about their CASAs’ lives and experiences, so when there is a cultural affinity, the child can begin to view themselves as capable of creating those kinds of experiences for themselves as well. This role modeling and connection to culture is so vital to increasing foster youth’s exposure to PCEs, that it becomes imperative to recruit CASAs that reflect the cultural backgrounds of the youth served.

Día de los Muertos | October 2023
Youth painting CASA’s face in traditional Day of the Dead face paint.

Even when youth cannot be matched with a CASA that reflects their identity, it is important to draw upon the CASA Program resources to ensure that all youth have access to experiences, activities and people within the CASA community who can support identity affirmation and cultural representation. I learned this first-hand when I served as a CASA. I recall taking my youth, who is of South Asian descent, to a restaurant with South Asian cuisine. Her reaction was like a Sacramento CASA training on culture come to life: she was so excited, so happy, and talked to me about every food that was familiar to her, and that her family used to cook regularly. She held precious memories related to the family meals. It was so clear that connecting her, even in this seemingly small way, with aspects of her culture was affirming, meaningful, and even healing for her. Imagine providing a variety of events and experiences that could have that impact on a youth navigating through the foster care system.

The CASA model has always been an unwitting, yet far ahead of its time, organizational case study of the power of PCEs. Doing more to center cultural connection in the CASA model will certainly amplify CASAs’ transformative impact on the diverse youth these programs serve.


Reference
Bethell, C., Jones, J., Gombojav, N., Linkenbach, J., & Sege, R. (2019). Positive childhood experiences and adult mental and relational health in a statewide sample. JAMA Pediatrics, 173(11), e193007. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamapediatrics.2019.3007

About the writer, Donielle Prince

Donielle Prince, MS.Ed, Ph.D. is a mental health educator with expertise in trauma and trauma-informed practice, as well as mental health in schools. From 2010-2017, Donielle served as a CASA in Sacramento, and still keeps in touch with her youth, now an adult in her late twenties. After several years of providing counseling services to both children and adults, Donielle joined PACEs Connection, where she provided training for organizations seeking to center trauma-informed practices. During her tenure there, Donielle was proud to serve the nine counties in the Bay Area region where she was raised in (East Palo Alto). Today, Donielle provides educational resources about trauma at the National Alliance on Mental Illness.