Career Development for Youth Transitioning out of Care: A Scoping Review

Background and Purpose: Youth transitioning out of systems of care face significant structural and relational barriers as they navigate education, employment, and financial independence during emerging adulthood. Compared to their peers, care-experienced youth experience poorer outcomes across employment, education, and long-term stability. While policy and program efforts have increasingly emphasized workforce preparation, much of the existing research focuses on employment outcomes rather than the broader process of career development. Career development, however, is a multidimensional and ongoing process involving goal setting, decision-making, identity formation, and access to opportunities. This gap is particularly critical for youth aging out of care, who often lack consistent adult guidance and access to supportive networks. This study presents findings from a scoping review aimed at examining how career development for youth transitioning out of care is conceptualized, studied, and supported in the existing literature.

Methods: This scoping review was conducted using PRISMA-ScR guidelines. A comprehensive search was conducted across nine electronic databases using keywords related to career development and youth transitioning out of care. Studies published between 2015 and 2025 were included if they explicitly focused on career development among youth transitioning out of age. Following screening and eligibility assessment, 27 studies were included. Data were extracted on study characteristics, aims, methods, and findings analyzed using descriptive and thematic synthesis to map patterns in the literature.

Results: Findings indicate that career development for youth transitioning out of care is increasingly conceptualized as a multidimensional process shaped by relational, institutional, and structural factors, rather than as a single employment outcome. Five key themes emerged: (1) employment outcomes and structural constraints, (2) structured career-readiness interventions, (3) relational and mentoring supports, (4) postsecondary and vocational contexts, and (5) early work experiences and identity development. The literature is heavily concentrated on evaluating structured interventions and short-term employment outcomes, with comparatively limited attention to long-term career trajectories, job quality, or youth-defined notions of career success. Across studies, qualitative approaches were widely used to examine relational and process-oriented aspects of career development, while quantitative and evaluation studies primarily focused on short-term employment outcomes. However, evidence remains uneven, with limited longitudinal research, underrepresentation of vocational pathways, and insufficient focus on youth perspectives and decision-making processes.

Conclusions and Implications: This review highlights the need to reconceptualize career development for care-experienced youth as a process shaped by structural inequalities, relational supports, and institutional access, rather than individual readiness alone. Findings suggest that social work practice and policy should move beyond short-term employment outcomes to prioritize sustained relational support, coordinated institutional services, and opportunities for career exploration. Strengthening career development pathways requires integrating child welfare, education, and workforce systems to support equitable transitions to adulthood. Future research should prioritize longitudinal designs, youth-centered conceptualizations of career development, and greater attention to vocational and alternative pathways. These efforts are critical for advancing social justice and improving long-term career outcomes for youth transitioning out of care.