Extended foster care (EFC) is an important policy that supports human capital attainment for foster youth transitioning to adult independence. Previous studies have examined youth- and policy-level factors’ influence on EFC participation and human capital outcomes (e.g., education, employment). Still, few studies have examined contextual factors (e.g., county characteristics). We explore how local contexts, or county-level attributes, influence youths’ EFC participation and human capital outcomes (i.e., postsecondary education enrollment and earnings). We analyze two datasets from California Youth Transitions to Adulthood Study: survey data with rich youth-level information (n = 529) and state child welfare administrative data with a larger sample size (n = 2392). After controlling for a wide range of youth characteristics and adjusting between-county variations, regression results find that several county characteristics predict youths’ EFC participation and human capital outcomes at age 21, such as political atmosphere and worker’s satisfaction with cross-system collaboration. We conclude with a discussion of implications for research and practice.
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