Artmaking, employment, and community

In 2022 alone, 201,372 youth between the ages of 17 and 23 were emancipated from foster care. Young women transitioning out of foster care face significant barriers when positioning themselves for a stable adult life, including difficulties with higher education, employment, housing, finances, and physical and mental health. Arts-based therapeutic employment programs provide arts-related employment and other assistance to this under-resourced population. These programs could be a helpful step toward a positive life trajectory for young women transitioning out of foster care. This paper identifies key elements of a trauma-informed training curriculum for non-therapist artist-educators working with young women ages 16-21 in an arts-based therapeutic employment program in Central Pennsylvania. The research was then applied to create a 4-session arts-based, trauma-informed training curriculum for these non-therapist artist-educators.