Zachry, MarkFowler, John2023-09-272023-09-272023-09-272023Fowler_washington_0250E_26011.pdfhttp://hdl.handle.net/1773/50628Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Washington, 2023While historically overlooked in the HCI community, the difficult transition to adulthood that many individuals experience when exiting the US child welfare system has often been the focus of traditional social work research. In recent years, several studies have indicated that there are certain digitally-mediated aspects of this transitional period that may be important to a young person’s life but have largely been overlooked, including the use of internet technologies both by the people making this transition and by the researchers working to understand and support it. This dissertation centers on how research of online communities and use of interactive research tools can supplement traditional social work research and policymaking efforts related to the transition period for people with lived experience in the foster care system. There are five studies that make up this dissertation. The first is an observational study of an online community of people with lived experience in the foster care system, with findings related to the topics of discussion and how those topics compare with how the transition period is understood in traditional social work research. The second is another observational study of the online community, with a focus on how people with lived experience feel and converse about those topics. The third is also an observational study of the online community, this time how people with lived experience discuss the child welfare topics of legal, relational, and cultural permanency. These first three studies also have a focus on ethical considerations when using this type of data for research and policy implications of findings. The fourth study is an exploratory study related to understanding the data visualization needs of professionals working in the child welfare research and policy advocacy space. The final study is a user-centered design and evaluation of an interactive data visualization tool aimed to assist the work of researchers and policy advocates in this space. These five studies make important empirical, methodological, artifact, and policy contributions to the child welfare space in the HCI community, and point researchers to additional avenues of future work.application/pdfen-USCC BYChild welfareData ethicsData visualizationFoster careOnline communitiesUsability studiesEngineeringWeb studiesSocial workHuman centered design and engineeringThesis