Assessing the educational achievements of adults who were formerly placed in family foster care (original) (raw)
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Children and Youth Services Review, 2006
This study evaluated the intermediate and long-term effects of family foster care on adult functioning using a sample of 659 young adults from two public and one private child welfare agencies, case record reviews, structured interviews, and a survey response rate of 76%. Foster care alumni completed high school at a rate comparable to the general population, but a disproportionately high number of them completed high school via a GED. Alumni completion rates for postsecondary education were low. Consequently, many alumni were in fragile economic situations: one-third of the alumni had household incomes at or below the poverty level, one-third had no health insurance, and more than one in five experienced homelessness after leaving foster care. Two foster care experience areas were estimated to significantly reduce the number of undesirable outcomes in the Education outcome domain: positive placement history (e.g., high placement stability, few failed reunifications), and having broad independent living preparation (as exemplified by having concrete resources upon leaving care).
Improving the Postsecondary Educational Attainment of Youth in Foster Care
New Directions for Community Colleges, 2018
This chapter examines what we know about the disparity in postsecondary educational attainment between youth in foster care and their non-foster care peers, the reasons for it, and the policies and programs that have been developed to address that disparity. It also discusses the unique role that community colleges can play in reducing this disparity.
2012
As a group, youth who have spent time in foster care are far behind the general population in postsecondary educational attainment. Nevertheless, most do hold aspirations for higher education. For those who make it to college, foster care alumni face a variety of obstacles related to successful postsecondary completion. However, it is unclear whether the factors that affect postsecondary success in this population are similar to those identified for other college students or more unique to the distinctive experience of being in foster care. Furthermore, while there is general consensus that higher education is beneficial to foster care alumni in overcoming adversity, no study has examined how foster care alumni who graduate from college actually fare in their adult lives compared with the general population of college graduates, or with those in the general population who did not graduate college. The study aims first to identify the predictors of postsecondary retention and success using survey data from a cross-sectional sample of foster care alumni who received Casey Family Scholarship Program or Orphan Foundation of America Foster Care to Success postsecondary scholarships. Second, the study compares adult outcomes of foster care alumni graduates with general population graduates and general population non-graduates to explore the role higher education plays in these youths' lives. Results are interpreted in relation to Bronfenbrenner's Ecological Systems Theory, theories of educational persistence and motivation, trauma theory, and theories related to other difficulties of being in foster care. Analyses include bivariate examinations of postsecondary factors and their relation to college disengagement; discrete-time survival analysis of general college ii retention factors and factors more unique to the foster care population in predicting college graduation; and multivariate comparisons (ANOVA's, ANCOVA's, and chisquares) of foster youth graduates and non-foster youth graduates and non-graduates in relation to their post-college life circumstances. In bivariate comparisons of general population factors related to retention, five of the nine factors (academic-related skills, institutional commitment, social support, social involvement, and institutional financial support) had at least one indicator with a significant or trend-level relationship with college disengagement. In bivariate comparisons of foster care-specific factors related to retention, four out of the seven factors (maltreatment/ trauma/PTSD, other mental health problems, independent living stability, tangible support) had at least one item with a significant or trend-level relationship with college disengagement. Comparing the two separate factor models, the general population factor group modeled the data slightly better in predicting college graduation than the foster care-specific factor model. No model improvement was found when foster care-specific factors were added into the general population factor model. Both general population and foster care alumni graduates fared more positively than general population non-graduates for three post-college factors: individual income, financial satisfaction, and happiness. Only the general population graduates were found to be faring better than general population non-graduates on a variety of other factors. Foster youth graduates fared less positively than general population graduates on a variety of post-college outcomes. Results have implications for policy and practice regarding the most effective means of supporting postsecondary aspirations of youth with foster care experience. iii Acknowledgements I would like to thank Casey Family Programs and the Orphan Foundation of America, most notably Peter Pecora, John Emerson, and Tina Raheem, for giving me the opportunity to and support in developing this study. Their passion for supporting youth in foster care in achieving postsecondary goals is inspiring and I was glad to find such capable and driven mentors that I hope to work with for years to come. I am also grateful to all of the foster care alumni who took time out of their lives to take part in my study and share their experiences in hopes that this information will one day support other youth with foster care experience who are working to achieve their postsecondary goals. Your commitment to overcome is a powerful lesson to all of us who take our supports and privilege for granted. I also thank my dissertation committee, and especially my chair Tom Keller, for the hours of consultation, reflection, and support, as well as enduring my lofty plans to undertake projects that are probably much too large for one dissertation.
An Examination of Post-Secondary Education Access, Retentionand Success of Foster Care Youth
2011
Changes in the U.S. economy have made the attainment of a higher education credential more important than ever to ensure self-sufficiency. Therefore, it is critical that the child welfare, K-12, and higher education systems encourage and support the postsecondary educational aspirations of court wards. When the state makes the decision to remove a child from his/her biological home, it bears the responsibility to provide the educational guidance as well as assistance otherwise provided by families during the transition from high school to college. This dissertation explores the educational outcomes of older youth in care by first looking at the perceptions of high school aged foster youth in identifying the barriers and pathways they face in graduating from high school and accessing college and then will investigate persistence in post-secondary education for a sample of foster care alumni who are enrolled at a four-year college. The first study investigates the barriers and pathways high school and college-aged foster care youth face in completing high school and in transitioning from high school to college using action research strategies, which are based on an empowerment theoretical framework. The second study follows a cohort of students who were able to successfully enroll in a four-year university and tracks i\ t%. f r-" e-v-~c-6 ^ re ^~S\ A i |\| \<w I
This report summarizes findings from a statewide analysis of the educational attainment of foster youth in Washington's public school system. It analyzes various factors related to educational success, comparing the outcomes of youth in long-term foster care with the state's school-age population. The report merges data from the child welfare system and the public schools to detail the educational experience of students, including foster youth, from elementary school through high school completion. On average, foster youth score 15 to 20 percentile points below non-foster youth on statewide achievement tests. Only 59 percent of foster youth enrolled in llth grade complete high school by the end of grade 12. The completion rate for non-foster youth is 86 percent. At both the elementary and secondary levels, twice as many foster youth have repeated a grade, changed schools during the year, or enrolled in special education programs compared with non-foster youth. A youth's length of stay in foster care and other placement characteristics do not appear to relate to educational attainment. Three appendices present regression results for schoolwide assessments, long-term foster youth assessments, and grade 11 high school completion. (SM)
An analysis of foster care placement history and post-secondary graduation rates
Journal of Research in Higher Education, 2013
Prior research has document significant disparities in post-secondary educational attainment between young adults who had been in foster care and their peers in the general population. This study uses survival analysis to compare the four-year college graduation rate of students who had been in foster care to the graduation rate of first generation, low-income students at the same university. Estimates from discrete time hazard models indicate that former foster care students graduated at a slower rate than their non-foster care peers even after controlling for gender and race. In addition, although students in poor academic standing (cumulative GPA below 2.0) graduated at the same rate regardless of whether they had been in foster care, having been in foster care had a negative effect on the graduation rate of students in good academic standing (cumulative GPA's at or above 2.0). The implications of these findings for increasing post-secondary educational attainment among college students who had been in foster care are discussed.
In 1993, Texas became one of the first states to adopt a post-secondary tuition and fee waiver for foster youth. In the present study, we examine the post-secondary achievements of a cohort of foster youth in Texas. Youth formerly in care were followed from age 18 to 24. Academic data reveal that only 1.5% of the youth received a bachelor's degree and 2% received an associate's degree or certificate, despite the state tuition and fee waiver. While we cannot assess causality, our descriptive data indicate potential waiver benefits in terms of post-secondary enrollment, retention, and graduation rates. However, results reveal that a significant percentage of emancipated youth who enroll in college (all waiver eligible), do not utilize the waiver (46%). In addition, the graduation rate for waiver recipients, while higher than non-recipients, is low. Study findings suggest that waivers may be a viable strategy for promoting higher education among foster youth. However, to substantively improve post-secondary outcomes for foster youth, tuition legislation must be supplemented with initiatives specifically designed to promote waiver utilization as well as college retention and graduation.
Understanding the plight of foster youth and improving their educational opportunities
Child Abuse & Neglect, 2004
Children in foster care represent one of the most educationally vulnerable populations of students. There are estimated to be 542,000 children in the United States in foster care (US Department of Health and Human Services, 2003), most of whom are at great risk of school failure. These children have been removed from their parents' custody by the courts and placed in out-of-home care with relatives, in foster homes, or in group homes. The problems children in out-of-home care have in receiving an adequate education are considerable. Within US schools, the personal histories of these youngsters and the impact on school performance too often go unnoticed or are misunderstood. Few learning supports are made available by the schools to address the significant academic, emotional and behavioral problems many experience. This commentary describes the educational barriers to learning and achieving facing children in foster care as well as some innovative interventions to improve school outcomes.