Are Youth in Foster Care Really That Different From Other Disadvantaged Students?

As much as I’ve learned about youth issues over the past two decades, I can’t help but feel there is even more that I don’t know.  One of the questions that has frittered away at the margins of my knowledge is: “Is the educational outcomes of youth in foster care really that different from other disadvantaged students with significant gaps in their academic skills?”

The answer is YES, based on research by the Center for  Social Services Research and the Institute for Evidence‐Based Change. Foster youth do have lower educational outcomes than similar students who aren’t in foster care. The report Foster Youth Transitions: A Study of California Foster Youth High School and College Education explains, “Results indicate that foster youth are 17% less likely to complete high school compared to closely matched students. While no significant differences are found in community college or overall postsecondary enrollment, there are disparities in persistence. Foster youth are 8% less likely to persist in community college and 12% less likely to persist at the postsecondary level (college or university) in relation to their closely matched peers. “

So there is something going on – probably a combination of being in the system, high mobility due to changes in placements, consequences from the traumatic experiences that brought them to the child welfare system in the first place, and access to income, services and support once they start college. Getting students a high school diploma is clearly the most important thing to do – everything else is dependent on that.  Here are a few thoughts that jumped out as I read the report. 

Accountability Based on “Ever in Foster Care”: An interesting insight is that students that exit the system during high school don’t do much better than youth still in the system.  Perhaps when we think about outcomes to drive the child welfare and education system, we should be thinking of students “ever in foster care,” rather than currently in the system.  Perhaps education accountability systems should follow them until they are at least proficient at grade level, similar to the way that ELL students are followed until they reach a certain level of English language ability. Data Quality Campaign might be a good partner around reshaping how we think about K-12 accountability systems to ensure that children in foster care are always on the Superintendent’s agenda.

Get Foster Youth Extra Help to Build Academic Skills: The report confirms what we already know – students with lower skills are going to have a harder time graduating high school. The California system, in its effort to improve the system, has also built in an enormous barrier for students in its high-stake exit exam. So advocates can make a difference by accessing support services for youth in the system. The authors recommend that youth in foster care receive education assessments and personalized education plans when they enter care. Seems to me there is something else we can do. If a youth in foster care isn’t proficient at grade level, they should get individual tutors. Hmmmm... could we get Sylvan Learning Centers to be a partner?  Imagine: a child is placed in foster care and is immediately enrolled in Sylvan or other private tutoring. 

Dual Enrollment Opens Doors to College:  It’s always great to find something that seems to be making a difference. Dual enrollment is one of them. According to the report, “Foster youth who exit before high school and enroll in 15 or more credits in college are 110% more likely to persist in college compared to those who enroll in fewer courses. This finding holds true for foster youth in-care during high school who are 116% more likely to persist with 15 or more credits.  There are probably multiple things at work here – but we need to take advantage of this and make sure every youth in foster care is participating in a dual enrollment course. 

Get Group Homes on Our Agenda:  Foster youth placed in group homes had the worst high school completion outcomes. According to the report, they are more than 18% less likely to complete high school compared to those in kin homes.  Many of these young people have emotional and behavioral issues that may get in the way of their learning. However, this shouldn’t be an excuse as we all know that students that are often labeled as having behavioral problems can blossom in the right setting where the adults believe in them. That’s not the educational experience in most schools serving youth residing in group homes.  California is already on top of the issue with the passage of SB 1108 in 2004 to improve the quality of schools serving youth in group homes.  Every state needs to be on top of this issue. 

There are a couple of findings in this research that are a bit counter-intuitive, including: 1) Youth who age‐out are 20% more likely to complete high school, 19% more likely to enter community college, and 6% more likely to persist than youth who reunified with family and 2) Foster youth who enroll in basic skills classes (i.e., below college level) in community college are 30–46% more likely to persist.  Now I may be missing something here. Or perhaps the design of the research is producing these findings.  We’d love to have you share your insights that might help explain these findings.