Education and Children in Foster Care: Future Success or Failure?

Education and Children in Foster Care: Future Success or Failure?

by Janis Avery

With a growing emphasis nationwide on higher academic standards and student and teacher accountability, educators and child-welfare experts fear that many students in [foster care] are bound to get left behind without extra help. --Education Week, September 9, 1998

Founded in 1987 by a group of social workers who were aware that the state's foster-care program can't do everything for the children it serves, Treehouse, a nonprofit agency, offers a wide variety of services for foster families. Because research has shown that:

School success is critical to a high quality life in both childhood and adulthood.

Children who experience school continuity achieve better academic outcomes than those who change schools and miss time in school.

Children in the child welfare system typically:

Do not function well in school at any age,

Are poorly prepared for kindergarten,

Have greater than average behavioral and learning problems,

Miss a large number of school days,

Change schools frequently, and

Drop out of school at higher rates than their peers

Treehouse's long-term goal is to improve the graduation rate for Washington State's youth emancipating from foster care to within 10% of the community average.

Intermediate Goals:

systematic screening for birth to 3 and preschool special education programs as well as K–12 special education

preschool experience for every child in foster care

WASL performance within 10% of school average

youth emancipate from foster care with employment, and/or a funded plan for post-secondary education along with appropriate life skills

Strategies to Achieve These Goals:

Define the Educational Issues Facing Children in Washington State's Child Welfare System,

Establish Continuity in School Placements,

Provide In-School Instructional and Advocacy Support, and

Actively Facilitate Children's Educational Experience

How Many Children in Washington State Are Affected?

There are 11,500 children in foster care on any given day, over 6,000 have been in care longer than a year.

7,590 children in foster care are of school age.

Each year, over 300 youth emancipate from foster care at age 18. Nearly 1/3 of these children entered their last placement episode before age 13. Only 30% of these youth have a high school diploma or GED.

Background

Standards-based school success is among the highest priorities for our community. Yet, a series of national and international studies measuring educational, social and vocational outcomes for children in foster care tell us the vast majority of children who enter the protection of state foster care do poorly in school. This directly impacts their skills as independent adults.

In national studies between 30 - 60% of children who emancipate from foster care at age 18 graduate from high school or possess a GED. A recent review of Washington State youth emancipating from foster care indicated that only 30% emancipated with a high school diploma or GED.

There are many research-based practices that positively affect the school success of abused and neglected children. None of these practices have been systematically applied in Washington State or elsewhere. Without practical interventions to improve the functional skills of these abused and neglected children, this community is doomed to have another generation of young adults who fail to take care of themselves and their children, entering the welfare, social service and criminal justice system as single parents, homeless and jobless. Because of extreme transience, and early educational neglect, these children are unlikely to be significantly affected by currently popular, building-based and classroom-based school reform measures.

Concrete planning and intervention is needed on an individual and system-wide basis to ensure that children who are placed in foster care, or living with parents under the supervision of CPS, will be as successful in school as their peers and prepared to execute a plan for their futures.

Traditionally, child welfare and education programs have worked independently of each other. In Washington State, Terry Bergeson, Superintendent of Public Instruction, and Rosie Oreskovich, Assistant Secretary of DSHS, have agreed that they must collaborate in order to improve educational outcomes for children in foster care. Unfortunately, no map exists to guide them in this collaboration.

Essential First Steps

Deliberate interventions must be planned and executed in order to impact the educational problems of children in foster care. These interventions should be based on accurate information about children's school experiences. Unfortunately, this information that is presently unavailable. Therefore, a critical first step is a research study to learn about these experiences.

Define the Educational Issues Facing Children in Washington State's Child Welfare System

A study is needed to learn about the educational needs of children in the child welfare system, with an emphasis on children in foster care. Successful programs and collaborations addressing educational outcomes for children in foster care should be analyzed. Current research about the educational outcomes of children in foster care should be summarized. Analysis of this data will aid planning and collaboration between DCFS, OSPI, local agencies, and school districts to facilitate successful educational outcomes for abused and neglected children.

At a minimum, the study should address:

What are the educational needs of children in foster care, and what are the barriers to their readiness to learn?

How are children in the child welfare system being prepared for and supported in schooling, from early intervention services all the way through high school?

How many children in foster care are currently receiving special education services?

How many children in foster care should be receiving special education services, but are not?

What are the school suspension patterns of children in foster care?

What are the causes of high school students in foster care quitting school before graduation?

How many school changes do children in foster care average?

What are the barriers to providing children in foster care with continuity in school placements?

What information systems are necessary to appropriately monitor and facilitate the educational experiences of children in foster care?

How are children in foster care scoring on the WASL and other educational assessments in comparison with other youth?

What impact does involvement with independent programs, such as the Treehouse Tutoring Program, have on the academic skills of children in foster care?

What model interventions/services does current research indicate will likely result in positive academic differences for children in foster care?

This study is critically needed to clarify current weaknesses in the educational system for abused and neglected children, to build accountability for the children's education and to support strategic planning about the most appropriate, tactical investments to positively influence the educational outcomes for this transient and needy population of students.

Establish Continuity in School Placements

Target foster home recruitment to schools that have high numbers of families who are investigated for allegations of abuse and neglect. This will allow for the placement of children in their home communities and will allow children to maintain current school placements.

Make timely and child-friendly transportation arrangements for children who are placed in foster care to be transported between the foster home and school-of-origin.

Provide In-School Instructional and Advocacy Support

Formal tutoring models have been shown to be one of the most effective approaches to stabilizing educational transitions for children in foster care. Extending these services beyond elementary years is supported by research that shows enhanced educational outcomes with continuous support services to students as they move through their early childhood and K-12 years.

Expand the Treehouse tutoring program capacity by adding services for middle and high school students.

Actively Facilitate Children's Educational Experience

DCFS and OSPI collaborate to identify, assess, and serve children in foster care and children who have been or are at high risk of being abused or neglected.

Refine Washington State's Readiness to Learn Program to focus on facilitating education for children in foster care and children who have been or are at high risk of being abused or neglected. Assure adequate services to children within schools and to families in the community.

Screen all children in foster care and children who are suspected of being abused or neglected for eligibility for Birth-to-3 and preschool special education programs, as well as K – 12 special education.

Train foster parents, kin caregivers, birth parents and group care providers about IDEA and educational advocacy methods.

Train DCFS Social Workers about IDEA, ADA and educational advocacy methods.

Train judges and commissioners about ways to monitor children's educational progress through the court review process.

Advocate for the full implementation of the Passport program.

Provide periodic professional career/education assessment for youth 6^th grade and higher in order to assure preparation for independent living and post-secondary education.

Match teens with mentors who advise them about course selection, volunteer and entry job opportunities, college and financial aid applications, etc.

Recruit college-educated foster parents who will increase educational expectations.

In cooperation with OSPI, create a "catch-up credit" program for high school students who have been transient.

Train Social Workers, foster parents, kin caregivers, birth parents and group care providers to establish early support for educational and career expectations and appropriate post-secondary goals.

Provide training for adolescents, caregivers and Social Workers about post-secondary educational opportunities, financial aid and scholarship support.

Provide supplemental scholarship assistance or tuition waivers to children who have emancipated from foster care. This will help to make it possible for students who do not have the benefit of family resources and savings to complete a post-secondary education.

Explore developing tracking capability for foster kids through the migrant student data base.

Community Solutions

Washington State CASA has recently received a grant from the Stuart Foundation to teach CASA volunteers educational advocacy skills to help kids in foster care.

Team Child developed an educational advocacy manual and training designed for foster parents.

Treehouse provides tutoring and advocacy services in 9 schools in the Seattle area, serving 150 kids in foster care.

Casey Family Program's Strategic Learning Center offers strategic tutoring for high school-aged youth in foster care.

Treehouse is matching community volunteers with foster care youth in high school who are interested in attending college. The coaches act as advisors about the process and help with completing applications and selecting programs.

Treehouse has hired an educational advocate and located her in a DCFS office in order to assure stronger educational outcomes for middle school aged youth in foster care.

Treehouse and Casey Family Programs serve as co-conveners of a consortium comprised of Seattle Public Schools, Division of Children and Family Services, University of Washington K-12 Leadership Institute and the Center for the Study of At Risk Students. The group has established the numbers of foster children located in specific schools through a unique data sharing agreement between SPS and DCFS. During Spring, 2001, they will select among a range of possible strategies developed over the last year to improve the educational outcomes of children in foster care.

Washington State History

The Health and Education Passport program was created in 1997. Anecdotal information suggests DCFS Social Workers are not able to consistently record educational history due to work load issues and barriers schools place in releasing records. There is no process for sharing information "in the best interest of children" across the child welfare and school systems.

The Passport would be helpful for individual education planning if it were fully implemented. However, individual history alone will not yield an effective educational program for children in foster care. Like homeless children and those eligible for special education, population-wide strategies must be implemented to compensate for the effects of abuse and neglect and an unstable life. Education is a critical intervention for success in life that must be addressed within the child welfare system.

About the Author

Janis Avery is a social worker with 20 years of experience supporting children and families in the foster care system. Since 1995 she has been Executive Director of Treehouse which provides enrichment support and advocates for systems change for kids in foster care in King County, Washington. Her current passion is to ensure that children in foster care are included in education reform plans so that they have the opportunity to succeed at school. Contact: Janis Avery, (206) 767-7000, ext. 205, janis@treehouse4kids.org.

This article is in the public domain and can be freely copied and used in trainings as handouts at parent and community meetings, and in creating your school or district programs. (Please cite all sources of materials you use.)

This information is provided by:
Office of State Superintendent of Public Instruction
Special Education
P O Box 47200
Olympia, WA 98504-7200
(360) 725-6088
Fax (360)586-1631
E-mail: dgill@ospi.wednet.edu