Foster Youth and Why They Are Not Succeeding in Their Education - Research Paper Example

The Educational Challenges of Foster Youth Research Paper A large number of children presently in foster care in the United States are among the highly vulnerable youth in the country. Foster youth confront numerous difficulties or challenges throughout their lives. However, of all the problems foster youth encounter, poor academic performance could have the most severe impact on their lives. For youth in long-term foster care, a serious problem is the tough transition from state-subsidized foster care into adulthood. This paper analyzes the academic performance of youth in foster care and the causes of the observed low educational attainment of these foster youth. Introduction For practically all young individuals, the finale of adolescent life means becoming a part of the employment world, vocational preparation, or post-secondary education. But many are neither in school nor at work, especially among foster youth. A large number of children presently in foster care in the United States are among the highly vulnerable youth in the country (Whiting, 2000). Studies reveal that adults who were previously foster children are more prone to experience low quality of life compared to the mainstream population (Staub & Meighan, n.d.). Thus foster youth are more at-risk of becoming involved in criminal activities, homeless, or reliant on welfare services (Courtney et al., 2010). This paper analyzes the academic performance of youth in foster care and the causes of the observed low educational attainment of these foster youth. Human capital is obviously necessary for success during the passage toward adulthood, yet researchers on previous foster youth discover low academic performance and that they perform poorly in comparison to the general population. Besides proving that previous foster youth have a lower level of educational achievement, most researchers report that they are less able to finish high school or pass the General Education Development (GED) exam (Zeitlin, Weinberg, & Kimm, 2004). Foster youth confront numerous difficulties or challenges throughout their lives. There are an approximated 500,000 foster care children in the U.S. (Finkelstein, Wamsley, & Miranda, 2002, 1). A large number of them have experienced maltreatment and other ordeals both prior to and after they were transferred to foster care, and numerous have particular social, emotional, and medical needs. However, of all the problems foster youth encounter, poor academic performance could have the most severe impact on their lives. For youth in long-term foster care, a serious problem is the tough transition from state-subsidized foster care into adulthood (Wells & Zunz, 2009). The successful transition of foster youth is thus greatly influenced by education. Unfortunately, numerous foster youth are out of school or underperforming. In comparison to their peers, foster youth have poorer performance on standardized exams and greater dropout rates, truancy, tardiness, and absenteeism (Wells & Zunz, 2009). Summative data nationwide show that foster youth perform poorly in academics, usually getting low scores and in the end not progressing or reaching their full intellectual capability. Sadly, even when foster youth are placed together with poor performing students in underprivileged urban schools, their academic performance is still likely to be worse than their peers (Zeitlin et al., 2004). Researchers comparing non-foster youth with foster youth reveal that the latter are more prone to have issues with self-control, discipline, and behavior, more prone to encounter discrepancies in their education due to school relocations, more likely to resort to vocational courses, more prone to be in special classes, and less able to advance toward a college preliminary course. Suggestively a smaller number of foster youth are likely to finish high school (Staub & Meighan, n.d.). But as soon as they are released and not in the custody of the state anymore, their future opportunities will be largely influenced by their academic achievement or level of education. Literature Review Foster Youth: Overview Approximately 20,000 teenagers are released from the foster care institution every year, and they try to live on their own and become independent (Courtney, Terao, Bost, 2004, 3). Studies of highly vulnerable adolescents generally involve those who lived in economically deprived neighborhoods, came from socially and economically disadvantaged families, are members of ethnic minority groups, and resided in major urban areas (Courtney et al., 2004). Foster youth are more vulnerable than their peers because they grow up in homes and with family members that are generally highly vulnerable or at-risk in terms of the factors mentioned above. Furthermore, these foster youth are victims of abuse, and more usually neglect, that resulted in their eviction from home. In certain instances, the institution that is intended to support and assist them is not able to fulfill their emotional, employment, educational, mental health, health, or other necessities. Present funding for the federal child welfare system gives inadequate resources to states to let youth stay in foster care even after reaching the age of eighteen (Frerer et al., 2011). Consequently, these young people are released from foster care once they reach eighteen or immediately afterward, which means that these foster youth are compelled to live independently at a fairly early phase in the shift to adulthood. Foster youth confront not just the normal developmental changes, unfamiliar experiences, and adjustments usual to their age, but the burdensome transition from being in foster care to living independently. This is especially the case for youngsters who ‘age out’ of foster care as they reach the age of eighteen (Courtney et al., 2010). The range of assistances, supports, and services given to these young people while under foster care, such as caseworker care, health support, food, and housing, are absent. Furthermore, numerous of these adolescents are coping with the long-term outcomes of being victimized by maltreatment, neglect, and separation from their families (Courtney et al., 2010). Researchers report that numerous youngsters who leave foster care have problems as they move to adulthood. They are more at risk than others of dropping out of school, being homeless or jobless, experiencing mental health and health difficulties, becoming involved in illicit drugs and other crimes, becoming juvenile parents, and not having health insurance. The research by Courtney and colleagues (2010) studied a group of adolescents previously in foster care and discovered that by early adulthood: (1) More than 40% of males previously part of the foster youth population admitted involvement in criminal activities; (2) roughly one quarter of adolescents previously in foster care had struggled with homelessness; (3) most of those previously in foster care had no work, and those who had did not earn living wages; and, (4) youngsters previously in foster care were thrice more likely as those not in foster care to have low educational achievement or poor academic performance (Courtney et al., 2010). These findings indicate that these young people are being discharged from foster care not fully prepared. They generally do not have needed abilities and knowledge for living independently, basics for acquiring and sustaining work, support services, and medical provisions. Educational Performance of Foster Youth For foster youth, educational achievement can be a valuable counterbalance to the conflict, neglect, maltreatment, and separation they have encountered in their lives. Studies reveal that numerous foster youth experience difficulties early on. For instance, a research of foster youth in the public schools of Washington reported that youngsters placed under child welfare services scored lower than teenagers from the general population on state standardized exams (Staub & Meighan n.d.). These findings are in line with national patterns. Steve Christian (2003) reported that “high rates of grade retention; lower scores on standardized tests; and higher absenteeism, tardiness, truancy, and dropout rates” (p. 1) are observed among foster youth. Wells and Zunz (2009) revealed that roughly 7 percent to 13 percent of youngsters discharged from foster care enroll in college, but a smaller number of them successfully obtain a college degree or certificate (p. 105). Educational difficulties arise even prior to release. Youth in foster care are more at risk than other young people of behavioral and academic problems, with greater frequency of disciplinary transfers and absenteeism (Wells & Zunz, 2009). Zeitlin and colleagues (2004) found out in their study that roughly 75 percent of foster youth perform poorly or below average in schools, and over 50 percent fail to move up to the next grade (p. 423). According to the study of Courtney and colleagues (2004), numerous foster youth transfer to different schools several times throughout their school years. A significant number of older foster youth admitted having transferred to different schools multiple times. Stukes-Chipungu and Bent-Goodley (2004) stated that 30% and 40% of foster youth are in special education (p. 83). The CLCLA (2006) reported that 54% of foster youth finished high school but a mere 15% continue to college (p. 1). Similarly, the study of Frerer and colleagues (2011) showed that foster youth not merely lag behind the mainstream student population in California; they also lag behind other highly vulnerably students. Foster youth have great ambitions, but confront numerous hindrances because of the uncertainty and insecurity in their lives. The researchers compared the performance of foster youth, non-foster youth, and at-risk students in the English and Math California Standards Test (CST). The findings are as follows (Frerer et al., 2011, ii): Students in foster care are half as likely to achieve proficiency on the English CST as the general student population. Students in foster care are 25% less likely to achieve proficiency on the English CST than other closely matched at-risk students. Students in foster care are five times less likely to achieve proficiency on the math CST as the general student population. Students in foster care are half as likely to achieve proficiency on the math CST as other closely matched at-risk students. Existing findings show that youth in general foster care has poorer academic performance or lower educational achievement than those in more family-based environments, and differences between youth who lived in foster care with their blood relatives and those who lived with outsiders or unfamiliar persons are not found (Wells & Zunz, 2009). These findings point to the continuous failure of the foster care institution in preparing foster youth, especially as regards education. Causes of the Poor Academic Performance of Foster Youth Factors related to low educational performance of foster youth involve abuse, discrepancies in school enrollment, insufficient social support, multiple school transfers and placements, inappropriate school services at foster homes, interruption in transfer of school documents, lagging behind in knowledge and skill acquisition, and problems with the evaluation for special education assignment (Zeitlin et al., 2004). Having a history of maltreatment, inadequate support while in foster care, absence of considerable progress in the youth’s circumstances, and placement in a mental institution are related to poor academic performance. Studies have revealed a relationship between less preventive placement conditions, like family-like settings, and higher educational achievement. The education of foster youth may have been worsened by mental health disorders, absenteeism, and insufficient educational support (Zeitlin et al., 2004). Numerous features of foster care can influence educational performance. The placement of youth in foster care can have a disruption impact on them, pushing them to develop feelings of confusion, vulnerability, seclusion, neglect, fear, and loss (Frerer et al., 2011). Whiting (2000) proposed that the placement distress seems to negatively influence behavior and performance at school. Youth in foster care are usually touchy about their condition and may sense humiliation when faced with inquiries from strangers about their family backgrounds. Because numerous experience several placements, every school placement demands an entirely new set of changes that could hinder both social interactions and relationships and academic improvement (Whiting, 2000). Adolescence is an especially challenging phase for foster youth. By the moment they become adolescents numerous children in foster care have been in the institution for a number of years and have transferred from placement to placement, denied of uniformity and permanence in their home life. For youth in such situations, researchers have discovered that “schools with well-defined schedules and discipline can be a resiliency factor” (Finkelstein et al., 2002, 2). According to Staub and Meighan (n.d.), most victims of child abuse will display severe academic problems, especially with regard to behavior. Youth who have suffered from neglect or maltreatment are likely to exhibit greater sexual tendencies, aggression, and other behavioral problems that create educational difficulties for them. Such damaging behaviors are accompanied by the destructive outcomes of neglect and maltreatment on learning, attention, and cognitive abilities. All of these result in higher rates of expulsion and dropout for youth who have been abused in comparison to those who have a ‘normal’ life (Staub & Meighan, n.d.). Most youth in foster care in the U.S. are placed under state services due to neglect or maltreatment. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (2007), “two thirds of the children and youth in foster care nationally (71%)—360,848 children and youth—are school age” (as cited in Staub & Meighan, n.d., para 4). Researchers who reported the educational problems encountered by foster youth who were maltreated or neglected in the past were supported by studies that reveal the challenges foster youth face in terms of education. In comparison to non-foster youth, foster youth are at greater risk of falling behind in basic literacy skills, such as reading and writing, being expelled or suspended from school, and failing to move to higher grade levels (Stukes-Chipungu & Bent-Goodley, 2004). Due to such educational difficulties, it is not unexpected that numerous foster youth are unable to finish high school and only a small number of them carry on with higher education. In spite of the ambitions of numerous foster youth to go to college, hardly any of them do so. Basically speaking, numerous studies show the value of assisting foster youth in their educational pursuit, but these studies provide not much of information about the ways to accomplish it (Finkelstein et al., 2002). In order to facilitate successful changes or reforms, the educational challenges, opportunities, and experiences of foster youth must be known. Sadly, not much is known about the experiences of foster youth. As observed by Whiting (2000, 83): [O]ne of the reasons that the foster care research is confusing and insufficient is because it glosses over the children’s perceptions. Much of the existing research on foster children’s experience is based on adults’ retrospective accounts, which are filtered by further years and memories. Among youth in foster care, circumstantial evidence shows that school transfers and placement negatively affect education, but a particular empirical assessment of this theory provides not much of a support. Foster youth admitted that transfers and placement bring about interruptions and distractions that make schooling too challenging (Finkelstein et al., 2002). Social workers come to an agreement, stating that school transfers in the middle of the school year bring about numerous interruptions for the foster youth and the educational institution (Wells & Zunz, 2009). Thus it is important to conduct additional studies on the experiences, challenges, and opportunities of youth in foster care within the educational setting. Conclusions Based on past and current studies, foster youth are consistently falling behind their peers in terms of academic performance. There are numerous factors that influence the educational challenges, opportunities, and experiences of youth in foster care. School consistency for foster youth is the cement that glues together the guidance, assistances, and provisions that foster youth require in realizing their visions of academic achievement, fruitful futures, and complete involvement in society and family life. Foster youth also require school staffs that have the capacity to tackle or deal with their demands and needs, support their welfare requirements, and look after their development. References Christian, S. (2003, December). Educating children in foster care. Retrieved from www.ncsl.org/programs/cyf/cpieducate.pdf. Courtney, M. et al. (2010). Midwest evaluation of the adult functioning of former foster youth: Outcomes at ages 23 and 24. Chicago, IL: Chapin Hall.  Courtney, M., Terao, S., & Bost, N. (2004, February 22). Midwest evaluation of the adult functioning of former foster youth: Conditions of youth preparing to leave state care. Retrieved from http://www.chapinhall.org/sites/default/files/CS_97.pdf. Finkelstein, M., Wamsley, M., & Miranda, D. (2002, July). What keeps children in foster care from succeeding school? Retrieved from http://www.aecf.org/m/resourcedoc/Vera-WhatKeepsChildreninFCfromSucceedinginSchool-2002.pdf. Frerer, K. et al. (2011). Foster youth education outcomes in four California counties. Retrieved from http://www.cacollegepathways.org/sites/default/files/firstlook_fullreport_nov2011_0.pdf. Staub, D. & Meighan, M. (n.d.). Improving educational success for children and youth in foster care: Ensuring school stability. Retrieved from http://www.nasponline.org/publications/cq/36/4/fostercare.aspx. Stukes-Chipungu, S. & Bent-Goodley, T.B. (2004). Meeting the challenges of contemporary foster care. Children, Families, and Foster Care, 74-93. Wells, M. & Zunz, S. (2009). Chafee educational and training voucher programs: System coordination in rural New England. Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal, 26, 103-20. Whiting, J. (2000). The view from down here: Foster children’s stories. Child & Youth Care Forum, 29(2), 79-87. Zeitlin, A., Weinberg, L., & Kimm, C. (2004). Improving education outcomes for children in foster care: Intervention by an education liaison. Journal of Education for Students Placed at Risk, 9(4), 421-29. Read More