Readiness for college engagement among students who have aged out of foster care

Abstract

This study compares self-reported readiness to engage in college between a sample of 81 college freshmen who aged out of foster care prior to or while attending a large four-year public university and the national freshman population. Results indicate that students from foster care are significantly different from their non-foster-care peers in their readiness to engage in college. The results also show that foster youth are less well prepared academically upon entering college and this performance gap persists through the first semester of college. These findings are examined in the context of the current literature on foster youth. Limitations of the study and implications for future research and practice are discussed.

Introduction

There were over 423,000 children living in foster-care placements on any given day in the United States in 2009. Of these, over 32,000 exited the foster care system by “aging out” to independence (Child Welfare Information Gateway, 2011). Aging out is a legal event that occurs when the court formally discharges a young person from the state's custody based on the youth's chronological age. In most states, foster youth are discharged at 18 years of age; however, an increasing number of states are extending care to 21 years old as a result of the Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008.

Previous research studies have indicated that most aged-out youth leaving foster care do so in unprepared and unplanned ways, and many either return to their families who were judged unfit by the court or begin living on their own (McMillen & Tucker, 1999). Upon aging-out of the system, these youth are abruptly initiated into adulthood and must rely heavily on their limited personal resources and income for their very survival (Iglehart, 1995).

Young people who have lived in foster care are less able to depend on family members for shelter, adult guidance, and financial support after high school than non-foster youth (Courtney et al., 2010, Iglehart, 1995). Educational attainment for foster youth lags far behind their non-foster-care peers, with just over half of foster youth completing high school (Sheehy et al., 2001, Wolanin, 2005).

Though estimates of high-school completion for foster youth vary across studies, the average of estimates suggests that approximately half of the youth between the ages of 18 and 24 who have aged out of foster care have high-school diplomas or general educational development (GED) diplomas in comparison to over 70% of non-foster youth (Wolanin, 2005). Other studies have found higher estimates of high-school achievement for foster youth, particularly when students attaining their GEDs are counted (Pecora et al., 2005). This disparity has obvious implications for college entrance. Only 15% of foster youth are likely to enroll in college-preparatory classes during high school, whereas 32% of non-foster youth enroll in a high-school curriculum that helps to prepare them for college (Sheehy et al., 2001). Additionally, while college is a possible next step after high school, students growing up in foster care receive few encouraging messages from educators, social workers, and other adults regarding the pursuit of a college education (Davis, 2006). Only 20% of college-qualified foster youth attend college compared to 60% of their non-foster-care peers (Wolanin, 2005). Similarly, degree completion for foster youth, with estimates ranging from a low of 1% to a high of 10.8%, is substantially lower than the 24% degree-completion rate of non-foster youth (Pecora et al., 2006, Wolanin, 2005).

Research has generally suggested more negative outcomes for former foster youth compared to the general population, including disproportionate representation in the adult homeless population (Park, Metraux, & Culhane, 2005) as well as increased rates of unemployment and lack of health insurance (Reilly, 2003), mental illness (Courtney & Dworsky, 2006), and involvement in the criminal justice system (McMillen, Vaughn, & Shook, 2008).

In response to these dismal trajectories, federal legislation has provided monies to states to pay for services to help with the transition out of foster care into some form of independent living. For example, the Foster Care Independence Act of 1999 provides funding ($140 million) to state governments to improve and expand their current independent-living programs for foster youth who age out of the system.

The Promoting Safe and Stable Families Amendment of 2001 enhances the Foster Care Independence Act by providing additional funding ($60 million) for payments to state governments for post-secondary education and training. This funding pays for the Educational Training Voucher (ETV) program, which provides up to $5000 per year up to age 23 for foster youth enrolled in post-secondary education as long as they enroll in the ETV program prior to 21 years of age. The Fostering Connection to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008 permits states to claim federal reimbursement for foster-care maintenance payments made on behalf of foster youth to age 21. Foster youth living in states that take advantage of this policy and extend care can benefit by voluntarily remaining in the state's custody.

One barrier to entering higher education for foster youth is their difficulty in completing primary and secondary education. Teenagers in foster care are involved in special-education classes at comparatively higher rates during their secondary educational experiences than non-foster care-teens (Courtney et al., 2004, Pecora et al., 2006). Furthermore, they are more likely than their non-foster-care counterparts to drop out of high school, repeat a grade, or be suspended or expelled (Blome, 1997, Courtney et al., 2004). When compared to non-foster youth, foster youth also have higher rates of changing schools which is related to their lower academic achievement and attainment (Blome, 1997, Pecora et al., 2006).

Foster youth also encounter general obstacles during their emerging years of young adulthood (i.e., 18–25 years of age). Youth aging out of foster care struggle more than other young adults across a number of important lifespan-developmental domains including: academics and education; finances and employment; housing; physical and mental health; social relationships and community connections; personal and cultural identity development; and life skills (Casey Family Programs, 2006). Many foster youth enter young adulthood with significant educational deficits, and the lasting effects of these deficits are evident in their dismal educational attainment (Courtney & Dworsky, 2006). The problems encountered by foster youth in each of the domains can be barriers to education.

The struggle that foster youth have with practical or systemic barriers in other life domains makes it difficult to access or stay in school after aging out of foster care. For example, it is estimated that only about one-third of youth aging out of foster care left the system with basic resources such as a driver's license, cash, or basic necessities such as dishes (Pecora et al., 2006). Most do not have anyone to co-sign a loan or lease, which makes it difficult to secure safe housing. Medicaid and funds for start-up goods are available in some states until age 21, but foster youth must be able to navigate the large and complicated state bureaucratic programs to receive these benefits. Courtney et al. (2010) found that the main barriers for higher-education access among foster youth were a lack of financial resources, the need to be in full-time employment, parenting responsibilities, and a lack of transportation. These practical and systemic obstacles provide some understanding as to why foster youth are less likely to access and succeed in college.

Nonetheless, several studies have reported that a significant number of foster youth want to pursue a college degree. Courtney et al. (2010), for example, reported that 79% of the foster youth in their study wanted to go to college. McMillen, Auslander, Elze, White, and Thompson (2003) reported similar findings whereby 70% of the foster youth they surveyed planned to attend college.

A recent study that controlled for race and gender found that foster youth attending a four-year university were more likely to drop out of college compared to low-income first-generation student who had not lived in foster care (Day, Dworsky, Fogarty, & Damashek, 2011). However, there is a paucity of research exploring the reasons foster youth are less likely to succeed in college. We found three studies that investigate how foster youth fare in college settings. Merdinger, Hines, Osterling, and Wyatt (2005) surveyed an ethnically diverse sample of 216 college students who spent an average of 7 to 8 years, and three placements, in foster care. They found that only about one quarter of these students felt prepared to live independently upon exiting the foster-care system, and about the same percentage believed that the foster-care system had sufficiently prepared them for college. The majority of the sample was succeeding academically, but reported challenges with finances, psychological distress and access to health care. Social support from friends and family was identified as a factor that possibly contributed to the educational success of the sample.

Davis (2006) reviewed the many factors that inhibit the ability of foster youth to develop the strong academic foundation necessary to be successful in higher education. These factors included challenges encountered during primary and secondary education, multiple school changes, incidence of disruptive behaviors in the classroom, and higher incidence of learning delays. Foster youth also had far less personal income than their peers but were awarded a sufficient level of financial aid so that it did not impact their choice of institution. Davis noted that although state and federal programs aim to provide financial support to former foster youth enrolled in postsecondary education, such support is inadequate when not accompanied by structured social and academic support efforts.

Dworsky and Perez (2010) collected information from a nonrandom sample of 98 college students who participated in a campus support program for former foster youth in Washington or California. The sample was racially diverse, primarily female, and had an average age of 20 years old. Nearly all participants placed value on academic guidance such as advice on choosing courses or declaring a major, and many also asserted the importance of mentoring and leadership opportunities. Students overall reported that their campus support-program participation provided them with a sense of belonging in a way similar to that which one might feel in a family setting. Though students also found financial aid and housing assistance to be of great importance, Dworsky and Perez (2010) noted that students were more likely to report gaining a sense of family through the program than they were to report receiving material assistance.

With the assistance of federal and state funding, foster youth are finding their way to higher-education institutions in increasing numbers (Fried, 2008). Colleges are starting to take notice of these young adults as evidenced by the growing number of campus programs designed to provide financial, academic, and other supports to students who have aged out of the foster care system (Casey Family Programs, 2010a, Dworsky and Perez, 2010), yet little is known about foster youths' level of readiness to engage in college. Even less is known about foster youths' personal, social, interpersonal, academic, and career-development needs during their transition into college and ways that child welfare and higher education professionals can offer assistance.

It is important to understand how foster youth entering college compare to the general freshman-student population when it comes to their readiness for college engagement so that professionals supporting them can be better prepared to understand and respond to their needs. The purpose of this study, therefore, is twofold: (1) to identify and measure foster youths' readiness for college engagement, (i.e., academic motivation, social motivation, receptivity to student services, general coping); and (2) to compare the readiness for college engagement among freshmen foster youth prior to the start of college to the readiness for college engagement among freshmen in general. In addition, this article describes the first-semester performance of freshmen foster youth to other freshmen enrolled in the same university.

This study took place at Western Michigan University, which offers comprehensive campus-based support to foster youth and former foster youth through the Seita Scholars Program. This program is designed to facilitate the transition from foster care to college and to provide support to foster and former foster youth through to their graduations and career transitions. The Program began in 2008 with the specific goal of increasing the number of young people from foster care earning baccalaureate degrees. It also aims to create a community of scholars among foster youth in college. The Program includes a tuition scholarship and offers 24-hour staff support in the multiple life domains mentioned earlier (i.e., academics and education; finances and employment; housing; physical and mental health; social relationships and community connections; personal and cultural identity development; life skills). To be eligible for the Program, students must have met the admissions standards for the university and qualified for the ETV, which means they entered foster care through child protective services, were in foster care on or after their 14th birthday and, if adopted, the adoption occurred after their 16th birthday.