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Obstacles to Graduation: Frequent School Changes • In a recent study, over a third of young adults said they’d changed schools five or more times during care. • A New York study found that 65% of students in foster care transferred schools in the middle of the year. • Students in Chicago Public Schools who changed schools four or more times lost a year of their education. • In a New York study, 42% of students had delays in school enrollment after entering foster care. Nearly half were kept out of school because of lost or misplaced school records. It is unconscionable for a child to miss a single day of school because agencies or schools cannot handle the paperwork or logistics. Moving is already traumatic. Agencies should assign a staff member to stick with the child from one school to the next, and insure that all paperwork is completed on the spot—just as a caring parent would. Furthermore, schools should be required to accept foster care transfer students. Grade Retention • A Washington State study found that students in foster care were twice as likely to repeat a grade as students not in care. Agencies should do regular progress checks and intervene early when students are at risk of falling behind. Behavior Problems • Youth in foster care are much more likely to have behavior problems at school. They also have higher rates of suspensions and expulsions. Youth in care must get adequate support services to help them manage the trauma they have experienced. Too often, the only response they get is suspension, with no acknowledgment that they face special challenges. Fewer Placements • Youth are almost twice as likely to graduate from high school if they’d had just one fewer foster care placement change per year. Agencies should be held accountable for multiple placements. They should offer intensive family counseling, respite care and other supports to reduce changes in placement. More Support • Former foster youth in college say that social support was important to their success. Most had a mentor or role model. Agencies should fund programs to encourage support networks among alumni who are in college, including support groups during school vacations. Agencies should have strong mentoring programs that include successful adults, especially adults who were once in care. Statistics compiled by the American Bar Association’s Legal Center for Foster Care and Education www.abanet.org/child/education/publications.shtml
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About
our books Stories from Represent have been anthologized in several books by Youth Communication. The Heart Knows Something Different (Persea Books, 1996) is a collection of personal essays first published in FCYU; in addition, The Struggle to Be Strong: True Stories By Teens About Resilience (Free Spirit, 2000), Things Get Hectic: Teens Write About the Violence That Surrounds Them (Simon & Schuster, 1998) and Out With It: Gay and Straight Teens Write About Homosexuality (Youth Communication, 1996) feature stories from Represent, as well as from New Youth Connections (NYC), our other teen-written magazine. |
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