Connected After Care: Youth Characteristics, Policy, and Programs Associated With Postsecondary Education and Employment for Youth With Foster Care Histories

Abstract

Recent federal laws and state policies reflect the government’s investment in improving education and employment outcomes for youth with foster care histories. However, little research has assessed the roles of these programs using national data. Drawing on data from the National Youth in Transitions Database (NYTD) ( n = 7797), this study examines the roles that state-level policies and programs, youth-level participation in programs and services, and youth characteristics play in youths’ connection to employment and education (“connectedness”) at age 21. Results from multilevel regression analyses find that foster youth in states with widely available tuition waiver programs increases the odds of connectedness to school. The amount of time youth spend in extended foster care, as well as receipt of postsecondary education aid and services, also increases connectedness. Study findings underscore the importance of material and relational supports in supporting foster youths’ connection to employment and education in early adulthood.

Beyond the 3%: Educational Success for All, Not the Privileged Few

“…Very few research studies in our field focus specifically on the experiences of Black, Latinx, and Indigenous students with experience in foster care, despite the data that tells us these populations are overrepresented in the foster care system. Data disaggregation is standard in both the fields of social work and education, however, with a few notable exceptions (i.e., Geiger & Okpych, 2022), there is a distinct lack of disaggregated data related to our students of color with experience in foster care. We must insist that this basic data and research principle becomes standard practice in our field, regardless of the naysayers who push back by excusing the population as too small.…”

Relationship between childbirth and access to postsecondary education among young women ageing out of foster care

“…Several studies have controlled for giving birth or fathering a child in multivariate models predicting postsecondary educational attainment among young people currently or formerly in foster care (e.g., Courtney & Hook, 2017;Geiger & Okpych, 2021;Okpych, 2021;Salazar et al, 2019).…”

“…Several studies have controlled for giving birth or fathering a child in multivariate models predicting postsecondary educational attainment among young people currently or formerly in foster care (e.g., Courtney & Hook, 2017; Geiger & Okpych, 2021; Okpych, 2021; Okpych & Courtney, 2017; Okpych et al, 2017; Salazar et al, 2019). However, the main focus of these studies was not on the effects of parenthood on access to postsecondary education.…”

“I think there’s a lot of intersectionality”: The college experiences of immigrant-origin Latinx young adults with a foster care background.

“…Twenty-two percent of children in foster care identify as Hispanic 1 (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2021). Research findings are mixed, with some studies showing Hispanic youth were more likely to be enrolled in college (Geiger & Okpych, 2022;Rosenberg & Kim, 2018;Watt & Kim, 2019), while another study found no significant differences (Okpych & Courtney, 2017). Select studies have examined gender, racial, and ethnic differences and/or disparities among youth with foster care histories as it relates to educational outcomes (e.g., Dworsky et al, 2010;Harris et al, 2009;Kirk et al, 2012); however, few have explored how components of ethnoracial identity play a role in their experiences (Lane, 2016(Lane, , 2017Tyrell et al, 2019) or how multiple marginalized identities intersect to shape the college experiences of students with a foster care background.…”