Changing schools tough on foster children
New report urges better support
Changing schools several times and moving from house to house makes it harder for foster children to do well at school, researchers have found.
Other reasons for poor performance in class include becoming independent too early, a lack of transportation, a lack of support from adults, histories of abuse, family breakdowns and trauma and poverty, researchers Deborah Rutman and Carol Hubberstey found in their new report, titled Fostering Success: Improving Educational Outcomes for Youth in/from Care.
In B.C., fewer than half of youth in foster care graduate from high school by their 19th birthday, the date they leave care and are cut off from government support. Less than one-third graduate with a Dogwood diploma, which is necessary to continue on to post-secondary education, the researchers say.
“Education is a key to creating brighter, more successful futures,” said Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond, B.C.’s representative for children and youth .“What this report points to is that these young people need supports to be sure they have the same opportunities to reach their potential alongside their peers.”
The report includes 12 recommendations to improve educational outcomes for foster children, beginning with a commitment by the province to the goal that foster children will graduate from high school at the same rate as all children, which is higher than 80 per cent.
Other recommendations include ensuring foster children have ongoing and stable relationships with adults, extending the age for government care, improving the tracking of foster children in schools and hiring an executive director of children and youth in care who would be responsible for a comprehensive government strategy to improve the educational outcomes of foster children.
The researchers interviewed 20 former youths in care and 34 educators, researchers, youth advocates and workers as well as government workers, to reach their conclusions.
Of the 20, 65 per cent attended at least three high schools and 25 per cent attended more than five high schools. Seven of the 20 changed foster homes once or twice, six changed three to five times, three changed six to eight times and four lived in more than nine different foster homes.
All those changes don’t make learning easy, the report says. Of the five interviewed who had gone to more than five high schools, only one graduated. Of the seven who lived in just one or two foster homes, five completed high school, the report says.
Even though they often changed schools, many of the interviewees said school was a safe place for them and that teachers and school counsellors provided stability.
The report found Grade 11 is a pivotal year, with a drop in grade progression among foster children. Fifteen of the 20 interviewees attended alternative school programs, which are usually smaller programs with more flexible schedules.
“There were lots of days when I didn’t go to school in the regular school,” one interviewee was quoted as saying in the report. “I couldn’t get out of bed. I was willing to do the work, but I wasn’t always able to get in the building. I could go to the alternative school and just work at my own pace, and that’s what works best for me. I would not have graduated if I had not gone to an alternative school.”
Foster children are often put on independent living or a youth agreement when they turn 16, and some of the people interviewed said children were pushed into these programs too early, leaving them vulnerable to negative influences and responsible for too much. Others said many foster children struggle once they turn 19.
“Most foster youth crash and burn at transition,” one respondent said. “I think it is a crime that youth have no supports past age of majority,” another said.
The report is part of the Vancouver Foundation’s Fostering Change initiative and its Write the Future campaign, which includes a petition for more support for youths aging out of government care.