The foster care system in the United States is not what it should be, and the children in the system face many challenges and difficulties. My father’s family housed foster children when he was growing up, and it definitely is nice to give someone a home and family when they need one. But all of the shifting and the inconsistency of parental figures as well as siblings that are only temporary must affect these children negatively. I wanted to find studies that showed negative effects of the foster care system, and came across many regarding foster children and their academic performance. So, is there a link between foster care and doing worse in school?
One report titled “The Invisible Achievement Gap” gave a lot of useful information in regards to foster children in California. The study looked at all different kinds of factors. It was found that only about 2/3 of the students who were in foster care attended the same school for a year. Not only are these children moving to new schools, they are moving to entirely new families. The amount of stress that must be for them as well as the difficulties in adjusting to different classes and schedules would clearly make them do poorer academically than children not in the foster care system. In standardized tests, they showed an “achievement gap similar to English learners and to students with disabilities”. Not only that, but foster kids in California were dropping out 5% more than those not in foster care and were graduating 26% less than those not in foster care. This report clearly shows that in California foster children are not performing as well academically as those who are not foster children.
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But why could this be happening? What is it about being in foster care that makes their academics not as strong? As I said earlier, all the moving around must take a toll. Probably one of the most important reasons they are falling behind is due to not having as much support to succeed academically from a family unit. According to the Center for Public Education, students who have involved parents meaning the parents attend conferences, go to school events, help fundraise, and more, are more likely to do better in school. This did not change based upon family background or income. Support and involvement really made a difference. While foster care families can be very supportive and involved with their foster child, it does not necessarily offer the consistent support that someone who was born into a supportive family has. This varies of course depending upon a family. Someone not in foster care could have an unsupportive family that causes them to do poorly in school. Similarly, someone who is in foster care could be placed with a very involved family that helps them to succeed. But overall, this is what studies are showing for foster kids.
Other factors could be playing a role, too. According to the Children’s Action Network , children in foster care are put into the system due to neglect or abuse. Coming from a horrible situation like that, the focus on their schoolwork may be affected. According to the Guardian, “children who are abused and neglected at home are more likely than their peers to do badly at school”. All of the things that these children have been through can make it very difficult to succeed, and it’s not their fault. Something needs to be done. These children are not getting the help and guidance that they need. None of this is meant to devalue the families that do take in foster children and help them to have a temporary safe home, because that is an amazing thing. But the reality of the situation is that foster children are not succeeding in school as they should be, and maybe because of this it is time to change the system. What do you think could be done?
Sources:
Barrat, V. X., & Berliner, B. (2013). The Invisible Achievement Gap, Part 1: Education Outcomes of Students in Foster Care in California’s Public Schools. San Francisco: WestEd.
“Back to School: How Parent Involvement Affects Student Achievement (full Report).” Center for Public Education. Center for Public Education, n.d. Web. 16 Sept. 2014. <http://www.centerforpubliceducation.org/Main-Menu/Public-education/Parent-Involvement/Parent-Involvement.html>.
“Foster Care Facts.” Children’s Action Network : A Project of the Tides Center. Children’s Action Network, n.d. Web. 16 Sept. 2014. <http://childrensactionnetwork.org/resources.html>.
Ward, Lucy. “Abuse Affects School Work.” The Guardian. The Guardian, 24 May 2005. Web. 16 Sept. 2014. <http%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fsociety%2F2005%2Fmay%2F25%2Fchildrensservices.schools>.