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What Happens to Foster Kids: Educational Experiences of a Random Sample of

Foster Care Youth and a Matched Group of Non-Foster Care Youth

Article  in  Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal · February 1997

DOI: 10.1023/A:1024592813809

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Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal
Volume 14, Number 1, February 1997

What Happens to Foster Kids:

Educational Experiences of a
Random Sample of Foster Care
Youth and a Matched Group of
Non-Foster Care Youth

Wendy Whiting Blome, LICSW, DSW

ABSTRACT: Older youth often "age out" of foster care when they reach 18 or
21. Then what happens to them? How do their educational experiences during
and after high school compare with children raised in intact families? This
study used existing longitudinal data from 1980 through 1986 to investigate
the high school and post high school experiences of a group of foster care
youth and a matched group of youth living with at least one parent. The
results were unequivocal: the foster youth dropped out of high school at a
much higher rate and were significantly less likely to have completed a GED.
The foster care high school graduates received significantly less financial as-
sistance for education from their parents or guardians. Foster youth reported
more discipline problems in school and experienced more educational disrup-
tion due to changing schools. They were significantly less likely to be in a
college preparatory high school track. The adults in the lives of the foster care
youth were less likely to monitor homework. These findings have important
implications for child welfare policy and practice.

Introduction
Foster care houses an estimated 500,000 children. Professionals know
the statistics and can visualize the faces of the children and families
represented by the numbers. They are medically fragile infants,

Dr. Blome is Senior Program Consultant, National Center for Excellence in Child
Welfare, Child Welfare League of America. When the article was written the author
was Assistant Professor, The National Catholic School of Social Services, The Catholic
University of America. Address communications to the author at 1822 Rupert Street,
McLean, Virginia 22101.
41 © 1997 Human Sciences Press, Inc.
42 CHILD AND ADOLESCENT SOCIAL WORK JOURNAL

abused children, neglected siblings, and teens moving toward inde-

pendence. The older wards are sometimes overlooked in the attention
surrounding foster care. Often they have been in care for years, and
aggressive efforts for reunification or adoption have been abandoned.
The child welfare system waits for the child to "come of age" and come
out of government care.
What happens to these youth? How do their educational experi-
ences during and after high school compare with children raised in
intact families? Have they experienced college, vocational, or training
opportunities available to other youth?
Children "emancipated" from foster care leave when the calendar
marks their 18th or 21st birthday regardless of their level of prepara-
tion.1 It is a curious reality that society's most vulnerable youth, those
who have suffered abuse or neglect and have never known consistent,
permanent, nurturing adult relationships, are asked to be self suffi-
cient at a time when other youth are still receiving parental support
in college or are experimenting with their first jobs from within the
safe confines of a family.
Little is known about the transition of foster children from adoles-
cence to young adulthood due to the cost of longitudinal designs and
the need to obtain court permission before children in custody can
participate in research studies. Methodologists have relied on retro-
spective longitudinal approaches in which the social worker's notes
were reviewed and the researchers interpreted the record to surmise
life events and the youth's past feelings (Fanshel, Finch, & Grundy,
1990). Existing research has compared responses of foster care youth
with separate surveys of the general population (Festinger, 1983).
There have been no real-time longitudinal studies that compared fos-
ter children with non-foster children who shared other characteristics
and were sampled at the same time with the same instruments. Ad-
ditionally, existing studies have not used a control or comparison
group and they generally involved children who entered foster care
during the 1970s, before to the emphasis on permanency planning
(Maluccio & Fein, 1985). Anecdotal and theoretical materials are
more plentiful than research and sometimes conflict with the empiri-
cal data.

1State regulations vary, but generally youth may stay in foster care until they are 18
or, if they are engaged in an educational program, until they are 21.
 WENDY WHITING BLOME 43

Research Methodology

To counter these methodological concerns, this study undertakes a

secondary analysis of existing longitudinal data. The original data set
was the "High School and Beyond" survey administered through the
Department of Education (NCES, 1992; NCES, 1986; NCES, 1984).
Base year data were collected in 1980 when the respondents were
sophomores in high school. Followup surveys occurred in 1982, 1984,
and 1986. A subset of 167 youth in foster care was identified. They
were matched with youth living with at least one parent on age, gen-
der, and race; controls were set for scores on standardized verbal and
math inventories. In the base year, data exist on all 334 subjects; the
samples remained strong throughout the six years (see Table 1).

Design Strengths and Limitations

The design of the secondary analysis borrows strengths from the orig-
inal study. The longitudinal, real-time data collection allows the ex-
pectations and experiences of foster youth and their matched respon-
dents to be analyzed and avoids the problems of retrospective
surveys. This is a strength over existing foster care research.
The secondary analysis used a matched comparison group, reducing
the chance that the differences are a function of variations in gender,
race, or abilities in reading and math. Existing studies have not had
the opportunity to use a comparison group that responded to the
same questions at the same time as the foster care group.
The study also draws on a national sample of youth selected
through a randomized, stratified procedure. In most cases foster care
TABLE 1

Sample Size by Group and Year

Year Foster Care Comparison

1980 167 (100%) 167 (100%)
1982 150 ( 89%) 160 ( 96%)
1984 143 ( 86%) 154 ( 92%)
1986 140 ( 84%) 150 ( 90%)
44 CHILD AND ADOLESCENT SOCIAL WORK JOURNAL

research has been forced to use the case records of one agency or a
single jurisdiction and has lacked the ability to study youth nation-
wide. There is no attempt, however, to present this study as represen-
tative of foster care in the United States. The sample size is small
and national comparisons cannot be made.
Limitations in the design relate to information missing in the origi-
nal data collection that would have been included if the designers
were primarily interested in foster care. The subjects' history in foster
care is unknown, as is the familial experiences of the comparison
group.

Literature Review: Educational Experiences

The educational achievement level of former foster children is low,

and studies point to disrupted education and difficulties in school per-
formance and adjustment (Zimmerman, 1982; Gil & Bogart, 1982;
Festinger, 1983; Jones & Moses, 1984). One study found 59 percent of
the foster children were functioning below grade level, including 11
percent who were three to five years behind (Fanshel & Shinn, 1978).
Other research has put the number of children performing below
grade level at one-third (Fanshel, Finch, & Gundry, 1990); 45 percent
(Pasztor, Clarren, Timberlake, & Bayless, 1986); and 67 percent (Zim-
merman, 1982).
An eight-year longitudinal study of adolescent men indicates that
in the general population almost 25 percent have been held back at
least one grade by the beginning of high school (Bachman, O'Malley,
& Johnston, 1978). In one foster care sample two-thirds of the young-
sters repeated one or more grades during their educational career and
only 39 percent ever completed the 12th grade (Zimmerman, 1982).
In the general population 86 percent complete high school although
children from poor families are three to four times more likely to drop
out before graduation (CDF, 1986). The national study of young men
reveals all youths in the top socioeconomic sample earned a high
school diploma and more than 50 percent were graduated from col-
lege; in the lowest category 21 percent dropped out and only three
percent finished college (Bachman, O'Malley, & Johnston, 1978). Gen-
erally 22.1 percent of men go to college compared to 2.3 percent of
male youth in foster care (Festinger, 1983).
Intelligence quotient scores for a foster care sample ranged from 54
to 115 with a mean of 84 (Zimmerman, 1982). In a Canadian study
 WENDY WHITING BLOME 45

the median IQ of the foster youths was 94 and the median school
achievement was 9th grade (Palmer, 1979). Intelligence appeared to
be stable during the time in care and some benefits seemed to have
". . . accrued to the children remaining in care when their IQ scores
are compared with those who have returned home" (Fanshel & Shinn,
1978).
Summarizing the profound educational losses prevalent in former
foster children one researcher lamented,

Many of the children interviewed could not read the questionnaire with
comprehension or write responses. Volunteers frequently had to read
the questions, even to older children, and not one child who answered
the open-ended questions wrote a grammatically correct sentence (Gil &
Bogart, 1982, p. 9).

Secondary Analysis Findings

Compared with the group living with parents, the sample of foster
youth dropped out of high school at a much higher rate and were
significantly less likely to have completed a GED or received a high
school diploma by 1986. Of those who were graduated from high
school, the foster youth received significantly less financial assistance
for education from their parents or guardians. Foster youth also were
more likely to participate in training programs rather than post-sec-
ondary educational programs.
Foster youth reported more discipline problems in school and expe-
rienced more educational disruption due to changing schools. They
were significantly less likely to be in a college preparatory high school
track and more inclined to participate in vocational education clubs.
The adults in the lives of the foster care youth were less likely to
monitor homework, and all the youths spent limited time on home-
work (see Figures 1 and 2).

Completion of High School

Specifically the data show that as sophomores in high school, signifi-
cantly fewer foster youth expected to be graduated from high school
or to be graduated with their class. A full 37 percent of the original
167 foster care subjects had dropped out before data were collected
during 1982. In the comparison group 16 percent had left school.
Even as seniors within three months of graduation, a significantly
46 CHILD AND ADOLESCENT SOCIAL WORK JOURNAL

FIGURE 1. Key variables related to education.

FIGURE 2. Comparison of parental attention to homework by year

and group.
 WENDY WHITING BLOME 47

smaller group of foster youth said they would be disappointed not to

be graduated from high school with their class.
It is interesting to compare the plans of the school dropouts with
their actual accomplishments by 1986. The year they would have
been high school seniors (1982), 29 percent of the foster youth and 17
percent of the comparison group planned to return to school. An addi-
tional 51 percent of the foster group and 42 percent of the non-foster
youth thought they would pursue a GED certificate. By 1986, an aver-
age of five years after leaving school, 23 percent of the former foster
youth had not received a diploma or certificate compared with only 7
percent of the non-foster youth dropouts.

High School Performance

The foster youth reported receiving mostly "C" grades in high school.
The comparison group reported "mostly Bs and Cs." Though their
grades were not markedly different, and the subject groups were
matched according to their scores on standardized verbal and math
inventories, the foster group was significantly more likely to be placed
in a "general" high school track. In contrast, 32 percent of the compar-
ison group and only 15 percent of the foster group were enrolled in
the college preparatory classes that might equip the student for ad-
vanced education and promote the importance of a two-year or four-
year degree.
Few of the surveyed students spent much time on homework, al-
though the foster youth studied significantly less. Specifically, 63 per-
cent of the foster youth and 48 percent of the comparison group spent
less than three hours per week on homework as sophomores in high
school. As seniors the foster youth spent a bit more time on studies,
but one-half of the subjects were still giving homework less than
three hours per week.
Participation in school activities and clubs did not differ signifi-
cantly between the groups as sophomores or seniors. For all youth the
most popular activities were sports and church. Only in vocational
education clubs did the foster youth participate significantly more of-
ten than the non foster group.
The foster youth were more likely to report that they had been dis-
ciplined in school and suspended or placed on probation. Approx-
imately twice as many foster youth reported being in "serious trouble
with the law" during both sophomore and senior years in high school.
48 CHILD AND ADOLESCENT SOCIAL WORK JOURNAL

School Stability
The literature indicates that the education of foster youth is inter-
rupted when the child enters care or returns to birth families. These
disruptions may be related to poorer school performance. While the
foster care experience of these individual subjects is not known, their
lack of school stability did parallel other groups of foster youth stud-
ied. More than twice as many foster youth had changed schools three
times or more since fifth grade. A full 80 percent of the matched
group had never changed schools since fifth grade compared with 64
percent of the foster youth.
The school drop outs from the foster care group were almost twice
as likely to be employed (50 percent vs. 26 percent) when compared
with the matched group. When asked why they left school pre-
maturely, the groups gave similar responses, with one exception. A
quarter of the foster group indicated that not liking the teachers had
contributed to their decision; only 5 percent of the non foster youth
faulted teachers. Leaving high school was not a "good idea" according
to the majority of both groups.

Family Support of Education

Families show interest in the education of their children by keeping
track of homework assignments and attending parent-teacher confer-
ences and school events. The foster mothers of both sophomores and
seniors were significantly less likely to monitor the homework of their
youth. The fathers of both groups were less active than the mothers,
but the foster fathers were significantly less involved than the com-
parison fathers.
As seniors in high school 65 percent of the foster youth said a par-
ent or guardian had never attended a teacher conference. Similar per-
centages of parents never visited the youth's class (greater than 73
percent for both groups) or volunteered at school (more than 70 per-
cent).
A particularly high number (20 percent) of the foster youth lived
independently during their senior year. In contrast, only three per-
cent of the non foster youth were on their own in the last year of high
school.

Post High School Plans and Performance

In both groups, more than half hoped to be graduated from college,
but the comparison group was more likely to plan a four-year degree.
 WENDY WHITING BLOME 49

Twice as many of the foster group, as sophomores, thought they

would be homemakers, and fewer foster youth contemplated working
just after high school. By the time they were seniors, however, the
groups show only small differences in post high school plans.
Specifically, slightly more foster youth expected to be graduated
from a vocational school (19 percent compared with 12 percent). As
sophomores, substantially more foster youth thought they would fin-
ish their education by age 19, which eliminated college and limited
post secondary schooling.
The foster care group was somewhat slower in beginning their edu-
cational goals. In 1984, two years after high school, only 13 percent
were taking courses compared with 29 percent of the non foster care
group. By 1986 the proportion who had taken at least one course for
credit was up to 45 percent and 54 percent for the foster and non
foster groups, respectively. At the last data point, in 1986, fewer fos-
ter youth expected to receive a bachelor or master degree (35 vs. 49
percent).
High school dropouts from the foster care group were participating
in the Work Incentive Program (WIN) and Comprehensive Employ-
ment and Training Act programs (CETA), or taking non-credit
courses. These options were not used at all by the non foster popula-
tion. Since these data were collected as part of the 1982 dropout sur-
vey, the difference may indicate additional efforts by social service
agencies responsible for the foster youth to help the drop outs con-
tinue developing skills. However, efforts to engage the foster care
school drop outs in a GED program by 1982 were less successful. Sig-
nificantly more school dropouts (75 percent) from the matched group
were in a program compared to the foster group (27 percent) during
the year that would have marked their high school graduation.
The foster youth were also more likely to report participating in
training programs, on-the-job and classroom based, but less likely to
be enrolled in a formal post secondary vocational or academic pro-
gram during the 1984-1986 time span. By 1986 the foster group con-
tained the only subjects who had taken correspondence courses (15
percent).
Of the subjects enrolled in courses, the foster group relied on schol-
arship funds and the non foster group used loan monies. For the aca-
demic years 1982-1983 less than one-third of the former foster youth
received family financial help compared to almost one-half of the
youth living with family. In 1983-1984 the percentage drops to one-
fifth of the foster youth and over 38 percent of the other group. By
50 CHILD AND ADOLESCENT SOCIAL WORK JOURNAL

1986 the foster group was receiving a mere $600 from parents com-
pared to a median amount of $2,000 loaned to the comparison group.

Implications for Social Work Practice

The data showed foster youth were less likely to be in college prepara-
tory classes in high school even though they had similar test scores
and grades as the non foster youth. With basic ability controlled, the
discrepancy may be some form of prejudice operating against the fos-
ter youth. Possibly without strong champions foster youth are not en-
couraged to pursue advanced training. Or knowing that these youth
will have few financial supports, the social workers and teachers in
their lives may promote high school as the final degree.
It is imperative, therefore, that workers watch for an implicit or
explicit bias in themselves and teachers who expect lower achieve-
ment from foster youth. Not all youth have the ability or inclination
to pursue college. However, foster youth should be afforded the same
opportunity as youth from intact families to explore their potential.
Secondly, this data showed that the adults in the lives of foster
youth were less likely to monitor homework or attend school confer-
ences and functions. Certainly homework is only one piece of school
performance, but monitoring it may be one way parents communicate
interest in the youth's achievements. Additionally questions about
homework may convey to the school a family concern for learning. By
neglecting this important educational component, the foster care sys-
tem may inadvertently be reinforcing the youths' modest expectations
of themselves and the schools' view of their potential. To increase the
attention to homework and school, agencies may:

• train foster parents to monitor the youth's daily school perfor-

mance,
• expect workers to track the youth's progress in school, and
• facilitate birth parent involvement in school functions and ed-
ucational decisions even if "reunification" is no longer the goal.
As a third implication for practice, this analysis showed foster
youth changed schools significantly more often than the comparison
group. The reason for these shifts is not known; however, they point
to a substantial difference in the lives of foster youth. Movement is
inherent in the decision to place children in foster care. Often a child
 WENDY WHITING BLOME 51

is moved from his/her home to an emergency or temporary placement,

then to a foster home, and then back to the birth family or to an
adoptive home, depending on the plan.
With each transfer the child is asked to adjust to a new physical
environment, new caretakers, new community, and most often a new
school. The unknown school and the loss of all-important adolescent
peer relationships mixes with the emotions that come with being re-
moved from parents who were abusive or neglectful to create an ex-
tremely stressful situation.
In making protective decisions the safety of the child is the primary
concern; all other considerations become secondary. However, agen-
cies may want to train workers to consider the impact of a school
disruption when contemplating a change of placement between foster
homes, to institutional settings, or a return home. Possibly youth
could be allowed to finish the school year in the base school; maybe
foster parents could make special efforts to help youth maintain
friendships in the old neighborhood, as appropriate, until new ones
are established; perhaps teachers could be helped to understand the
multiple and concurrent transitions in the youths' lives.
Awareness is rarely enough to change practice and behavior. How-
ever, workers can no longer act as though a law that emancipates
youth, even at age 21, somehow guarantees their ability to survive
and succeed. This attitude essentially allows them to expect more of
the charges in their caseload than most parents expect of their off-
spring.
Workers must look to the future and pose seemingly mundane
questions: With whom will she spend Christmas? Who will he call
when a romance sours? Who will help her find a job? Who will co-sign
a first car loan? Who will call regularly just to make sure he is okay?
Who will answer her questions about how to fill in school applica-
tions, rental agreements, job applications? Who will give the new cou-
ple the used dishes and furniture that make a first home? Workers
cannot answer all these questions, but must be aware that for most
youth the answer is "family." For former foster youth the answer is
uncertain, but the needs remain.

Policy Implications
The data from this secondary analysis show significant differences in
the number of high school graduates and the amount of post-second-
52 CHILD AND ADOLESCENT SOCIAL WORK JOURNAL

ary education acquired by the two groups. This finding is clear and
reinforced by other studies. Therefore, it is suggested that:
• the emancipation age for foster care youth be extended
through age 21 nationwide;
• scholarship set-aside programs for state wards and former fos-
ter youth be established to cover tuition, room and board, and
books;
• school systems and local social service departments be encour-
aged to design high school retention strategies and certificate
programs for the special needs of foster youth; and
• provisions be established that allow former foster youth funds,
on a one-time basis, to help with education, employment, and
housing costs.

Summary

This secondary analysis raises more questions than it answers. Some

of the questions, however, are now based in data gathered through a
national, stratified random sample containing groups of foster and
comparison youth. There is now tangible evidence of how much less
foster youth receive from the adults in their lives; their educational
achievements compared to others with similar abilities is docu-
mented; and their vocational limitations are recorded. More research
is necessary, however, to assure that policy and practice decisions
made on behalf of vulnerable children promote their well-being for
today and tomorrow.

References
Bachman, J., O'Malley, P., & Johnston, J. (1978). Youth in transition: Adolescence to
adulthood—Change and stability in the lives of young men—Vol. VI. Ann Arbor,
MI: Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan.
Children's Defense Fund. (1986). A children's defense budget: An analysis of the FY 87
Federal Budget and Children. Washington, D. C.: Author.
Fanshel, D., Finch, S., & Grundy, J. (1990). Foster children in a life course perspective.
New York: Columbia University Press.
Fanshel, D. & Shinn, E. (1978). Children in foster care: A longitudinal investigation.
New York: Columbia University Press.
Festinger, T. (1983). Wo one ever asked us: A postscript to foster care. New York: Colum-
bia University Press.
Gil, E. & Bogart, K. (1982). Foster children speak out: A study of children's perceptions
of foster care. Children Today, 11, 7-9.
 WENDY WHITING BLOME 53

Jones, M. & Moses, B. (1983). West Virginia's former foster children: Their experiences
in care and their lives as young adults. New York: Child Welfare League of Amer-
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Maluccio, A. & Fein, E. (1985). Permanency planning revisited. In M. Cox & R. Cox
(Eds.), Foster care: Current issues, policies, and practices (pp. 113-131). Norwood,
NJ: Ablex Publishing Co.
National Center for Educational Statistics. (1984). High school and beyond, 1980:
Sophomore cohort first follow-up (1982). Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consor-
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National Center for Educational Statistics. (1986). High school and beyond, 1980:
Sophomore cohort second follow-up (1984). Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consor-
tium for Political and Social Research.
National Center for Educational Statistics. (1992). High school and beyond, 1980:
Sophomore cohort third follow-up (1986) documentation from CD-rom files. Ann
Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research.
Palmer, S. (1979). Predicting outcome in long tern foster care. Journal of Social Ser-
vice Research, 3, 201-214.
Pasztor, E., Clarren, J., Timberlake, E., & Bayless, L. (1986). Stepping out of foster
care into independent living. Children Today, 15 (March/April), 32-35.
Zimmerman, R. (1982). Foster care in retrospect. New Orleans, LA: Tulane University
Press.

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