Comparing the Odds of High School Level Completion of Maltreated Youth in out-of-Home Placement to Maltreated Youth in Their Biological Homes

Background and Purpose

Research typically compares the educational outcomes of maltreated youth in out-of-home placement (i.e. foster care) to their non-maltreated, same age, peers in the general population. Although this has been an important comparison to illustrate the educational vulnerabilities of youth in out-of-home care, it fails to compare youth to their peers with similar maltreatment backgrounds. Less is known about how the educational outcomes of youth in out-of-home placement compares to their same age, maltreated, peers who remain in their biological homes. This study aimed to address this gap by determining whether maltreated youth who experienced an out-of-home placement had lower odds of high school level completion than maltreated youth who remained in their biological homes.

Methods

A secondary data analysis was conducted using data from the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being I (NSCAW-I). A total of 302 adolescents (ages 12-15) reported to Child Protective Services (CPS) for maltreatment were included in the study. After the CPS investigation (Wave 1) youth were either placed in an out-of-home placement (N=121) or remained in their biological homes (N=181). A binary logistic regression analysis was conducted to determine if youth in out-of-home placement had lower odds of high school level completion; holding constant key child, family, and neighborhood characteristics. Data for these variables were all collected at Wave 1 from the youth and their primary caregivers. High school level completion was measured from the youths’ self-report of having either a high school diploma or General Education Diploma (GED) at Wave 5, when the youth were 18-21 years of age.

Results

Results indicated that 59.3% (N=179) of all the maltreated youth in the study completed a high school level education; 105 of the youth in their biological homes and 74 in out-of-home placement. Although more youth in their biological homes completed a high school level education, results showed that youth who experienced an out-of-home placement did not have lower odds of obtaining a high school level education. Out-of-home placement was not a significant predictor of the odds of high school completion, Walds X²=.238, df=1, p=.625. The odds of high school level completion were similar regardless of whether or not the youth experienced an out-of-home placement.

Conclusion and Implications

The study adds to existing literature on the association between out-of-home placement and educational outcomes by comparing the high school level completion rates of youth who experienced out-of-home placement to their, same age, peers who remained in their biological homes. Youth in out-of-home placement did not have lower odds of high school level completion than their peers in their biological homes. Regardless of the child welfare response to the maltreatment report (out-of-home placement or remain in biological home) youth who were victims of a CPS maltreatment report during adolescence experienced similar, low, rates of high school level completion, and are thus an educationally vulnerable population. Further research is needed to identify the factors that contribute to the low high school completion rates of maltreated youth, both in their biological homes and in out-of-home placement.