Stakeholder Perceptions of Barriers and Facilitators to Foster Care Students' School Success

Background and Purpose: Research consistently demonstrates that children and youth involved in the child welfare system experience worse school outcomes than peers who are not involved in the child welfare system, including lower achievement test scores and grades, grade retention, school behavior problems, school suspension, and higher rates of high school dropout. Such adverse outcomes pose a serious concern, as poor school outcomes are associated with long-term negative consequences, including poverty, unemployment, criminal justice involvement, and substance abuse. Recent research describes the nature and severity of these adverse school outcomes, but little evidence exists to explain what might drive these outcomes or guide effective solutions. Further, very little research draws on the wealth of experience and knowledge professionals working with students in foster care may be able to offer. This study examines the experiences of crucial professional stakeholders who work with students in foster care, including school social workers and counselors, child protection system (CPS) workers, and child welfare attorneys, seeking to understand their perspectives about barriers to and facilitators of the school success of foster care students.

Methods: Data were collected in 2016-2017 via an open-ended online survey (n=19) and via semi-structured telephone interviews (n=3). Participants represent a convenience sample of professionals working in Massachusetts, recruited by gatekeepers who were professionally connected with participants. The telephone interviews were conducted with three school social workers working in urban elementary or middle schools, and the survey was completed by eight attorneys, six school counselors, and five CPS workers, working with children ages five to 18 and evenly split between rural and urban geographies. The study asked questions regarding barriers to and facilitators of the school experiences of students in foster care, including school changes, placement changes, information sharing, school discipline, special education needs, and participants’ characterizations of their roles in supporting foster children’s education. The data were analyzed and interpreted using thematic analysis, which involves the exploration of qualitative data in search for patterns of meaning.

Results: Findings suggest school social workers and counselors, CPS workers, and child welfare attorneys have differing views of foster care students’ needs and report having limited access to information about students’ involvement with other professionals and other service systems. Participants identified a range of systemic barriers as well as potential supports, including the enormous barriers of placement and school instability, and related school transition challenges; the importance of actively engaged foster parents; and significant challenges but also potential for improvement in terms of communication processes and information sharing.

Conclusions and Implications: Findings underscore a shared emphasis on the importance of school stability. School-based, CPS, and legal professionals all share a belief in the value of and commitment to promoting school stability for foster care students as a critical way to facilitate school success. Our findings highlight the need for concrete solutions to address gaps identified by stakeholders and underscore their willingness to embrace changes to their professional approaches that will improvement foster care students’ school outcomes.