The Impact of Financial Insecurity on the Community College Experiences of Youth Impacted By Foster Care with Dis(abilities)

Background and Purpose: Earning a college degree is correlated with various positive outcomes for individuals however, limited scholarship exists on the educational attainment of youth impacted by foster care (YIFC) experiencing (dis)abilities. The evidence available supports the idea that these youth face unique barriers to pursuing higher education that decrease their odds of completing a degree but also that these odds differ based on the type of (dis)ability, demonstrating a gap in our understanding of how dis(ability) shapes collegiate experiences. This paper fills this gap by examining how YIFC with (dis)abilities experience attending public 2-year colleges.

Methods: We recruited seventeen individuals between the ages of 18 and 30 years of age who were or were formerly involved with the child welfare system in California, identified as having a (dis)ability, and were currently enrolled or had been enrolled in the last five years at a public, 2-year college. The average age of participants was 23. The group was racially and ethnically diverse, including African American/Black (47%), (29%) Hispanic/Latinx, and (23%) multiracial/multiethnic youth. The cohort was also diverse in terms of gender identity, with women (70%), men (18%), and nonbinary youth (5%) participating. Having a dis(ability) was defined as experiencing a physical, cognitive, or emotional (dis)ability. Youth in the sample experienced all these types of disabilities; however, most participants (58%) identified as having an emotional condition as their only (dis)ability. Youth were recruited through advertisements from child welfare service providers in Los Angeles County. Our methodological approach included interviewing each participant twice using open-ended intensive strategies, eliciting a participant-generated photograph from each youth, and having each youth participate in a semi-structured focus group with other study participants. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and coded using Dedoose qualitative software, guided by the principles of constructivist grounded theory. Photographs were coded using a similar approach.

Findings: Data analysis revealed that youth faced significant challenges meeting their basic needs while attending community college and that these challenges greatly impacted their academic trajectories. Youth reported struggling with housing and food insecurity throughout their college trajectories, which directly impacted their academic performance or impacted their ability to manage symptoms and conditions related to their dis(abilities), which indirectly impacted their academic performance. For example, one youth noted the tension he felt between meeting his financial needs and his academic needs. “Constantly, [I was] just trying to figure out, what am I gonna do today? Am I gonna work, or am I gonna go to this, the class that I already paid for.” In combination, these factors resulted in many participants struggling to thrive academically.

Conclusion and Implications: Findings have identified gaps in our policies and practices and provide vital information on how the child welfare system can better support YIFC experiencing dis(abilities) to achieve higher education and protect their mental and physical health by ensuring these youth’s basic needs are met.