A Scoping Review of Economic Support Programs for the Educational Well-Being of Child Welfare-Involved Populations

Background and Purpose. Given education's essential role in promoting children's stability and developmental outcomes, the intersection of education and child welfare systems requires ongoing policy, practice, and research attention. Considering the poor educational outcomes of children in the welfare system and its association with their economic challenges in accessing education, economic support programs for welfare-involved children could enhance their performance and outcomes. While economic support programs have been implemented to enhance welfare-involved children‘s education, there is inconclusive evidence of the effectiveness of such programs. This scoping review examines economic support programs aimed at improving educational well-being for children and youth involved in the child welfare system in the United States.

Methods. The review focused on studies conducted in the United States specifically on children or families previously, currently, or at-risk of being involved with the child welfare system. The PRISMA-ScR checklist and Levac et al.’s six-stage methodological guideline guided the study processes. Five databases were searched from 2013 to 2024, after which the identified studies were subjected to title, abstract, and full-text screening while applying eligibility criteria to ascertain those that met the full criteria for data extraction. Obtained data from the studies through data extraction were subjected to thematic analysis based on the economic support provided, the types of educational outcomes assessed, and the overall effectiveness of the interventions.

Results. The systematic search yielded 2,612 studies, of which 16 met inclusion criteria and were reviewed. Most of the studies were conducted in more than one state (56%, n = 9/16), with the majority being implemented concurrently across all 50 U.S. states as well as Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico (38%, n =6/16). The most common types of support were education-specific financial assistance (44%, n = 7/16), education and training vouchers (13%, n = 2/16), tuition waiver programs (13%, n = 2/16), vouchers (13%, n = 2/16), financial incentives (13%, n = 2/16), and scholarships (13%, n = 2/16). Programs spanned 8–48 months and were implemented at federal, state, and local levels, most targeting post-secondary education. Economic support programs have mainly targeted higher education, with most interventions focusing on post-secondary education. The reviewed studies tracked nine educational outcomes: enrollment (9), completion (5), attainment (4), graduation rates (3), test scores/achievement (2), retention (2), attendance (1), participation (1), and use of out-of-school hours (1). All programs reviewed showed effectiveness in improving at least one educational outcome, with enrollment being the most impacted.

Conclusions. The findings suggest that economic support can be crucial in enhancing educational access and outcomes for child welfare-involved populations. However, more research is needed on long-term impacts and support for pre-college education levels. Additionally, the studies’ limited focus on economic support in special education should inspire concerted attention to economic support targeting children and youth in special education to advance their academic performance and outcomes. Furthermore, more targeted studies examining economic support for pre-secondary education and its effectiveness will fill the existing literature's void.