It has been well established that foster youth have dismal educational outcomes. Less than half graduate from high school. Only 11.8% of former foster youth have a college degree by the time they are 25-years-old compared to 28% of their non-foster peers. Although these outcomes are well known, there has not been research on the experiences of foster youth in school until a recently published study examined this issue. A large-scale study published in 2018 comparing foster yo

Foster youth in California have dismal school outcomes. Two thirds will move schools at least twice during the school year compared with 7% of non-foster youth. Only 19% are proficient in English compared with 44% of non-foster youth. Twelve percent are proficient in Math compared with 33% of non-foster youth. Finally, only 52% of foster youth graduate from high school compared with 84% of non-foster youth. To address this problem, the Alliance for Children's right has releas

According to a report released Last week schools suspend foster youth five times more frequently than the average, and black male foster youth have the highest suspension rates in the state. The overall suspension rate in California is 3.6%. Overall, schools suspend foster youth at the rate of 15.1%, and they suspend black male foster youth at the rate of 27.4%. 41% of seventh and eighth are black foster children. The Community College Equity Assessment Lab and UCLA Black Mal

Ballard, P.J., Hoyt, L.T. & Pachucki, M.C., Impacts of Adolescent and Young Adult Civic Engagement on Health and Socioeconomic Status in Adulthood (2018), Child Development Kim, J. & Morgul, K, Long-term consequences of youth volunteering: Voluntary versus involuntary service (Sept. 2017). Social Science Research, Vol. 67, pp. 160-175 These research studies looked at the impact of civic engagement in adolescence on adult physical and mental health, educational attainment, and

The most important points for from this study are the following: a. “the number of months youths spent in care after age 18 was significantly associated with the odds of finishing high school. Each month in care past age 18 increased the expected odds of completing high school by about eight percent.” b. “In particular, adults who had gone to college and whom foster youths turned to for advice and tangible support were particularly influential in increasing the chances that y