Educational Journeys of Foster Youth in California: Preliminary Findings of a Statewide Study

• In Event: Sheraton Roundtable Session Thirteen
  In Roundtable Session: Resisting the Web of Carcerality: Counternarratives of Youth Impacted by Foster Care, Homelessness, and the Criminal Justice System (Table 10)

Abstract

Problem Statement
There are approximately 423,997 foster youth in the U.S. (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, 2015). In California, there are more than 47,000 youth in foster care. Less than 50% of foster youth graduate from high school and only 3% of former foster youth earn college degrees (Pecora et al., 2006). About 20,000 young adults age out of state foster care systems annually (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, 2015). Building from such existing knowledge, key findings from the study will help generate local, state, and federal policy recommendations to promote meaningful educational initiatives and supports, tailored to the needs and experiences of foster youth.

Theoretical Framework
This paper draws upon two strengths based theories: Schreiner's (2010) thriving quotient and emotional capital (Cottingham, 2016). This paper utilizes Schreiner's tenant of academic determination. As well, we couple academic determination with emotional capital, to understand the ways in which people develop and practice empathy towards others. Together these frameworks help us understand how foster youth were determined to graduate so that they could pursue careers so that they could give back to other foster youth.

Methodology
We have interviewed 15 students who experienced foster care across California. Also, we have surveyed 152 foster youth students. We have gone through one cycle of analysis. Study participants were recruited from stakeholders engaged in work with youth in foster care. Aiming to understand insight from a very specific sample that exemplifies the characteristics of interest of the study we utilized purposeful sampling to select the study’s sample (Merriam, 2009). Students between the ages of 18-26 were invited to participate.

Preliminary Findings
Each of the participants in the study described having to navigate their education with limited to no help. They detailed the lack of opportunities and resources that kept them stagnant and hopeless. Youth were challenged with low expectations from their care-givers, educators, and peers. Yet they described how they wanted to graduate from high school and attend college. Many spoke about their passion for social justice and to enter career fields like law, social work, and education, to give back and support foster youth.


Implications
The current research consists of deficit-oriented perspectives of foster youth. This study counters such narratives and centers the lived experiences and knowledge of foster youth to help us better understand their assets and to inform research, practice, and theory. This paper expands the use of academic determination, a framework which elicits students’ motivation and effort to succeed in college (Schreiner, 2010), thus subverting the negative tropes and perspectives that exist about this population. Emotional capital is the second framework we expand upon in this paper, due to its relevance in addressing inequality in structures (Cottingham, 2016).

Authors

• Kenyon Lee Whitman, University of Nevada - Las Vegas
  Presenting Author

• Demontea Thompson, University of California - Los Angeles
  Presenting Author

• Maria L. Espino, University of California - Los Angeles
  Presenting Author