The Intersection of Being Black and Foster: Perspectives of Race, Foster Care Status, and Resistance

• In Event: The Experiences of Foster Youth of Color: Interrogating Carceral Systems Toward (Re)Imagining Educational Opportunity

Abstract

Problem Statement

Black youth must traverse through a country that practiced slavery, practiced Jim Crow, and continues to uphold its project of anti-Blackness through foster care (Roberts, 2022). Black students with foster care history must navigate both anti-Black racism and the systemic marginalization that comes from being involved in foster care (Dettlaff & Weber, 2020). Foster care tracks Black students out of the college-going process; research has lacked a critical analysis of how Black foster youth students make meaning of these intersecting identities toward college persistence.

Conceptual Framework, Through the Lens of Intersectionality

The embrace of race and foster care status has been in tension in the child welfare and education communities. Mainstream conversations about Black students in foster care go as far to say race is not a factor (see Drake et al, 2023). I use intersectionality as a framework to subvert the idea that race does not matter, center Black students’ racial identity and be inclusive of their foster care status. Crenshaw (1991) discusses intersectionality through three distinct but interrelated domains, structural, political, and representational intersectionality. These three domains helped me to conceptualize my findings.

My research questions are: how do Black foster youth students make meaning of their racial identity? How do they make meaning of their experience in foster care? And lastly, in what ways do these differential experiences inform their college going process?

Methodology

The design of this study was qualitative and used a narrative inquiry approach (Clandinin & Connelly, 2000). The participants for this study were Black students who experienced foster care after their 13th birthday, were 18 years old or older and were currently enrolled in or graduated from a four-year institution. I interviewed nine students. To triangulate (Creswell & Plano Clark, 2011) the student interviews, I also interviewed staff who support foster youth on their campuses. I interviewed 10 staff total. I conducted five follow-up interviews from students and staff (29 interviews total).

Findings
The findings illuminate nuanced and complex
experiences of how race and foster care status impact college persistence. Findings are:

“Yeah, Foster Care is Racist, I saw it Everyday”: Being Black in Foster Care
“Being Black and foster in college is an anomaly”: Being Black and Foster in College
“There is a power that’s embedded in our history, that’s what propels me in college”: Being Black, Foster, and College Persistence

Significance and Discussion

This study is significant as it highlights the intersection of being Black and having experience of foster care in college spaces and its saliency. It also centers the relevance of racial identity, the ways in which it empowered and motivated them to persist in college–debunking notions of color-blindness and race-evasiveness in foster care research.

Implications and Recommendations

This paper recommends creating intentional Black spaces for students with foster care history at college campuses with policy and practice that center the intersections of being Black and foster. Ultimately, this paper calls for abolition of the foster care system and creating upstream community based policies that support children and families.

Author

• Kenyon Lee Whitman, University of Nevada - Las Vegas