Recent public opinion research indicates that most Americans don’t know very much about the foster care system. They feel positive about its mission – protecting children from abuse and neglect – but most don’t believe that foster care works well for the more than half a million children now in care.

Casey Family Programs, which has been providing long-term foster care services for almost 40 years, is in the middle of a major effort to understand how the experience of foster care affects individuals as they leave “the system” to face the challenges of adulthood.

For additional insight into the experiences of foster care alumni, take a look at: A new Chapin Hall report of foster care alumni in three Midwestern states. Voices from the Inside, a new report from the Pew Commission on Children in Foster Care. The Future of Children’s report Children, Families and Foster Care.

The first new study to come out of this effort, “Assessing the Effects of Foster Care”, is based on interviews with more than 1,000 alumni of Casey foster care programs who were served between 1966 and 1998, and on the same individuals’ case records. It attempts to discern whether certain elements of the foster care experience are predictors of success—or failure—in negotiating the demands of independent adult life.

The Mystery of Resilience
In effect, the Casey researchers are attempting to identify the ingredients of resilience—the uncanny ability of some children to overcome not only whatever trauma brought them into the child welfare system (abuse, neglect, a caregiver’s death), but also the subsequent disruptions of life as wards of the state—such as frequent changes of home and school, loss of contact with siblings or other relatives, etc.

Quinn Alston entered foster care at the age of three months and left it at age 21, and is now an independent living program specialist for the District of Columbia’s Child and Family Services agency. His experiences in the foster care system are similar to those of the Casey alumni and he says the experience of going into foster care itself produces resilient children.

Foster children, says Quinn, have to survive in “an unnatural state” on a daily basis. “Resiliency starts at day one—it has to, in response to this unnatural experience,” said Alston. “ Here’s what happens: children placed in foster care are asked to make a transition immediately, with no preparation. When adults make a transition, like moving to a new house, they can take up to six months to plan this, yet we expect kids to make the move immediately. This leads foster kids to develop strong adaptation skills because they have to survive on a day-to-day basis.”

For some dramatic examples of resilience, take a look at the current issue of Represent, the Voice of Youth in Care. The theme of the issue is “ ‘Crack Babies’ All Grown Up”.

Children find themselves in the foster care system because someone has determined that they have been neglected or abused (or both). The National Clearinghouse on Child Abuse and Neglect Information reports that in 2001 an estimated 275,000 children were removed from their homes due to a child abuse investigation. About 90 percent of the Casey alumni experienced some form of child abuse or neglect.

Predictors of Success
Casey Family Programs, which provides foster care to children in 13 states in partnership with public child welfare agencies, provides a number of services beyond those generally offered by public agencies alone. For example, youngsters placed with Casey receive financial support to participate in arts, sports and other activities; they can apply for special scholarships; and their foster parents receive frequent training. One goal of this new study is to determine which of these services are most effective.

To find out, the Casey researchers created a research model that looked at the relationships between 55 variables. Variables included characteristics of the child (such as gender, race, and age at time of first placement); service factors (such as length of time in care, number of placements; services received while in care); and characteristics of the individual as an adult (drug or alcohol use, child bearing and child rearing, criminal history, educational achievement, employment and housing status, physical health).

Then they identified a series of variables most strongly correlated with successful adult life, which they termed the success index. Among other things, the success index includes:

• Receiving life skills or independent living preparation while in care
• Completing a high school education or attaining a General Education Degree (GED) while in care
• Receiving college scholarships or job training
• Participating in clubs and organizations while in foster care
• Not being homeless within a year of leaving care
• Not needing academic support services like tutoring while in foster care
• Not significantly using alcohol or drugs while in foster care

Casey researchers say that the survey results point to areas where more support is needed. For instance, only 40 percent of the Casey foster care alumni received independent living training. And the level of homelessness within the first year of leaving the foster care system for Casey alumni was high—22 percent. However, there is some good news in the homelessness data: while Casey alumni that left care in the 1970s reported a homelessness rate of 29 percent within a year of leaving care, for those who left care in the 1990s, the figure drops to 19 percent.

The results also validate Casey’s commitment to encouraging children in care to take part in a variety of activities and hobbies; and to the added support they give children in the area of education.

School: Success Against the Odds
Failing to reach their educational potential is one of the most serious risks faced by foster children, with the most serious long-term effects.

The Casey survey found that the foster children in the survey faced numerous challenges to their academic success: about 38 percent received special education services; more than 36 percent repeated a grade in school; more than 67 percent attended three or more elementary schools—and about half of those attended five or more elementary schools.

Quinn Alston says that kind of experience requires persistent adult intervention to overcome. “I had some pretty good teachers,” says Alston. “I think most of them tried to get through to me but there was no way I could be receptive. They didn’t know who I was.” Alston was lucky to have a foster father and caseworker who worked with him to see that he earned his GED and applied to college.

Overall, Casey program alumni appear to have been pretty successful in overcoming the educational obstacles that came their way, perhaps because Casey program services make education a priority. The percentage of those completing high school is 86 percent, compared to 80 percent for the general population. These results are especially strong for foster care alumni of color.

• 90 percent of African American foster care alumni in this study completed high school, compared to 79 percent of the general population of African Americans
• 88 percent of Hispanic foster care alumni completed high school, compared to 57 percent of the general Hispanic population.

(These percentages are different from most frequently reported high-school completion rates for a number of reasons, having to do with the length of the period under study, the inclusion of those receiving GED certificates, and other factors. Methods of calculating accurate high school graduation rates are complex and contentious.)

Unfortunately, strong high school graduation rates have not translated into a successful transition to college. Just over 40 percent of Casey alumni attended some college, compared to over 50 percent of the general population, and fewer than 11 percent of alumni received their BA degrees, compared to over 24 percent of the general population.

Next Steps
The Casey National Alumni Study offers new statistical evidence that stability, life skills training, participation in group activities and employment experience are what’s necessary to make sure that today’s children in foster care emerge as strong adults prepared to succeed.

Casey senior researcher Peter Pecora says that the study, conducted over a five-year period, yielded very rich data that is being analyzed with the intention of applying the lessons learned to improve services for foster kids. Casey will continue to issue reports on their findings.

Resource:

• Casey Family Programs offers a range of online resources for foster families and service providers.
• National Clearing House on Child Abuse and Neglect Information provides information on programs, research, legislation, and statistics regarding the safety, permanency and well-being of children and families.
• May is National Foster Care Month. Check this Web site for details on how your community can participate in a nationwide ribbon campaign to heighten public awareness of the need for foster parents and of the role of people who help make a difference in the lives of foster children and youth.
  

Talk Back

If you’ve got comments or questions about this story, we’d like to hear them. Send your response to Cecilia Garica (cecilia@connectforkids.org).

Cecilia Garcia is the executive director for Connect for Kids.