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Factors Involved With Youth in Foster Care and Education

Helena Nieuwland

Niagara College

COMM 1133

Professor Shepherd

November 19th 2013

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While foster care has many good advantages for some youth, it can also come with many disadvantages. One of the primary disadvantages is the toll it has on some youths education. Youth in foster care have many challenges and obstacles to overcome to obtain a good education, such as constant moves, their attitude and attention, and their home life. What some people may already know, youth in foster care move more frequently than most other youth. Yet people may not be as aware of how many numerous school days are missed in transition from moves (Bruskas, 2008). With missing so many school days it will affect their grades due to missing so many assignments and lessons. Not being at school as often as most affects comfort levels which then affects school experience and long term performance (Bruskas, 2008). Comfort levels are affected because of the constant switching between schools, keeping friends can be difficult or just being unfamiliar with so many new environments. In the study mentioned in Bruskas article Children in foster care: A vulnerable population at risk, states that 75% of the youth in foster care had incorrect data on their school records, while some who moved more frequently had no data on their records at all Bruskas, (2008). Incorrect or loss of school records could be a huge barrier to youth, they may not feel they are getting the credit they deserve and could attribute to their low comfort levels as well. While this might seem completely out of the youths control, another factor they might have some control over is their attention and attitude. The attitude and attention towards school that many foster youth have can be damaging to their education. In the study by Gramkowski et al, 2009 concentrating on their work was found to be difficult by 53.6 %, trouble completing school work is an another issue in the same study 48.2% reported having difficulties in this area Gramkowski et al (2009). With over half the group studied failing to concentrate, it makes it very hard to be able to move forward on any

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work they might have to complete. So it is not surprising that close to half also reported they could not complete school work. Also found in the study getting along with teachers proved to be another alarming factor 42.9% of the youth reported they have been suspended or expelled from school (Gramkowski et al, 2009). Not being able to get along with teachers only adds to the problem for not being able to complete school work, with a large number of foster youth reporting they have either been suspended or expelled from school means they have missed many days of school and as mentioned in paragraph one has also been proven harmful towards youth education. Now, not all of this may be entirely the youths fault either. Life at home plays a big role in their attitudes and overall education. Definitely one of the most important factors in the youths education is their home life, with many factors that could be considered home life the main focus will be physical and mental abuse as well as parental death. The same article noted in paragraph two included results from the CHIP_AE indicators developed for youth, it should be noted that low scores on the CHIP_AE indicate poorer levels of health in each domain, in this case higher levels of risk (Gramkowski et al, 2009, p. 80). On the CHIP_AE scores the three lowest were physical abuse, mental abuse, and parental death. These scores indicate all these factors will strongly affect the youths education in a negative way. Mental abuse was the least threating out of the three, closely followed by psychical abuse. Both types of abuse physical and mental can lead to many psychological disorders in youth such as depression, acute stress disorder, dissociation and so on, almost all of the psychological disorders make it hard to concentrate or focus on school work which is why abuse might have scored so low on the CHIP_AE scores. The death of a parent dropped the youths score by over 50% of what abused scored. The death of a parent will have an impact on anyone no matter what their age is, in youth it would be extremely challenging to get

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over the death of a parent and they may feel a greater sense of loss. Their natural grieving process may take longer after a traumatic event like losing a parent and then being placed in the foster system, which will take a toll on their education. Home life seeming possibly the worst factor, many things need to be taken into consideration for foster youths education. Although foster care is there for a reason, it is important to know the toll it could possibly have on the education of the youths placed within the system. It is only fair to the youth to remember the different factors associated with being in foster care whether it be constantly moving, what their attitude and attention may be like and why, or what their home life may be like.

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Work Cited Page

Bruskas, Delilah,R.N., M.N. (2008). Children in foster care: A vulnerable population at risk. Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Nursing, 21(2), 70-7. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/232976398?accountid=39476

Gramkowski, Bridget, MS,R.N., C.P.N.P., Kools, Susan,PhD., R.N., Paul, S., PhD., Boyer, C. B., PhD., Monasterio, Erica, MN,F.N.P., R.N., & Robbins, N., M.S.W. (2009). Health risk behavior of youth in foster care. Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Nursing, 22(2), 77-85. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/232961900?accountid=39476