What We Wish We Knew: Foster Alumni Reflect on Lessons Learned in College

Abstract

Abstract Research shows that the educational attainment of former foster youth is lower than youth who have not been in foster care. There are a relatively small number of foster alumni who beat the odds and attain a four-year degree (The Annie E. Casey Foundation, 2014; Casey Family Programs, 2010; Courtney et al., 2011; Pecora et al., 2003; Sarubbi, Parker, & Sponsler, 2016; Wolanin, 2005). This purpose of this qualitative study was to gain an understanding of how former foster youth navigate college barriers so they can continue to persist semester after semester. Former foster youth from a mid-size university in the Midwest participated in semi-structured interviews. Using Padilla’s (2009) concept of how best to understand the success of students who are marginalized, a local model of student success (LMSS) was completed (2009). The LMSS highlights barriers to academic success, the knowledge a student must come to understand to overcome those barriers, and the action that needs to be taken. The findings are viewed by using Maslow’s (1943) hierarchy of needs, which helps to further illustrate the extent that former foster youth’s basic needs go unmet and how this negatively impacts their academic success. Whereas all students have basic needs, the ability and the options that a student has to tend to those needs is starkly different for former foster youth. The author recommends greater campus awareness of the lives of a student who has been in foster care as well as providing opportunity for year-round housing that include all break periods. The author also recommends outreach and collaboration with the staff who work at the state’s Independent Living program and the creation of a former foster youth network that enables students to connect with other students who need support navigating college and being on their own.