Hostname: page-component-7c8c6479df-nwzlb Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-03-27T18:36:10.569Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Issues and Challenges for Service Agencies in Monitoring Educational Outcomes for Children in Out-of-home Care

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 August 2013

Lisa Joanne Smith
Affiliation:
Australian Centre for Child Protection, University of South Australia
Sara McLean*
Affiliation:
Australian Centre for Child Protection, University of South Australia
*
addresses for correspondence:Australian Centre for Child Protection, Level 2, Hawke Research Institute, University of South Australia, GPO Box 2471, Adelaide SA 5001, E-mail: Sara.Mclean@unisa.edu.au

Abstract

Children in out-of-home care (OOHC) experience a number of adverse educational outcomes, including lower attainment and fewer years of schooling; and they are less likely than their peers to remain in education and training after 16 years of age. Children in OOHC are being left behind in educational settings. This is worrying as education can provide the gateway to future life opportunities and a way for them to escape the adverse circumstances which brought them into care. Agencies supporting children in OOHC aim to ameliorate these negative outcomes. The barriers to good educational outcomes for children in OOHC are well documented and include systemic factors over which a support agency has little control. In order to monitor the effectiveness of an agency in supporting children in OOHC, it is essential to monitor the elements of service provision that are influenced by agency inputs rather than systemic or institutional factors. This article will outline potential ways in which agencies can effectively monitor their impact on children's lives.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © The Authors 2013 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (2003). Australia's young people: Their health and well-being. Canberra: AIHW.Google Scholar
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (2007). Educational outcomes of children on guardianship or custody orders: a pilot study. Cat. no. CWS 30. Canberra: AIHW.Google Scholar
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (2011). Educational outcomes of children on guardianship or custody orders: a pilot study, Stage 2. Child Welfare Series no. 49. Cat. no. CWS 37. Canberra: AIHW.Google Scholar
Allen, R. E., & Oliver, J. M. (1982). The effects of child maltreatment on language development. Child Abuse and Neglect, 6, 299305.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ayers, W., Quinn, T., & Stovall, D. (2009). Handbook of Social Justice in Education. New York: Routledge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blome, W. W. (1997). What happens to foster kids: educational experiences of a random sample of foster care youth and a matched group of nonfoster care youth. Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal, 14, 4153.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Boden, J. M., Horwood, J., & Fergusson, D. M. (2007). Exposure to childhood sexual and physical abuse and subsequent educational achievement outcomes. Child Abuse & Neglect, 31 (10), 11011111.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bruskas, D. (2008). Children in foster care: a vulnerable population at risk. Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Nursing, 21 (2), 7077.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cashmore, J. A., & Paxman, M. (1996). Wards Leaving Care: A longitudinal study. Sydney: Department of Community Services.Google Scholar
Cashmore, J. A., & Paxman, M. (2007). Longitudinal Study of Wards Leaving Care: Four to five years on. Sydney: Department of Community Services.Google Scholar
Cheung, C., Lwin, K., & Jenkins, J. M. (2012). Helping youth in care succeed: Influence of caregiver involvement on academic achievement. Children & Youth Services Review, 34, 10921100.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Courtney, M. E. (2008). United States. In Young People's Transitions from Care to Adulthood. Stein, M. & Munro, E. R. (eds.) (pp. 225238). London: Jessica Kingsley.Google Scholar
Courtney, M. E., & Dworsky, A. (2006). Early outcomes for young adults transitioning from out-of home care in the USA. Child & Family Social Work, 11 (3), 209219.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Courtney, M. E., Piliavin, I., Grogan-Kaylor, A., & Nesmith, A. (2001). Foster youth transitions to adulthood: A longitudinal view of youth leaving care. Child Welfare, 80 (6), 685717.Google ScholarPubMed
CREATE (2006). Report Card on Education 2006. CREATE Foundation Level 6, 280 Pitt Street. Sydney NSW.Google Scholar
DeGregorio, L. J., & McLean, S. (2012). The cognitive profiles of children in care and their educational needs: Supporting good outcomes. Children Australia, 38 (1), 2734.Google Scholar
Eckenrode, J., Laird, M., & Doris, J. (1993). School performance and disciplinary problems among abused and neglected children. Developmental Psychology, 29, 5362.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eckenrode, P., Rowe, E., Laird, M., & Brathwaite, J. (1995). Mobility as a mediator of the effects of child maltreatment on academic performance. Child Development, 66 (4), 11301142.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Erickson, M. F., Egeland, B., & Pianta, R. (1989). The effects of maltreatment on the development of young children. In Cicchetti, D. & Carlson, V. (Eds.), Child Maltreatment: Theory and research on the causes and consequences of child abuse and neglect (pp. 647684).Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gorad, S., Huat See, B., & Davies, P. (2012). The impact of attitudes and aspirations on educational attainment and participation. York, UK: Joshua Rowntree Foundation. Retrieved from http://www.jrf.org.uk/sites/files/jrf/education-young-people-parents-full.pdfGoogle Scholar
Jackson, S., & Cameron, C. (2012). Leaving care: Looking ahead and aiming higher. Children & Youth Services Review, 34, 11071114.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Liu, K., Ying-Yao, C., Chen, Y ., & Yuh-Yih, W. (2009). Longitudinal effects of educational expectations and achievement attributions on adolescents’ academic achievements. Adolescence, 44 (176), 911924.Google ScholarPubMed
Mantilla, A. N. (2012). The differences in the educational experiences and caregiver involvement in education between youth in foster care and those in care of their biological parents. (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). California State University, Long Beach, California.Google Scholar
Martin, P. Y., & Jackson, S. (2002). Educational success for children in public care: advice from a group of high achievers. Child and Family Social Work, 7, 121130.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mendes, P. (2011). Young people transitioning from out-of-home care. Alternative Law Journal, 36 (3), 195196.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mondy, S., & Cook, L. (2009). Life, Learning and Achievement: Implementing Strategies to Support Education and Employment Achievements for Young People in Out of Home Care. Research report: Centacare, Broken Bay. ISBN: [978-0-646-52548-8].Google Scholar
Noonan, K., Matone, M., Zlotnik, S., Hernandez-Mekonnen, R., Watts, C., Rubin, D., & Mollen, C. (2012). Cross-system barriers to educational success for children in foster care: the front line perspective. Children and Youth Services Review, 34, 403408.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pilling, D. (1990). Escape from disadvantage. Basingstoke, UK: Burgess Science Press.Google Scholar
Poertner, J., Moore, T., & McDonald, T. P. (2008). Managing for outcomes: The selection of sets of outcome measures. Administration in Social Work, 32 (4), 522.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Powers, P., & Stotland, J. (2002). Lost in the shuffle revisited. Philadelphia: The Education Law Center.Google Scholar
Rutchick, A. M., Smyth, J. M., Lopoo, L. M., & Dusek, J. B. (2009). Great expectations: The biasing effects of reported child behaviour problems on educational expectancies and subsequent academic achievement. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 28, 392413.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Skinner, E. A., Zimmer-Gembeck, M. J., & Connell, J. P. (1998). Individual differences and the development of perceived control. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 63(23, Whole No. 204).CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Stone, S. (2007). Child maltreatment, out-of-home placement and academic vulnerability: A decade review of evidence and future directions. Children & Youth Services Review, 29 (2), 139162.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tilbury, C. (2010). Educational status of children and young people in care. Children Australia, 35 (4), 713.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Trout, A. L., Hagaman, J., Casey, K., Reid, R., & Epstein, M. H. (2008). The academic status of children and youth in out-of-home care: A review of the literature. Children and Youth Services Review, 30 (9), 979994.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tweddle, A. (2007). Youth leaving care: How do they fare? New Directions for Youth Development, 113, 1531.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vacca, J.S. (2007). No child left behind. . .except the foster child. Relational Child & Youth Care Practice, 20 (2), 6772.Google Scholar
Wise, S., Pollock, S., Mitchell, G., Argus, C., & Farquhar, P. (2010). Care-system impacts on academic outcomes: Research report. Melbourne: Anglicare Victoria and Wesley Mission Victoria.Google Scholar
Wodarski, J. S., Kurtz, P. D., Gaudin, J. M. Jr., & Howing, P. (1990). Maltreatment and the school-age child: Major academic, socioemotional, and adaptive outcomes. Social Work, 35, 506513.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Zhan, M. (2006). Assets, parental expectations and involvement, and children's educational performance. Children and Youth Services Review, 28, 961 975.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zhang, Y. (2011). Educational expectations, school experiences, and academic achievements: A longitudinal examination. Gansu Survey of Children and Families Papers, University of Pennsylvania. Retrieved from http://repository.upenn.edu/gansu_papers/22Google Scholar
Zima, B. T., Bussing, R., Freeman, S., Yang, X., Belin, T. R., & Forness, S. R. (2000). Behavior problems, academic skill delays and school failure among school-aged children in foster care: their relationship to placement characteristics. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 9 (1), 87103.CrossRefGoogle Scholar