Supporting Students Formerly in Foster Care

November 22, 2024

Share this

Title: Addressing Challenges and Support for Youth Formerly in Foster Care

Author: Ellie Taylor

Source: Trellis Strategies

Youth formerly in foster care (YFFC) face complex and heightened demands with regard to postsecondary education. In a new brief from Trellis Strategies, the author discusses the distinct needs of YFFC who pursue higher education.

Trellis Strategies’ 2023 Student Financial Wellness Survey found that YFFC have considerably lower levels of food security compared to their peers, while the share of housing insecure YFFC students is 28 percentage points higher than that of non-YFFC students. Additionally, more than seven in 10 YFFC students did not know if their institutions had aid programs for them.

Most institutions do not have a means of identifying YFFC if they do not first identify themselves, complicating their ability to help students. However, less than 40 percent of students who indicated their YFFC status on their FAFSA reported receiving more funding. While 18 percent of students knew about institutional aid opportunities and 25 percent knew about state aid opportunities, 63 and 54 percent of students who were aware of these programs, respectively, participated in them.

The report highlights four key policy recommendations:

Fund and appoint liaisons for YFFC. Institutions should have a full-time staff member dedicated to supporting YFFC students.
Cultivate more awareness of support for students. Develop and sustain communication between higher education institutions and foster programs in order to build a robust awareness of resources for YFFC students and identify YFFC students.
Develop accessible programs for YFFC. Make programs, including trauma-informed counseling and academic support, convenient and free for YFFC.
Offer food and housing assistance. Designate specific housing for YFFC and provide aid to ease the financial burden of housing and food.

Read the full report here.

—Kara Seidel

If you have any questions or comments about this blog post, please contact us.

Topics:

policy & research underserved students

Keep Reading

Supporting Students Through Faculty Professional Development

Marielena DeSanctis, college provost and senior vice president for academic affairs and student services at Broward, recently spoke with Sherri Hughes, ACE’s assistant vice president of professional learning, about the impact of the ACUE program on faculty development, equity, and student success.

October 19, 2020

Foster Care Youth and Postsecondary Education: The Long Road Ahead

Between 20,000 and 25,000 young adults age out of foster care each year. While they face a wide range of challenges, a college education is as important to them as it is to other young adults. Amy Dworsky of the University of Chicago looks at the challenges they face.

December 11, 2017

Supporting First-Generation and Low-Income Students at the University of Florida

First launched in 2006, the Machen Florida Opportunity Scholars Program supports nearly 1,250 undergraduates annually and will soon surpass the 2,000 alumni milestone. For the first-generation and low-income students in the program, early estimates indicate that they are 44 percent more likely to graduate in four years and 47 percent more likely to complete in six years compared to their peers.

September 21, 2015