The national average of foster youth who attend college is 10 percent. While we hear a lot about foster care and the needs of foster children, the pursuit of higher education among young adults coming out of care is sometimes overlooked. The Orlando Sentinel Editorial Board recently caught up with Bill Frye, president of the Florida Sheriffs Youth Ranches, a residential group care program with four campuses for boys and girls, to discuss what’s being done to help Florida’s foster youth find success as young adults.
Q: What does it mean to “age out” of the foster-care system?
A: The phrase “aging out” is a widely used term for when children in foster care turn 18 and are legally adults. At that point, they have the authority to leave the system if they choose. However, thanks to the Nancy C. Detert Common Sense and Compassion Independent Living Act that passed in 2014, Florida allows youth to remain in the foster-care system and receive support services until age 21 if they’re finishing high school, earning a GED or pursuing post-secondary education.
Q: Why are graduation rates so low?
A: There are many reasons graduation rates remain low, starting with the lack of stability. The percentage of foster youth who graduate from high school is between 30 percent and 50 percent — and a dismal 3 percent for college graduation.
When kids are removed from their home — usually because of abuse, neglect or some other dangerous situation — it’s not uncommon for them to change schools after they’re placed in a foster setting. Some kids have to change schools more than once, as the average child in the system will move to a new home at least three times in the first year. We’ve had children come to us who have hopped from home to home, with as many as 20 placements in their lifetime. When these children struggle in school, it usually has nothing to do with ability but everything to do with the loss of hope and a serious mistrust of the adults in their life.
Q: How does Florida compare to the national average?
A: To my knowledge, we don’t have exact data at our state level on college graduation rates among foster youth. I would venture to say, however, that Florida’s success rate is similar to the national average — with much room for improvement.
Q: Are foster youth eligible for college scholarships?
A: Students in the foster system in Florida are eligible for free tuition, under certain conditions, until they turn 28. However, providing free tuition — while helpful — isn’t enough by itself to guarantee success. It’s a tough road trying to meet the demands of higher education for students who have lacked stability and structure most of their lives. We have found that many foster children who turn 18 have had so many disruptions that they need at least two or more years of stability before venturing out on their own.
Q: What’s being done in our state to encourage foster youth to pursue college or vocational training?
A: There are several different approaches right now to encourage foster youth to pursue college or job training programs. Our child welfare system consists of 17 community-based care lead agencies that oversee foster care in different regions of the state, with each one offering different support programs.
In Central Florida, the Florida Sheriffs Youth Ranches, with a grant from the Polk Sheriff’s Charities Foundation, has established a scholarship house at the Youth Villa campus in Bartow. Working with Heartland for Children, we are setting up a program not only for students who live at the Youth Ranches but for foster youth in the area who wish to attend Polk State College or a vocational training program. The students living in the scholarship house will receive support from a life coach, which will include mentoring, tutoring, independent life skills training and counseling. Our goal is to significantly improve graduation rates for foster youth with a model that hopefully can be used in other parts of the state.
Q: Are there changes that need to be made to our child-welfare system that would make it easier for foster youth to be successful as young adults?
A: Depending on whom you ask, you’ll probably get many different answers to this question. Child welfare-advocates, legislators, state officials and many others who care deeply about foster youth have different opinions. From my perspective, which includes more than 33 years working in Florida’s system, we need to constantly look at what’s best for the children coming into our care. Children need stability and siblings need to be kept together, especially in the early years of their lives. Children who are constantly moved from one place to another, from one school to another, will suffer setbacks that affect their mental health, their education and ultimately their future.
For older foster youth, they should be given input into where they would like to live — whether it’s with a relative, in a foster home or at a residential group home — and not be forced into any one model of care. We need to make sure we’re listening to these young adults and not placing them in environments simply because a child welfare professional thinks it’s best. When it comes to creating new laws and rules for foster care, we need to be sure we’re including the voices of youth in the system. Finally, creating more opportunities like the scholarship house for young adults will give youth a better chance at finding long-term success.
