Children and Youth Services Review: 'Maximizing educational opportunities for youth aging out of foster care by engaging youth voices in a partnership for social change'.

Day, Angelique ; Riebschleger, Joanne ; Dworsky, Amy 等

Kidspeak, a youth policy forum in the US state of Michigan, brings young people before listening panels of legislators, state department heads and other committee leaders to talk about issues of concern to them. This article is based on testimony given at two forums held in the summer of 2010. Both forums focused on barriers to educational success faced by youth in foster care, including challenges associated with the transition from high school to college. At these two events, 43 high school and college students from across the state of Michigan who are or were in foster care spoke before panels of policymakers. Transcripts from their testimony were analysed. The findings identified eight main barriers to high school completion and college access. The most frequently cited was a lack of supportive relationships with caring adults. These themes highlight the challenges faced by high school and college students who are or were in foster care. They also point to policy and practice recommendations aimed at breaking down barriers to educational attainment among this population. This research demonstrates how the voice of young people in foster care can have an impact on the policies that affect their lives.

34:5, May 2012, pp 1007-14