The adults who might be expected to be concerned with a foster
child’s educational progress “often do not communicate effectively to
carry out decisions regarding educational issues in a timely fashion.”
The perceived stigma of being in foster care prevents many foster
children from interacting normally with other students. Many don’t like
to reveal to their peers that they are in care. Some isolate themselves
socially because of this. Expectations that foster children will be
labeled as troublemakers can be self-fulfilling, as these children
continue to see that adults expect them to fail.
Most of the children have an adult they could turn to in times of
crisis. Most had developed a trusting relationship with some school
staff, yet those school staff were sometimes had little understanding
of the child’s home life. None felt their caseworkers filled that role
(CASA isn’t mentioned).
School staff tended to see foster children as very similar to
others; they often don’t recognize the special issues they face.
Foster children blamed themselves for not doing well in school.
Children did not understand the caseworkers’ roles, said they turned
over a lot, and didn’t make an effort to create relationships with
them. Caseworkers did not keep them informed about the status of their
families, creating tensions that carried over into school.
Adults didn’t typically understand school issues the way the kids
did. Most gave education a low priority given the number of other
issues surrounding the children. Foster parents, in particular, did not
understand their children’s perspectives on education. While most
children felt the stigma of being in care, foster parents almost
universally said the children felt nothing of the kind.
Members of each adult group recognized that someone had to be
responsible for monitoring the academic progress of foster children –
but someone other than themselves. So, no one seems to have primary
responsibility.
Both children and foster parents were frustrated by school staff’s
limited understanding of the child welfare system. Lack of
communication about children was part of the problem; school staff
weren’t given information which could help them understand the child’s
behavioral problems.
