Compared to their peers in the Adolescent Health Study, these youth were more likely to receive failing grades. As the youth progressed through school, these early outcomes did not seem to improve. .
Compared to their peers sampled in the Adolescent Health Study, youth who aged out of foster care lagged far behind in their educational attainment. Courtney et al. (2010) found that at age 23 or 24, "nearly one-quarter of the young adults in the Midwest Study did not have a high school diploma or a GED" (p. 22). Those who were enrolled in post-secondary education were more likely to be enrolled in a 2-year college than a 4-year college. The number one barrier preventing these young adults from achieving their goals was lack of, a stable family, sufficient education, access to resources and a sense of belonging. The Midwest Study provided the first comprehensive look at how youth aging-out of care fared at four points in their lives during the transition out of care. The results revealed that schools, case workers and foster families need to do more to help youth successfully transition from care. To me this is an apparent educational issue, that I feel needs to be addressed and changes need to be enforced.
The transition from adolescence to young adulthood is often an exciting experience. Most youth have parents or other family members on whom they can rely for support during this transition. But for the approximately 24,000 youth in the United States who "age out" of foster care each year, it can be an extremely difficult experience filled with many challenges (Gardner, 2008). Youth aging out of foster care are "at a higher risk for homelessness, unemployment, illness, incarceration, welfare dependency and sexual and physical victimization than their peers" (Gardner, 2008, p. 3). Although these youth face many challenges, with the support of caring adults and communities, they have the ability to succeed.