Event Reschedule until August 2020

 Youth in foster care are often at higher risk of dropping out of school because of trauma, shifts in educational placement due to shifts in foster families, and lack of long term parental support. 

Being in foster care can have a big impact not only on the individual lives of students, but also on the educational measures of school districts and on society, as well. According to 2008 statistics from the National Working Group on Foster Care and Education, “students in foster care score 16–20 percentile points below their peers in state standardized testing; less than 60% of students in foster care finish high school; only 3% of children who have been in foster care attend post-secondary education after high school graduation; and 42% of children do not begin school immediately after entering foster care, often because of missing records and gaps in school attendance.”

The problem has only increased in recent years.The number of children in foster care has risen from 397,000 nationally in 2012 to 437,500 in 2016. The biggest reason for this increase is the opioid crisis, which is affecting a growing number of families. In addition to students in foster care, there are approximately 2.5 million children living with grandparents or other relative because of parental addiction. These students often face similar educational struggles as foster care students do.

These incredible odds of survival must be recognized and laid out on a platform to be seen.