Vocational Planning for Youth in Foster Care

The statistics for youth in foster care show that they drop out of high school at a much higher rate than their peers and that only 2 to 6% of foster children graduate from college. The Fostering Connections Act of 2008 places more responsibility on the Department of Social Services to take steps to support the educational goals of these youth. Foster parents, in cooperation with Child Welfare staff need to begin considering the child's educational goals long before the final year or two of high school. Starting the planning as early as the first year of middle school,foster parents can be instrumental in enabling these youth in setting goals that will encourage completion of high school and further education/vocational training based upon the youth's desires, aptitude, and abilities.