Educational outcomes for adults formerly in foster care: The role of ethnicity

• Adult educational outcomes for foster care alumni do not vary by ethnicity.
• Placement due to maltreatment and disabilities predict worse outcomes.
• Stability in care and preparation for independence predict better outcomes.
• Nearly 90% of Casey Family Programs' alumni obtain high school diploma or GED.

Focusing on Hispanics and using data from the Casey National Foster Care Alumni Study, this paper examines the impact of ethnicity and other predictors on educational outcomes of adults placed in family foster care as children/youth. Though 88% of the alumni completed high school with a diploma or a GED, less than 10% obtained bachelor's degrees or higher. Regression models indicated that ethnicity did not predict outcomes. Physical/learning disabilities, placement in care due to child maltreatment, younger age at entrance into child welfare, less time in care, instability in care, less preparation for leaving care, and younger age at the time of the study interview predicted lower educational outcomes. Findings are interpreted and the importance of stability of placement, continuity of services, and transition-to-independence services are discussed.