Educational Outcomes of Foster Care Youth ’25

This report integrates administrative data from the NYC Administration for Children’s Services (ACS) and NYC Public Schools (NYCPS) to calculate graduation rates for students in foster care over ten years of 9th grade entry cohorts, 2011 through 2020.

Findings

Among high school students in foster care who entered 9th grade in the 2020-2021 academic year, 46 percent graduated in four years compared to only 25.2 percent of those who entered in the 2011-2012 academic year.

More than half (52.7 percent) of students in foster care who entered 9th grade in the 2019-2020 academic year graduated in five years. Fifty-five percent of students who entered high school in the 2018-2019 academic year graduated in six years. The continued upward trajectory of five- and six-year graduation rates suggests that students in foster care may require more time to graduate, especially in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Foster care characteristics associated with higher graduation rates include being in kinship care (rather than foster home care or residential care, which are other types of foster care) and experiencing fewer than one movement in care per year.

Educational characteristics associated with higher graduation rates include attending the same high school from entry to completion, not repeating 9th grade, proficiency in the New York State 8th grade Math and English Language Arts (ELA) Regents exams, and higher 8th grade attendance.

Impacts

This study highlights the importance of educational and foster care characteristics associated with high school graduation.

The initiatives by ACS, NYCPS, and the NYC Department of Youth & Community Development (DYCD)—such as the Summer Youth Employment Program (SYEP), free afterschool programs, prioritization of kinship care, and specifically designed educational programs such as Fair Futures, Road to Success and in-school supports—have shown promising results for students in foster care. Continued analysis of graduation rates is warranted to understand the true impact of such programs, especially in light of the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent educational policy changes.

Documents and Links

Download the Report

Partners

Funded by the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation