Fostering Higher Education: Preliminary findings from a small randomized pilot study

Many youth with foster care experience have goals of completing a postsecondary program. While the past two decades have seen a great deal of growth in services, supports, and policies to help youth achieve these goals, the evidence base for postsecondary support programs remains limited, and the child welfare system continues to struggle to find ways to meaningfully support youth with foster care experience in meeting their goals. The purpose of this study is to contribute to the evidence base of what works to support youth with foster care experience in achieving their postsecondary goals by reporting on the first full-length evaluation of Fostering Higher Education (FHE), a postsecondary access and retention intervention designed specifically for this population. This was an underpowered study focused on implementation feasibility conducted with 25 youth in SW Washington State. Analyses of intervention implementation data found implementation to be feasible, but reaching desired exposure levels was complicated by challenges such as the chaotic circumstances many youth were living in combined with the onset of the COVID-19 global pandemic. Preliminary assessments of the impact of FHE were encouraging, with participants in the FHE condition experiencing a greater reduction in perceived barriers to education and increased participation in postsecondary preparation activities compared to the control group. FHE offers a promising approach to postsecondary support services for youth with foster care experience. Future research aims to continue to assess the effectiveness of and approaches to strengthen this program.