In the recent past, the education level of students of 5 to 18 years old in foster homes have been determined to be below average. As the number of foster parents increases in the United States, the concern is on the mental health outcomes, the mental instability and most importantly the stability of these foster care children elementary institutions. There are aspects of challenges faced by the children in the foster care which has been established as the reason for massive inability to proceed to the next grades. Thus, it becomes evident that the matters of mental health contribute greatly to the challenges faced by these children. This literature review is a comprehensive analysis of the possibility of foster children facing obstacles in their elementary education and the identification of such obstacles by themes.
The research questions for this topic, therefore, are do foster care children in elementary school experience more educational obstacles? And what are the major mental impacts on these children? The scientific relevance identified in regard to this topic is that there are inadequate information and health-related resources which can help in the establishment and solving this issue. As pertains social relevance, there are many children affected by these issues as well as their families. Thus, there is a need for intervention to prevent social erosion. The literature review will be organized into themes which in return will direct the goals to be achieved in the entire discussion. The first theme accounts on the instability in the foster care which will determine whether the challenges within the foster care facilities are responsible for the challenge faced by these students. Another theme is on the educational outcome which will encompass the general outcomes of the student. It does not focus on one specific factor but on the general outcomes. Lastly, there is the issue of mental health as a theme. This is meant to achieve the scientific relevance likely to be raised in the literature review.
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Literature Review
Instability in Foster Care
Foster children are continuously moving and relocating to different locations; therefore, they don’t get the chance to adapt to a school, to a community, to a house placement, or to a foster family (Brenda, M. 2015). Relocation causes disruptions in the child’s life by having to adjust to a new community, by losing friendships, by being separated from their family, by changing schools, and by causing frustration to their birth parents (Elysia, et al., 2017). In other words, relocating causes the foster child to lose a support system that they have established, from their previous placements. Researchers believed that foster children have had multiple house placements and several school changes throughout their foster care experience, which resulted in low school performances (Stone, S. 2007). For instance, researchers discovered that foster children, test scores, rank from 15 to 20 percentile points below a non-foster child, therefore creating a greater chance of repeating a grade level (Elysia, et al., 2017). Furthermore, academics of foster children are affected by insufficient control, of educational performance, due to the instability in foster care placement.
Behavior and Mental Health Needs
Foster children experience trauma, abuse, and neglect which leads them to having behavioral disturbances. Being removed from their environment and separated from their family causes the child to experience high levels of trauma and stress that a non-foster child, or a general individual, cannot understand or bare (Elysia, et al., 2017). Children typically express their feelings and show a sign that something is going on at home through bad behavior at school.
Other than just facing academic challenges, the youth and children in the foster care usually struggle with certain behavior issues (Emerson, J., & Lovitt, T. 2003). The recent study shows that at least 24% of the children and youth under foster care had experienced either suspension or expulsion as a result of misbehavior. Furthermore, children in the foster care are three times more likely to experience a disciplinary action compared to those in the non-foster care facilities. These children continue to face the behavioral challenge which has constantly affected their mental health and well-being. The behavioral challenge that is experienced by the children in the foster care is as a result of lack of parental care and guidance. There is a strong correlation between the parental care and behavior of a child. Because the foster care children have been separated from their parents at a young age, they may not get the right care that could be compared to that of the parents. As a result, they may end up getting involved into certain behaviors which affect their schooling as well as mental health.
A wide body of evidence links the mental health issues and inappropriate behavior to maltreatment that the foster children experience. Most of the children who end up at foster centers come from impoverished families and had experienced a lot of maltreatment Schofield, (Schofield, G. 2011). The feeling of being separated from the parents at a tender age and growing without the parental care and love can have serious effects on the mental stability of these children.
Educational Outcomes
There are studies that link the educational outcome of foster care children with the maltreatment that they had received. Children who had initially experienced neglect, physical abuse, sexual abuse and any other forms of maltreatments are more likely to experience negative educational outcome. Children who had been neglected or abused are more likely to earn a lower grade compared to those who were never neglected. Abuse and neglect have serious impact in the mental stability of the children, and the mental stability affects the educational outcome of children. Those children who experience serious neglect tend to be more at risk of lower education outcome than those who did not experience neglect (Stone, 2007). Children in the foster care are more likely to experience or to have experienced neglect and abuse before and thus at the risk of lower educational outcomes.
Many children who are in the foster care continue to face challenges and barriers to their educational achievement. One of the barriers that affect their ability of obtain higher educational outcomes just like the other students if unequitable education or opportunities for achievement. Most students in the foster care do not have access to various programs such as advance placement course and sports which are essential for attaining high educational outcomes. They experience many complications such as increased disciplinary actions, absenteeism and school changes in the midterm, the moves that are more likely to have negative impact on the educational outcome of the children ( Clemens, et al. 2017) . These barriers tend to limit the ability of these children to perform in school the same way as those children who are not in the care.
The review of current literature have also shown that low educational outcome among the children in foster care are as a result of barriers such as mobility, special education and transition. Majority of the children face educational challenges due to either neglect, abuse or a compromised developmental and mental state. Thus, children in the foster care who are also receiving special education are more likely to be at the risk of education failure. At the same time, children in the foster care experience a higher rate of mobility. Experiencing several placements within one year could subject a child to low educational outcome ( Clemens, et al. 2017) . Getting transferred from one school to another within one year affects the ability of the child to settle and adopt to the learning environment. Similarly, these children experience difficulty in transitioning from the foster care to independent life and this could also affect their educational achievements. Due to many placement programs, it gets difficult for the children to get involve in other crucial school activities that are essential for higher educational achievement. At least 50% of these children change school more than four times and this affects their mental stability and thus educational outcome.
Conclusion
Children in the foster care continue to face various challenges and barriers that affect not only their mental stability but also their educational outcome. Being separated from their parents, these children grow up without the parental love and care, a situation that makes them vulnerable to mental stability issues as well as engaging in inappropriate behavior. At the same time, they face several barriers such as mobility and special education barriers which affect their educational achievements. Children in foster care tend to be at a higher risk of low educational achievement than those not in the care. Further research is thus needed to identify ways to improve the educational outcome of children in foster care. Researching on this area will greatly help bridge the educational achievement gap that continues to exist between the children in the foster care and those who are not. This research contributed to the area of equality in the society by focusing on the ways to avail equal opportunities for educational achievement for all children.
References
Emerson, J., & Lovitt, T. (2003). “The Educational Plight of Foster Children in Schools and What Can Be Done About It.” Remedial and Special Education 24(4): 199-203.
Morton, B. (2015). “Barriers to Academic Achievement for Foster Youth: The Story Behind the Statistics.” Journal of Research in Childhood Education 29(4): 476-491.
Schofield, Gillian. (2011). Understanding and Working with Parents of Children in Long-Term Foster Care. London; Philadelphia: Jessica Kingsley.
Stone, S. (2007). “Child Maltreatment, Out-of-Home Placement and Academic Vulnerability: A Fifteen-Year Review of Evidence and Future Directions.” Children and Youth Services Review 29(2): 139-161.
Clemens, E. V., Klopfenstein, K., Tis, M., & Lalonde, T. L. (2017). Educational stability policy and the interplay between child welfare placements and school moves. Children and Youth Services Review , 83 , 209-217.
