A Delaware program that provides advocacy, guidance and resources to teens in foster care is improving their educational outcomes, according to a new study from the Bronfenbrenner Center for Translational Research (BCTR).
The UGrad Education Program pairs high school students in foster care with professional advocates, who meet with students regularly to provide tutoring, skill-building, and emotional stability. The advocates work with support teams that include foster caregivers, parents, social workers, teachers, school counselors, therapists, special education coordinators, and attorneys to ensure students’ needs are met.
Researchers from the BCTR, led by ACT For Youth Director Amanda Purington Drake, compared educational data from 52 UGrad participants with data from foster care teens not enrolled in the program.
They found that UGrad participants were more likely to attend school, had consistently higher grades in core subjects, and were more likely to advance to the next grade level or graduate from high school compared to foster care teens who didn’t participate in the program.
“The program is successful because advocates go beyond what we typically think of as mentoring,” Drake explained. “They realize that if a young person is facing housing instability because of an issue with their foster home, they are not focused on getting that assignment in. They are worried about, ‘where am I going to sleep tomorrow?’ It comes down to the hierarchy of needs.” By helping students with their most pressing needs, UGrad allows them to focus more on school, Drake added
In qualitative interviews with participants and UGrad staff, Drake heard many examples of how UGrad supports teens. The program’s flexibility in meeting individual students’ needs is a key part of its success, she said.
For example, one UGrad student wasn’t participating in physical education (PE) class, leading to a failing grade; in conversations, the student’s advocate learned he did not have gym shorts that fit. The advocate was able to use UGrad funds to buy several pairs of gym shorts, and the student’s PE grade improved.
“That example highlights the kind of relationships that advocates have with the people in the program,” Drake said. “You need a certain level of trust with a young person to even have these types of conversations emerge in the first place.”
Consistency is another key element to UGrad’s success, Drake said. UGrad participants remain with their advocates through high school and beyond, even if they change foster care families or move to a different school district.
“Transitions are hard for everyone, and especially for our more vulnerable youth,” Drake said. “This program is not connected to any other structure in their life. It’s not connected their school or their living situation. They don’t age out of this. And if they move, the program continues.”
Overall, the combination of strong relationships with teens and coordinating resources from other institutions offers students the support needed to be successful.
“Advocates have an omniscient view of a student’s life, and, at the same time, they are working to build a strong relationship,” Drake said. “It’s these relationships and building trust that really makes a difference in young people’s lives.”
