Youth’s and Child Welfare Worker’s Perceptions of Youth’s Educational Preparedness

Although many foster youths are ambitious about pursuing higher education, prior studies have shown they often enter college unprepared. Their perceptions of their abilities can affect how they handle struggles in college and whether they seek help. Likewise, the perceptions of their child welfare caseworkers can also affect how much support these young people receive as they prepare for college. This memo explores how these factors related to preparedness can affect foster youth as they transition to higher education. Findings indicate that these young people tend to report being more prepared for college compared to the perceptions of their caseworkers. The memo explores reasons for this mismatch and outlines potential paths forward to improve college readiness among transition-age foster youth.