Helping Students in Foster Care to Heal, Thrive and Succeed

Michelle Lustig, Ed.D, MSW, PPSC, Program ManagerSusanne Terry, MPH, Project SpecialistFoster Youth and Homeless Education ServicesSan Diego County Office of Education

San Diego County Office of Education

COMMON GROUND: WHO ARE OUR CHILDREN?

Every 40 seconds a child in this country is born into poverty.

Every 11 seconds a child in this country is abused.

Every day in California 100 children enter the foster care system.

Every child in foster care is a member of our community and many are students in our classrooms.

WHY DO EDUCATORS NEED TO KNOW ABOUT STUDENTS IN FOSTER CARE?

The needs of students in foster care go largely unrecognized by public education because:

School administrators and educators receive little or no information or training on the foster care system or on the impact of the foster care experience.

Communication between the education and child welfare systems has been difficult historically.

Public education is under tremendous pressure to increase AYP and API scores, so other issues fall to the wayside.

LCFF and LCAP

In 2013 California became the first State in the US to include students in foster care as a sub- group for accountability (API)

Data will be available weekly based on a Statewide data match

LCAP’s must include separate services and outcomes for students in foster care if there are over 15 students district wide.

San Diego County Office of Education

GROUND BREAKING RESEARCH ONTO THE EDUCATIONAL EXPERIENCES OF STUDENTS IN FOSTER CARE IN CALIFORNIA:

The California Child Welfare Indicators Project in partnership with the Center for the Future of Teaching and Learning at WestEd.

The Invisible Achievement Gap , Part 1: Education Outcomes of Students in Foster Care in California Public Schools (2013)

The Invisible Achievement Gap, Part 2: How the Foster Care Experience of California Public School Students Are Associated with Their Educational Outcomes (2014)

Both reports are available at :

http://www.stuartfoundation.org/NewsAndReports/ReportsAndResearch

Primary Research Findings:Part 1

Students in foster care constituted an at-risk subgroup that was distinct from low-SES students.

Students in foster care were more likely than other students to change schools during the school year.

Students in foster care are more likely than the general student population to be enrolled in the lowest-performing schools and more likely to be enrolled in nontraditional schools.

Students in foster care had the lowest participation rate in California’s statewide testing program.

Statewide testing showed an achievement gap for students in foster care and other at-risk student groups

High school students in foster care had the highest dropout rate and lowest graduation rate.

Primary Research Findings:Part 2

Students in foster care had the lowest participation in California’s statewide testing program and participation was tied to placement instability.

Statewide testing documented that the achievement gap for students in foster care was greatest in upper grade levels and for students who experienced three or more foster care placements.

Among all high school students, those in foster care had the highest dropout and lowest graduation rates; students in more stable placements showed better performance for both of these education outcomes

Students in every type of foster care placement experienced an achievement gap compared to their peers in school.

ADDITIONAL RESEARCH INTO EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES FOR STUDENTS IN OUT OF HOME CARE HAS FOUND:

Students in foster care: have lower GPAs and lower standardized test

scores, earn fewer credits toward HS graduation, are more likely to be exempted from state

testing, only 56% of youth in care graduate from high

school while in care, are more likely to be in special education

programs, read (on average), at only a seventh grade

level after completing 10th or 11th grade, experience (on average) 1 or 2 placement

changes per year, over a third have reported having 5 or more

school changes, studies show that only 13% of former foster

youth go on to college versus 60% of all high school seniors. Only 3% will graduate from college.

A TYPICAL CHILD IN FOSTER CARE IN CALIFORNIA

Is twice as likely to drop out of school.

Is more likely to be suspended or expelled.

Will take 24 more months longer to graduate.

Is more likely to receive a GED.

Is less likely to be enrolled in A-G and AP courses.

Will attend 5 or 6 different high schools achieve 2-3 years below their grade level.

A TYPICAL CHILD IN FOSTER CARE WILL:

Have a high incidence of clinical mental health diagnosis (54%).

Battle social and emotional problems as a result of abuse and placement.

Be medicated more often than their peers.

Experience developmental delays well into adulthood.

King County Superior Court (2005)

FOSTER CARE ALUMNI OFTEN FACE A DIFFICULT ADULTHOOD:

3 of 10 alumni become homeless post foster care.

27% of Males and 10% of females will be incarcerated.

Alumni have a 30% higher likelihood of being substance abusers.

Alumni have a 50% higher likelihood of experiencing domestic violence.

Alumni make up 75% of youth in the criminal justice system.

-King County Superior Court 2005

WHO ARE THE KEY STAKE-HOLDERS IN A STUDENT IN FOSTER CARE’S LIFE?

Social Worker and/or Probation Officer

Attorney/Guardian ad Litem

Judge

Caregiver: Biological Parent, Foster Parent, Relative Caregiver, Group Home Provider

Judge

Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA)/Education Rights Holder

A TYPICAL CHILD IN FOSTER CARE IN WILL:

Live in 10 different foster homes or group homes.

Often be separated from their siblings.

Often be re-traumatized by the act of being placed.

Experience even worse outcomes if they are youth of color.

WHAT IS THE ROLE OF EDUCATORS?

Teachers, principals, counselors, school social workers, psychologists, nurses, and directors of child welfare and attendance, are all critical stakeholders in the educational success of students in foster care.

It is imperative that you have a firm understanding of the impact of trauma and the types of interventions that are potentially harmful and as well as those that are likely to be effective.

Lets start with hope….

Resiliency is:“The Deep Belief that at

one time you really mattered to another

human being”Vincent

Feletti, M.D.

ADVERSE CHILDHOOD EXPERIENCES (ACES)

Something happens between infancy and adulthood to create a lifetime of addictions, abuse and mental health problems.

Source: Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study.

Information available at http://www.cdc.gov/ace/index.htm

ADVERSE CHILDHOOD EXPERIENCES

Of 17,000 respondents, two-thirds had at least one adverse childhood event

Physical, emotional or sexual abuse

Emotional or physical neglect

Growing up with family members with mental illness, alcoholism or drug problems

Family violence

Incarcerated family member

One or no parents

Parental divorce

Source: Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study.

Information available at http://www.cdc.gov/ace/index.htm

Historical Trauma

Evidence of post-traumatic stress disorder across generations

Pregnant women impacted by the World Trade Center attacks on 9/11 who had PTSD from the event gave birth to babies with an elevated stress response and a hypersensitive stress axis.

These babies will be more susceptible to anxiety, depression and even PTSD than those whose mothers who did not experience PTSD

ACE Study Findings

Of the 17,000+ respondents…

More than 25% grew up in a household with an alcoholic or drug user

25% had been beaten as children

Two-thirds had 1 adverse childhood event

1 in 6 people had four or more ACES

Source: Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study.

Information available at http://www.cdc.gov/ace/index.htm

Untreated Adverse Early Childhood Events

Only Exacerbate Over Time

Source: Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study. Information available at http://www.cdc.gov/ace/index.htm

ACEs & School Performance

Traumatized children are:

2.5x more likely to fail a grade in school

Score lower on standardized achievement tests

More likely to have struggles in receptive and expressive language

Suspended and expelled more often More frequently placed in special

education

ACEs Impacts Learning

51% of children with 4+ ACE scores

had learning and behavior problems in school

Compared with only 3% of children with NO ACE score

Source: Burke, N.J., Hellman, J.L., Scott, B.G., Weems, C.F & Carrion, V.C. (June 2011). “The Impact of Adverse Childhood Experiences on an Urban

Pediatric Population,” Child Abuse and Neglect, 35, No. 6.

Trauma, Self-Regulation and Coping Skills:

Information and Techniques to Help Children

What is Traumatic Stress?

Overwhelming experience Involves a threat Results in vulnerability and loss of control

Leaves people feeling helpless and fearful

Interferes with relationships and beliefs

Source: Herman, J. (1992). Trauma and Recovery.

New York Basic Books.

Sources of Traumatic Stress

Loss of a loved one Accidents Homelessness Community/School violence Witnessing of domestic violence Neglect Physical abuse Psychological abuse Sexual abuse Man-made or natural disasters Terrorism War

The Stress Response: A Chemical One

Prepares the body for action when threat is detected

Helps the body respond to stress effectively

Our Brain’s Trio

Brain Stem: SAFETY/SURVIVAL (physical responses to perceived threat; starting with release of chemicals)

Mid-Brain: EMOTIONAL CONNECTION (memories stored related to triggering incident)

Cortex: EXECUTIVE STATE (problem solving, critical thinking skills- reading, writing, & arithmetic)

The Stress Response and Trauma

Body’s response to danger:• Fight• Flight• Freeze

Overwhelms a person’s usual ability to cope.

Varied responses.

Most recover.

Some develop more severe difficulties.

Triggers

Triggers include seeing, feeling, or hearing something that remind us of past trauma.

Triggers activate the alarm system. When the alarm system is activated, but there is no danger, it is a false alarm.

The response is as if there is current danger.

Toxic stress from exposure to violence can impair healthy development

One study revealed that exposure to relationship-based violence and trauma in the first two years of life resulted in lower IQ scores at 5 and 8 years of age.

Enlow MB, Egland B, Blood EA, Wright RO, & Wright RJ (April 4, 2012) Interpersonal trauma exposure and cognitive development in

children to age 8 years: a longitudinal study.

Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health Online First.

Development and Trauma

Skills specific to each developmental stage build on learning from previous stages.

Children exposed to trauma invest energy into survival instead of developmental mastery.

Development in adulthood may continue to be impacted.

Child Welfare and Trauma

“Trauma can be a single event, connected series of traumatic

events or chronic lasting stress.”

Diagnostic Classification: 0-3R

Children in the child welfare system almost by definition have suffered trauma, often multiple traumatic events, and 50-75% exhibit behaviors or symptoms that need mental health treatment.

Source: Landsverk, Burns, Stambaugh, & Rolls Reutz (2009). Psychosocial Interventions for Children and Adolescents in Foster Care: Review of Research Literature. Child Welfare, 88 (1), 49-69.

Self-Regulation

“The growth of self-regulation is a cornerstone of early childhood development that cuts across all domains of behavior.”

From: Neurons to Neighborhoods, p. 26.

In other words, it is the ability to balance

self-control with self-expression.

Examples of Self-Regulation:

Refers to attention, behaviors and emotions

Establishing sleep-wake patterns Increasing attention span Focusing on a goal Managing emotions appropriately and in context

Expressing feelings constructively

Teaching Self-Regulation

“Two by Ten” StrategyR. Smith & M. Lambert, Assuming the

Best

The Brain In The Palm of the Hand:Brainstem: Wrist, PalmMid-brain: ThumbCortex: Fingers over

ThumbPre-frontal Cortex: Fingernails

Use and Teach what you know about trauma:

Handouts: Jody McVittie, MD, Sound Discipline

Self-Regulation is a Predictor of Academic Success

Belonging & Significance:Relationships Matter

Children need to feel belonging & significance before we can really expect them to respond or care about our rules or limits

Healthy relational interactions with safe and familiar individuals can buffer and heal trauma related problems

Research shows social connectedness as a protective factor against maltreatment

Social milieu (safe environments): major mediator of trauma

Creating an Atmosphere for Learning

• Safety: physical and emotional safety

Structure: predictable, consistent routines

Supervision: eyes, ears, proximity to students

Self-Regulation: model it/teach it Sense of Belonging & Significance (Self-Esteem): “I can do this; I belong here”

Success-celebrate! In or out of the classroom

Some Basic Tools fromAlfred Adler:

Teach life skills

Pay attention to the power of perception (illogical beliefs, world view)

Focus on encouragement (empowering vs. enabling)

Hold the tension of kindness and firmness at the same time (firm limits and nurturance concurrently)

Look to mutual respect: Respect for yourself and the

situation: firmnessRespect for the child and others:

kindness

Assume mistakes to be an opportunity to learn

Look to solutions rather than punishment

Trauma, Self-Regulation & Coping Skills

Summing It Up

Biology of trauma impacts ability to regulate (Brain Trio, survival mode)

Trauma impacts the caregiver-child relationship (Worldview; attachment)

To heal, children must feel safe in their bodies and they must have supportive relationships with loving caregivers (TEACHERS) who they can trust (Relationships Matter! Creating an Atmosphere for Learning)

If coping skills are more developed, a child is much better equipped to handle stress (Model and Teach Self-Regulation)