Educational pathways in individuals placed in out-of-home care

From intermediate school to midlife

Abstract

National and international studies have shown that children with experience of out-of-home care (OHC) have poor school performance compared to their peers. However, we know less about their educational careers over time. Based on a 50-year follow-up of 12,000 individuals, of whom nearly 8 per cent had been placed in OHC before their 13th birthday, this study mapped out their educational pathways over the life course. The analyses focused on how the OHC group’s educational ambitions, achievement, and choices from sixth grade onwards differed from children who had come in contact with the child welfare system without being placed, and other majority population peers. The results showed that the OHC group consistently had poorer achievement, and made less ambitious choices compared to their majority population peers. However, the OHC group had similar or even better outcomes compared to the child welfare contact group. The results also showed that opportunities to resume studies in adulthood had played an important role for children in general and children in OHC in particular.