Research - Best Practices

Better Futures - a program of the Research and Training Center for Pathways to Positive Futures, Portland State University, focusing on increasing post-secondary preparation and engagement of youth with serious mental health conditions in foster care.

Designing a Campus Support Program for Foster Care Alumni: Preliminary Evidence for a Strengths Framework - an excellent research article authored by our own Toni Terling Watt, Christine Lynn Norton, and Courtney Jones. Published in the Children and Youth Services Review, September 2013 (vol 35, issue 9).

Legal Center for Foster Care & Education - a collection of resources from the American Bar Association's Center on Children and the Law focusing on laws that increase educational opportunities for older youth in out-of-home care.

Solutions Desk - excellent resource that is a service of the Interagency Working Group on Youth Programs (IWGYP) that brings together staff from twelve federal agencies charged with helping youth transition to adulthood. The Interagency Working Group strives to identify and engage organizations that can play a role in improving the coordination and effectiveness of programs serving youth, and to promote initiatives that merit strong interagency collaboration (from their About page).

Supporting Success - the thoroughly researched and tested framework from Casey Family Programs for Improving higher education outcomes for students from foster care.

Research - Statistical Details

DCCCD Presentation on FCA Statistics - When Dallas County Community College District launched their Foster a Future program in 2013, they shared some research on foster care alumni and academic progress. The linked presentation from Sunny Huang provides useful insights into the lives of alumni.

Texas Public Higher Education Almanac - a publication of the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board providing a profile of state and institutional performance and characteristics.

THECB Report on Adopted and Foster Care Tuition Exemptions - a report from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board detailing the number of students enrolled at Texas Colleges and Universities who are using the state tuition waiver (thanks to Shannon Ramsey for obtaining the information).