Educational experiences and needs of students in out-of-home care: a Delphi study

Abstract

Numerous studies show that children and young people in out-of-home care (OOHC) face significant disadvantage in completing high school and accessing post-secondary education. The current research involved a two-round Delphi survey which aimed to identify educational challenges and school reforms to improve the educational experiences of children and young people in OOHC. A total of 45 participants from three OOHC stakeholder groups (carers of children in OOHC, professionals/educators, and young people with lived experience of OOHC) completed the round one survey which consisted of open-ended questions analysed using thematic analysis. In the second survey round, 19 participants completed a Likert scale questionnaire which drew on themes from the round one thematic analysis. Using a consensus threshold of 70% for the round two survey, participants agreed that students in OOHC face a myriad of educational challenges, such as dealing with a history of trauma, frequent home and school transitions, mental health issues and stigma as a result of being in OOHC. It was agreed that teachers lack knowledge and experience, and schools lack support for students in OOHC. Stakeholders recommended provision of greater mental health support, coordination of services and more autonomy for OOHC students regarding their education.

Examining the role of lived experience consultants in an Australian research study on the educational experiences of children and young people in out-of-home care

“…The findings section which follows primarily explores the role of the LECs in the study, and the benefits and challenges experienced. The broader study findings have been presented elsewhere (Berger et al, 2022).…”

“…This paper integrates lived experience consultation with Delphi survey results to demonstrate the benefits to knowledge and evidence building that qualitative lived experience consultation can achieve. More details about the Delphi methodology and results can be viewed in a further study by Berger et al (2022).…”

“…Themes generated from the thematic analysis of the first round of data plus the feedback from the three LECs then informed the development of the 5-point Likert style questions for Round Two of the Delphi. See Berger et al (2022) for more information about the Round two survey and Delphi results. Finally, feedback from LECs on their experience of collaborating on this research, and their suggestions for future research including LECs is directly reported in the final section of the findings.…”