Impact of COVID-19 on the educational experiences of youth in foster care: caseworker perspectives

A Mixed-Methods Study Exploring the Educational Experiences of Foster Youth and Foster Parents During COVID-19

“…Thus, the consequences for school closures during COVID-19 may be more negative for youth in foster care than for youth not living in out-of-home care. Indeed, research has increasingly documented that all youth, including youth in foster care, in the United States experienced educational challenges and learning deficits during COVID-19 (Blake et al, 2020 ; Lee et al, 2021 ; Lipien et al, 2022 ). For example, Lipien et al ( 2022 ) interviewed caseworkers in child welfare services to examine their perspectives on educational experiences among youth in foster care during COVID-19 and discovered that youth in foster care had some difficulties with engaging in learning due to a lack of in-person tutoring and resources (e.g., online learning tools) as well as distractions.…”

“…Indeed, research has increasingly documented that all youth, including youth in foster care, in the United States experienced educational challenges and learning deficits during COVID-19 (Blake et al, 2020 ; Lee et al, 2021 ; Lipien et al, 2022 ). For example, Lipien et al ( 2022 ) interviewed caseworkers in child welfare services to examine their perspectives on educational experiences among youth in foster care during COVID-19 and discovered that youth in foster care had some difficulties with engaging in learning due to a lack of in-person tutoring and resources (e.g., online learning tools) as well as distractions. Similarly, another recent study of educational challenges facing youth in foster care revealed that most of the youth in foster care did not complete four or more hours of education per day (Beal et al, 2022 ), and foster parents had issues making adjustments for online learning (Whitt-Woosley et al, 2022 ).…”

“…Loria et al (2021) also identified that these families struggled with utilizing telehealth services because of unstable internet connections and a lack of electronic devices. Though a lack of resources and supports disrupted education and health care services, it has been identified that virtual modalities enabled some foster parents with those resources to continuously communicate and interact with health care providers (Loria et al, 2021) and teachers (Lipien et al, 2022) in a way that they may not have been able to, prior to the pandemic.…”

When Kinship Caregivers Became Teachers: Role Stress and Strain from Remote Learning during COVID-19

“…As they faced these conflicts daily for months on end, many experienced role overload [6]; caregivers raising more than one child or younger children were especially susceptible [33], as were those raising CSHCNs [3,32]. Families had to choose how much time and energy they could devote to work or teaching their child, and, when schools re-opened, caregivers had to decide if they were willing to risk their family's health and safety by sending their children in-person to relieve these burdens [6,14,28,34]. This role overload caused many caregivers to suffer mentally and emotionally [12,32].…”

“…Yet, little research exists about how kinship caregivers fared during this phenomenon and how their predisposition to risk factors may have shaped their experiences. Only two studies were found to address this, and these focused on either grandparent caregivers or relative foster placements [23,28]. Given that most kinship arrangements occur outside of the foster care system, and that not all caregivers are grandparents [25], more inclusive research is needed to understand the full experience of kinship caregivers during remote learning and its impact on their well-being.…”