Neglect, educational success, and young people in out-of-home care: Cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses

Abstract

Maltreated young persons in out-of-home care often have poor educational outcomes, heightening their risk of long-term psychosocial disadvantage (Forsman, Brännström, Vinnerljung, & Hjern, 2016). In their systematic reviews, Romano, Babchishin, Marquis, and Fréchette (2014) and O'Higgins, Sebba, and Gardner (in press) found evidence that neglect was more often linked with low academic achievement, whereas abuse was more likely to be associated with behavioral difficulties. In large samples of young persons in out-of-home care in Ontario, Canada, who had experienced mainly neglect, we investigated risk and protective factors as predictors of educational success. In a cross-sectional hierarchical regression analysis (N=3659, aged 11-17 years), female gender, youth educational aspirations, caregiver educational aspirations for youth, time with current caregiver, internal developmental assets, and positive mental health were associated with better educational success. Neglect, grade retention, special educational needs, ethnic minority status, behavioral problems, and soft-drug use were associated with poorer educational outcomes. Gender significantly moderated caregiver educational aspirations and youth placement type. In a longitudinal analysis of a subsample (N=962, aged 11-15 years at Time 1), covering three years, a large decline in educational success (d=-0.80) was observed. Female gender, internal developmental assets, and positive mental health positively predicted, and soft drug use negatively predicted, greater educational success at Time 2. These results point to factors that help or hinder educational success among young people in care and should inform new interventions or improved versions of existing ones that address educational success in the context of neglect.

Suffering in silence: How COVID-19 school closures inhibit the reporting of child maltreatment

“…By the time students reach third grade, approximately 18% will have been associated with a formal Child Protective Services (CPS) investigation ( Ryan et al, 2018 ). Children associated with maltreatment investigations have significantly worse test scores ( Fry et al, 2017 ; Tessier et al, 2018 ), educational attainment ( Morton, 2018 ), mental health ( Ballard et al, 2015 ; Walsh et al, 2017 ), and adult earnings ( Currie and Widom, 2010 ).…”

School Absenteeism Associated With Child Protection System Involvement, Maltreatment Type, and Time in Out-of-Home Care

“…Another possible factor related to school absenteeism for children who have suffered maltreatment is the age at which they engage with the child protection system (CPS). Some studies have found that later CPS involvement is associated with poorer education outcomes (McGlung & Gayle, 2010; Tessier et al, 2018). Other research has failed to confirm these associations (Flynn et al, 2013) or reported mixed findings (O’Higgins et al, 2017).…”

Is the Care System to Blame for the Poor Educational Outcomes of Children Looked After? Evidence from a Systematic Review and National Database Analysis

“…At age 16, the attainment of CLA is even lower: only 17% achieved 5 A*-Cs in their General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE, the national exams), compared to nearly 60% of children in the general population (DfE, 2017). This picture is similar in other countries, including Australia (AIHW, 2015), the USA (Wiegmann et al, 2014), Canada (Tessier, O'Higgins, & Flynn, 2018), and Nordic countries (Kääriälä & Hiilamo, 2017). A number of systematic reviews have compared the educational outcomes of children in care to children in the general population and found a significant gap in attainment (Scherr, 2007;Trout et al, 2008).…”