Turning points and resilience of academically successful foster youth

An empirical test of a model of academic expectations among youth in residential care

“…Qualitative studies that have examined factors promoting the educational trajectories of care leavers who have integrated into higher education also support this hypothesis (Hass, Allen, & Amoah, 2014;Martin & Jackson, 2002;Merdinger, Hines, Osterling, & Wyatt, 2005). In these studies, the young people highlighted the importance of having a caring adult in school or in the care setting, who could look beyond their performance or ability deficits, who recognized their special circumstances and needs, and provided the support they needed to keep them in school and on the path to college.…”

A Review of Research on College Educational Outcomes of Students Who Experienced Foster Care

“…In multiple studies, financial assistance was cited as one important dimension in helping students to be academically successful (Dworsky & Perez, 2010;Hass et al, 2014;Hernandez & Naccarato, 2010). While individuals are eligible for support through sources like the Chafee grant, students reported that these funds were insufficient for the completion of their post-secondary education.…”

“…Hass et al (2014) reported that the interactions between autonomy, social and instrumental support systems, and environments of safe havens and islands of competency could be linked to their post-secondary educational success. A commonly identified social support system was educators; whereas, examples of instrumental support were career advisement, college admission, and financial support.…”

Care leavers as helpers: Motivations for and benefits of helping others

“…Learning from the accounts of (academically) successful care leavers about what facilitated their success is a useful approach, commonly used, when examining resilience-related factors (Hass, Allen, & Amoah, 2014;Martin & Jackson, 2002). While the young people's life stories were being analyzed, the supportive aspect of them helping others stood out as such a factor and became a new relevant focus within the original study.…”