IN 2020, as COVID closed schools for the last three months of the year, only half of students in the custody of the Department of Children and Families graduated on time – the lowest figure in nearly a decade, according to a new DCF report.
While some of those students may graduate in five years, that number has huge implications in a society where the lack of a high school diploma makes it difficult to earn a living. “When you see such a high concentration of low graduation rates within DCF, we’re not setting kids up for success,” said Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier, a Pittsfield Democrat who has been active on foster care issues. “It’s quite the opposite. We’re setting them up for failure.”
The DCF annual report for fiscal 2021, released this month, found that the four-year graduation rate for students in DCF custody in 2020 was 50.6 percent. That was down from 56.8 percent in 2019, and the lowest rate since 2012. The department has set a target of having 67 percent of students in its custody graduate in four years, although the closest it ever got was 63.4 percent in 2017.
Graduation rates are one of two metrics – the other being timely medical exams – that DCF uses to track child well-being. DCF says in the report that the drop from 2019 is “reflecting the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on academic achievement.”
The statewide student population, however, did not see a comparable drop in four-year graduation rates. Statistics from the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education show that the four-year graduation rate for all students was 89 percent in 2020, one percentage point higher than in 2019. One possible reason for the increase is that the state temporarily waived the requirement that students pass the MCAS in order to graduate, since the tests were cancelled in 2020.
The DESE statistics indicated that 58.1 percent of kids in foster care graduated on time in 2020. State officials did not respond to questions about the data discrepancy. That was still the lowest four-year graduation rate of any group measured, with the next lowest graduation rates among homeless students (64.2 percent) and English language learners (68.3 percent).
[Clarification: After publication, state education officials clarified that the DCF report looks at the graduation status of 387 students who were in custody on August 31, 2020, while DESE looks at 700 students who were in foster care any time during high school.]
Farley-Bouvier suggested that one factor to look at is the number of home placements among students who fail to graduate on time. Students who move from home to home are destabilized, making it harder to finish school. Farley-Bouvier said she worries that DCF is so focused on avoiding horrible outcomes – the death of kids in their care – that they pay less attention to avoiding other bad outcomes, like failing to graduate.
In 2019, Auditor Suzanne Bump released a report documenting the challenges districts face educating students in foster care. The report notes that foster children have significant emotional and academic needs. Nearly half have individualized educational plans. The state does not reimburse districts enough to cover the cost of providing services. Federal law requires a student to be kept in their old school when they switch placements, unless switching schools is in their best interest, so there can be challenges providing transportation. DCF staff do not always communicate with schools in a timely manner about when a student is arriving, and there may be delays in transferring academic records.
Earlier this week, Bump testified before a legislative committee in support of a bill that would create an “electronic backpack” for foster children, so academic records follow the student when they switch schools.
Children in foster care are already among the state’s most vulnerable kids. Those who age out without a permanent family tend to have worse outcomes in homelessness, use of illicit drugs, and arrests. Failing to get a high school diploma only compounds the difficulties these young adults will face.