Climbing a Broken Ladder: Contributors of College Success for Youth in Foster Care

by Nathanael J. Okpych PhD

Overview

Although foster youth have college aspirations similar to their peers, fewer than one in ten ultimately complete a two-year or four-year college degree. What are the major factors that influence their chances of succeeding? Climbing a Broken Ladder advances our knowledge of what can be done to improve college outcomes for a student group that has largely remained invisible in higher education. Drawing on data from one of the most extensive studies of young people in foster care, Nathanael J. Okpych examines a wide range of factors that contribute to the chances that foster youth enroll in college, persist in college, and ultimately complete a degree. Okpych also investigates how early trauma affects later college outcomes, as well as the impact of a significant child welfare policy that extends the age limit of foster care. The book concludes with data-driven and concrete recommendations for policy and practice to get more foster youth into and through college.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781978809161
Publisher:	Rutgers University Press
Publication date:	01/15/2021
Series:	The American Campus
Pages:	252
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.70(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

NATHANAEL J. OKPYCH is an assistant professor in the school of social work at the University of Connecticut in Hartford.

Table of Contents

Part I Background

Introduction 3

1 Framework for the Book 13

2 Description of the Midwest Study 36

Part II Findings

3 Exploring College Outcomes 55

4 College Enrollment Patterns 68

5 Predictors of College Enrollment 84

6 Predictors of College Persistence 100

7 Predictors of Degree Completion 111

8 The Role of Avoidant Attachment on College Persistence and Degree Completion 123

9 Impact of Extended Foster Care on College Outcomes 137

Part III Recommendations

10 Policy and Practice Recommendations to Increase College Enrollment and Completion 157

Appendix A Statistics in Plain Language 183

Appendix B Making Sense of Odds Ratios 187

Appendix C What Is Multivariable Regression and Why Do We Need It? 193

Appendix D Description of Study Predictors 195

Acknowledgments 203

Notes 205

References 205

Index 229

Editorial Reviews

"Climbing a Broken Ladder provides a rigorous collection of observational studies that outline the key challenges foster alumni face in their post-secondary education journeys and speaks to critical solutions that child welfare and higher education authorities should heed. This is a wonderful example of a cross-disciplinary study that yields equal importance to the social work and educational fields."

Co-Founder, National Research Collaborative on Foster Alumni in Higher Education (NRC-FAHE) - Angelique Day

"Few studies have used long-term data on former foster youth to illuminate the challenges faced on the path toward college completion in such a balanced and confident way as Climbing a Broken Ladder. Okpych’s work straddles both social work and educational studies while greatly advancing both fields."  

University of Louisville - Jacob Paul Gross