Children and Youth Services Review 34 (2012) 1150–1153

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Children and Youth Services Review

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Knowledge transfer resulting from the Improving Educational Outcomes for Childrenin Care conference: How it is helping a child welfare organization to build a long termeducational strategy

Michael O'Brien ⁎Family and Children's Services of Renfrew County, Canada

⁎ Research and Quality Assurance, Family and Childreand Dalhousie University's School of Social Work, Canad

E-mail address: mike.obrien@fcsrenfrew.on.ca.

0190-7409/$ – see front matter © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. Alldoi:10.1016/j.childyouth.2012.01.043

a b s t r a c t

a r t i c l e i n f o

Available online 3 February 2012

Keywords:Children in careEducationOutcomesEvidence informed practiceKnowledge transfer

The paper reports on how a child protection agency capitalized on the knowledge acquired at the Improving Edu-cational Outcomes for Children in Care conference to launch the development of a long term strategy to promoteeducational success for the children in its care. After attending the conference a team from the agency completeda review of current agency strategies and an analysis of the presentations given by practitioners and researchers.As a result the teamwas able to identify immediate steps that will be taken. It also found that a number of themesran through the presentations that will become the pillars underpinning the development of a long term plan. Thethemes are: the importance of transitions; a commitment to strong collaboration between the child welfare andeducation systems; enhanced educational support for children in care; the cultivation of an expectation of success;the importance of caregiver involvement; and the creation of a culture of education.

© 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction

Over the last 10 years Family and Children's Services of RenfrewCounty has prioritized the attainment of positive educational outcomesfor children in its care. Although some progress has been made duringthat timeperiod it has becomeapparent that the development of a com-prehensive plan is required ifmorewidespread gains are to be achieved.As the organization will soon engage in the development of a new fiveyear strategic plan it was a logical time to review its current practicesand strategies for meeting the educational needs of children andyouth in care. A decision was made to create a committee of frontlinestaff, supervisors and senior managers whose initial task was tocomplete a review of the agency's approach to educational attainment.In keeping with the agency's goal of integrating research and practicemembers of the committee all attended the learning event, ImprovingEducational Outcomes for Children in Care, sponsored by the Universityof Ottawa and Ontario's Practice and Research Network.

This paper will discuss the work completed to date on the formu-lation of a long term plan for improving educational outcomes forchildren in care at the agency, particularly focusing on how the edu-cational outcomes conference has been instrumental in the delibera-tions of the agency's Educational Outcomes Committee. It will reporton the internal review by the committee of the agency's approach toeducational outcomes and the external review composed of what itlearned from both researchers and practitioners at the conference.

n's Services of Renfrew Countya.

rights reserved.

The paper will deal with how the internal and external reviewswere combined to select key directions that will be pursued. Andfinally the paper will speak about the next steps for incorporatingwhat has been learned into a long term plan.

The internal review began by taking stock of the initiatives thathave already been implemented. The agency's collaboration withthe education system regarding at risk children dates back 15 years.Since that time the agency has had a contract with a local schoolboard to place social workers in schools. The role of the social workersis to both carry out a child protection role as well as to deal with social,emotional and behavioral issues of children that might be interferingwith their ability to succeed in school. The children could be either chil-dren living with their biological families or children in the care of theagency. That initiative encouraged the agency to look at what more itcould do for children in care to help them succeed in school and resultedin a decision to invest in a tutoring strategy. For the last 10 years theagency has been operating a KUMON franchise which provides supple-mental math and reading learning for children in care as well as for feepaying users; KUMON provides its supplemental education program inmany countries around the world (www.KUMON.com). Wide RangeAchievement Testing has detected significant gains for children in careenrolled in KUMON. Typically there are 50 children in care betweenthe ages of 4 and 13 attending KUMON. Although Family and Children'sServices of Renfrew County operates four KUMON centers, due to thelarge geographic area of the county not all eligible foster children areable to attend as some live too far from a center. Also, some fosterparents find that due to the many demands they face in parentingtheir foster children they do not want to take on the additional chal-lenge of KUMON enrollment. The desire to provide a greater number

1151M. O'Brien / Children and Youth Services Review 34 (2012) 1150–1153

of foster children with more educational support spurred the agency tolook at other possibilities as did results from an internal study whichfound that while children in care are functioning at the class averagein elementary school they fall behind by high school. In addition tothe strategies discussed the agency also has taken steps to increaseschool readiness. All children in care under 6 years old are assessedupon admission to care with the Brigance Developmental Screen andthen every 6 months in order to formulate plans to address develop-mental concerns, including lack of school readiness (Glascoe, 2002).Like all child welfare agencies in the province of Ontario, the agencyuses Ontario's Looking After Children (OnLAC), an approach firstadopted in the U.K., that employs a developmental perspective toplan, implement, and evaluate services for children in care (Flynn,Ghazal, & Legault, 2006). One of the 7 dimensions of OnLAC is education.The information on individual children is used to establish an educa-tional plan for each child in care, and the aggregated data is used tohelp workers, foster parents and managers to understand educationalneeds and progress towards goal attainment for the population ofchildren in care.

The conference provided a rare opportunity to listen to some of thebest information available from both researchers and practitioners onthe subject of educational outcomes for children in care. Attendanceat the conference was a tremendous catalyst for the members of thecommittee as they were able to hear about a variety of approachesconducive to the promotion of educational success. Hearing similarmessages from both practitioners and researchers reinforced the credi-bility of the knowledge being shared. Often socialworkers at Family andChildren's Services have struggled with how to apply the researchknowledge they read or hear, but this time was different as they couldreadily see how research and practice were linked. Upon returningfrom the conference the committee met to share its impressions fromthe conference and to determine how to make use of the knowledgeshared at the conference. Since the committee identified that allthe presentations were very helpful it was decided to analyze eachof the presentations in hope of extracting common themes andrecommendations.

A number of themes emerged from the analysis. Transitions, collabo-ration, educational support, expectations, the importance of caregiverinvolvement, and the creation of a culture of education were messagestransmitted by many of the presenters. In addition to the big themesseveral other messages struck us as important. They were: involvingyouth and foster parents in education planning both at an individualand agency level; using data to plan and evaluate progress; and findingways to engage children, youth, and carers in the learning journey.

The discussion of transitions at the conference dealt with changes ingrade level, entry to and exit from elementary and secondary school,and changes in school due to admission to care or placement moves.Pecora (2011) reported that foster care alumni often go back to school.Reporting on a five nation European study of the educational experi-ences and outcomes of youth in care, Jackson (2011) explained thatdelay need not mean failure; youth leaving care may take longer tocomplete their education. A Swedish study conducted by Hojer andJohansson (2011) which involved interviews of local managers andyouth strongly recommended assisting youth leaving care to accessadult education. Berridge's review of educational outcomes over thelast 20 years in the U.K. found that help for youth in care to transitionto adulthood has been a valuable response in that country to theirneeds. Berridge (2011) also explained that a wide literature existsshowing school moves to be detrimental to academic progress for chil-dren and youth in care. Both Stoddart (2011) from theWaterloo Familyand Children's Services as well as De Rose and Collins (2011) from theNiagara Family and Children's Services reported that their organizationshave committed to not moving children from their school at admissionto care or when placement changes occur.

The child protection agencies that presented at the conferenceemphasized the need for collaboration between child welfare and

education authorities. The Niagara, Hastings, and Waterloo agencieshave all hired staff who act as a liaison between the two systems;their experience has been that by helping staff in both systems to bet-ter understand how they can work together in the interest of chil-dren/youth in care the needs of those children/youth have beenbetter met. Ferguson (2011) from Toronto's Hospital for Sick Childrenemphasized the need for collaboration when he discussed whatworks in attaining improved educational outcomes. Gharabaghi'sstudy on educational outcomes for youth in residential care in Ontarioidentified that the literature underscores that cross sectoral collabo-ration and relationships are critical; insufficient knowledge of eachother's systems by those working in child welfare and education, aswell as insufficient resourcing of plans are two areas in which collab-oration is needed (2011). Berridge (2011) explained that the duty ofservices to cooperate in the U.K. has been a positive step. Indeed, inthe U.K. both child welfare and education are delivered by the samegovernment departments at both the national and municipal levels.

Many of the presenters stated that enhanced educational support forchildren in care is imperative if they are to overcome the deficits affectingthemupon entry to care. All of the practitioners who presented aswell asa number of the researchers have found that various approaches to tutor-ing have, in their experience, been effective. Flynn's (2011) randomizedcontrol trial of tutoring by foster parents stood out as a promising, butalso cost effective, approach to educational support.

Ferguson discussed the benefits of youth in care and all stake-holders believing in the possibility of educational success. The provin-cial data from Looking After Children (OnLAC) has revealed that theexpectations for educational success of youth in care by caregiversand social workers are less than they are on the part of the youth them-selves. Family and Children's Services of Waterloo uses the OnLAC datato help staff and foster parents to better appreciate the benefits ofhaving higher expectations. Jackson (2011) advocates that educationalpathways ought to be a focus of discussion with youth in care; in partthe focus of these discussions ought to promote educational ambition.Preliminary results from Gharabaghi's study show that the youth incare he interviewed saw the importance of having higher educationalexpectations for them.

Related to the theme of expectations is that of caregiver involvement.As the primary relationship of children in long term care is with the care-giver, be it a foster parent or a relative providing kinship care, their influ-ence on educational outcomes can be substantial. Most of thepractitioners are actively involved in promoting greater caregiver in-volvement in the education of children in care. In his presentationFrancis (2011), from the Hastings Children's Aid Society, cautioned thatwe need to cultivate caregiver involvement in a way that is not criticalof caregivers because they havemany demands placed upon them in car-ing for children who often have multiple needs. Attendance at parentcouncil meetings and school events, volunteering for school trips, main-taining a relationship with the child's teacher, and regular communica-tion with the school about homework and assignments were examplesof how caregivers can be involved.

Overarching all of the themes was the idea of creating a culture ofeducation. In one way or another, the notion of a culture of educationwas embedded in many of the presentations. What is a culture ofeducation? On a practical level the message that emerged is thatthose responsible for children in care need tomake educational successa top priority and ensure that success happens. However, it is aboutmore than programs and policies. It is about incorporating educationalsuccess into the vision and everyday fabric of the organizations servingchildren in care. Gharabaghi described what it means in a way thatshows how all-encompassing a culture of education ought to be. Hesaid,

“Within a culture of education, living and learning are recognized asinterdependent and as organically linked; the experience of learningand education is integral to how we measure the effectiveness and

1152 M. O'Brien / Children and Youth Services Review 34 (2012) 1150–1153

efficacy of our work.We can impact the experience every day, everymoment and in every context” (Gharabaghi, 2011).

The discussion about a culture of education led to an insight forthe committee about its role. We have come to see our role as goingbeyond making changes to the programs and policies of our organiza-tion, but also to championing the development of a culture of educa-tion within the organization; this will involve committee membersplaying an active role in encouraging staff to put education for chil-dren in care at the forefront of their day to day practice. In changingthe culture there will be a number of challenges to overcome: limitedresources; staff workloads that inhibit their ability to devote sufficientattention to the needs of children and youth; a belief by many that thebehavioral and emotional issues of children in care often substantiallylimit their chances of educational success; and an acceptance of thestatus quo with respect to what schools can or cannot do to bringabout better outcomes.

The committee will be proposing that the themes of transitions,collaboration, enhanced educational support, expectations of success,and foster parent involvement become the pillars that underpin theagency's approach to education when Family and Children's Servicescommences the process of reviewing and revamping its strategicplan in the near future. However some concrete plans have emergedfrom the committee that can be readily implemented.

2. Transitions

• Older teens who are in secondary school will be taken for visits to col-leges and universities to give them a sense of what post-secondaryeducation is like and to engender a belief that they can succeed.

• School moves will be reduced when children's placements changeby more frequently paying the cost of transportation to maintainchildren in their school.

• The availability of study halls after school for older teens will be ex-panded by the agency's Preparation for Independence worker.

• Greater attention will be paid to ensuring that youth transitioningfrom elementary to secondary school are offered a curriculum thatpositions them to attend a post-secondary institution.

3. Collaboration

• The province of Ontario has pilot tested a concept called CrownWardship Championship Teams to promote educational successfor children and youth in long term care (crown wards are childrenin long term care). This approach is now being implemented acrossthe province. Family and Children's Services has begun a processwith the boards of education in the county to develop programsand policies that will lead to educational success.

4. Educational support

• To increase educational support, especially for children who maynot be able to attend our KUMON program, a Letterbox Club willbe initiated. Letterbox is an approach presented by the Universityof Leicester at the conference, whereby children in care receive aparcel with books and learning materials each month in the mail(Griffiths, 2011). The program will be evaluated.

5. Expectations

• The agency has begun to produce an education newsletter for fosterparents containing information they should find useful in supportingthe educational journey of foster children in their home.

• Staff and foster parent training will include material that will helpthem to convey expectations of success in their communicationwith children in care.

• Programs exist in Ontario that involve grade 8 children attendinguniversity for a week and taking a course that is intended to whettheir appetite for higher education. More children in foster carewill be encouraged to take advantage of the opportunity to attend.

6. Foster parent involvement

• A planning day will be held at which foster parents will be askedwhat they need from Family and Children's Services to supportthe educational progress of foster children in their homes.

• The planning day will also include training on how foster parentscan work effectively with schools and agency staff to overcomethe educational issues and barriers faced by children in care.

For a number of years Family and Children's Services has investedin promoting and evaluating child development outcomes; the fiveforegoing themes that have been identified will all be considered informulating an evaluation plan. Improving high school graduationrates and the numbers of youth enrolling in post-secondary educationwill be two of the key outcomes to be measured.

In conclusion, the knowledge transfer resulting from attendanceat the Improving Educational Outcomes for Children in Care confer-ence has been substantial for members of the committee. We havebeen readily able to integrate the knowledge shared by the re-searchers and practitioners to select the themes that will underpinour long term planning for improving educational outcomes. Moreimmediately we have been able to identify specific initiativespresented at the conference that will enhance the initiatives alreadyin place at Family and Children's Services of Renfrew County. Theagency has a long way to go but is more determined and convincedthan ever that it can build a culture of education that will permitchildren and youth in care to flourish.

Acknowledgment

The writer would like to acknowledge the work of the team of staffwho attended the educational outcomes conference and transferredthe knowledge acquired at the conference into the formulation of aneducational outcomes strategy. Jimmy Frickey, Jen Frickey, Lori Giroux,Kelly Foster, Stephanie Murdoch, Gwen Bennett, Dave Ingram, andMarjorie Walker are members of the team.

References

Berridge, D. (2011, June). What have we learned about educating young people in care.Paper presented at the Improving Educational Outcomes for Children in Care conference,Ottawa, Canada.

De Rose, M., & Collins, P. (2011, June). Educational support program at Niagara Familyand Children's Services. Paper presented at the Improving Educational Outcomes forChildren in Care conference, Ottawa, Canada.

Ferguson, B. (2011, June). Keeping our kids in school and making them successful.Paper presented at the Improving Educational Outcomes for Children in Care conference,Ottawa, Canada.

Flynn, R. J. (2011, June). Effects of a randomized effectiveness trial of tutoring by fos-ter parents on foster children's academic skills in reading and math. Paper pre-sented at the Improving Educational Outcomes for Children in Care conference,Ottawa, Canada.

Flynn, R. J., Ghazal, H., & Legault, L. (2006). Looking After children: Good parenting,good outcomes. Assessment and Action Records. Ottawa, ON, and London, UK: Centrefor Research on Community Services, University of Ottawa and Her Majesty's Statio-nery Office (HMSO) (Second Canadian adaptation, AAR-C2).

Francis, A. (2011, June). With all the best intentions: A review of educational initiativesand lessons learned at Hastings CAS. Paper presented at the Improving EducationalOutcomes for Children in Care conference, Ottawa, Canada.

Gharabaghi, K. (2011, June). Overcoming multiple adversities: High intensityapproaches to supporting education in residential group care settings. Paperpresented at the Improving Educational Outcomes for Children in Care conference,Ottawa, Canada.

Glascoe, F. P. (2002). Technical report for the Brigance Screens (3rd ed.). North Billerica,Mass: Curriculum Associate, Inc.

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Griffiths, R. (2011, June). The Letterbox Club: Enjoyment and educational supportthrough the post for children and their foster carers. Paper presented at the ImprovingEducational Outcomes for Children in Care conference, Ottawa, Canada.

Hojer, I., & Johansson, H. (2011, June). Supporting education for young people in care-experiences from Sweden. Paper presented at the Improving Educational Outcomesfor Children in Care conference, Ottawa, Canada.

Jackson, S. (2011, June). Looking ahead and aiming higher: What can we learn fromother countries and cultures. Paper presented at the Improving Educational Out-comes for Children in Care conference, Ottawa, Canada.

Pecora, P. (2011, June). Maximizing educational achievement of youth in foster careand alumni: Factors associated with success. Paper presented at the Improving Edu-cational Outcomes for Children in Care conference, Ottawa, Canada.

Stoddart, J. (2011, June). Celebrating ordinary magic: Using research and agency datato improve educational outcomes. Paper presented at the Improving EducationalOutcomes for Children in Care conference, Ottawa, Canada.