In the past, attention to these children has been, of necessity, directed chiefly to their safety and therapeutic needs. The Foundation and its partners are taking the innovative approach of focusing on their education needs, with the hope that appropriate education will help them turn their lives around. The Need Research documents lower educational outcomes for children in substitute care than for children in the population at large. Children in substitute care are often academically delayed one or two grade levels, as compared to their peers, and are likely to repeat a grade or to drop out of school. These children often require specialized education services.
Evidence also shows that children in substitute care have difficulty adjusting to adult life.
For example, a number of studies have shown that adults who were in substitute care as children have an increased risk of homelessness and unemployment, and are more likely to engage in criminal behavior. While significant, these figures actually underestimate the Ohio population, because they include only substitute care placements by county human service departments. A number of other agencies, including mental health boards, and alcohol and drug addiction services boards, also place children in substitute care. In addition, the population of children in kinship care is likely to be much higher than 167,000, since many grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc. In the network of interventions targeted at helping children in substitute care survive until adulthood, their education needs are often overlooked.