Foster Care Alumni and Funding for Postsecondary Education: Examining Variation in State Support

Abstract

Recent modifications to the Foster Care Independence Act have enabled states to provide Education and Training Vouchers (ETVs) to foster care alumni who are enrolled in postsecondary education institutions. This article is a summary in which we examine the disparities in states' allocations for ETVs, as well as the variation in states' implementation of broad-based, state-funded tuition waivers. The outcomes are descriptive in nature and display the wide range in ETV funding across the United States; outcomes also indicate that just about half of the states in the United States offer state-funded tuition waivers to foster care alumni. The findings are further discussed in the context of recommendations that would help support further research on programs and services for this population.