Examining possibilities for TVET among youth with care experience
There has been exciting and robust practice and policy attention aimed toward the population of young people have spent significant time in the care system and who may face life largely on their own when they reach adulthood. A range of negative circumstances may have led to their need for out-of-home care (e.g., abuse, neglect, abandonment) and while in care they may have faced additional difficulty (e.g., disrupted relationships). Research has done much to advance knowledge about these experiences and has been used to develop policy and practice interventions that might offer supports and opportunities to improve long term life prospects.
Education-focused strategies have been among those at the forefront. Overall, educational outcomes are known to be poor for youth with care experience, although many young people have successfully overcome the odds to complete higher education and engage in productive and fulfilling careers. In this research tradition, attention to technical/vocational education and training (TVET) has been woefully understudied (Collins, et al, 2023). Our recent research article (Collins & Taussig, 225) examines educational aspirations, goals and plans for 215 youth adults with experience in out-of-home care. This research sheds important light on the possibilities for TVET trajectories and leads to a number of implications:
- Young people in care – just like all young people – have various interests, talents, and challenges. In terms of educational pathways, there is no “one-size-fits-all.” Many are capable of and interested in a rigorous university education and should be supported in obtaining that. Others have non-college educational and vocational interests that do not require a university education. Educational planning for life after care requires individualized attention over the long term.
- TVET offers a range of possibilities for young people. Our research identified some of these interests to include careers in landscaping, culinary arts, computer graphics, and health care, among many others. Many young people expressed interests in careers that led to employment sooner rather than later. Given their experiences with instability during their youth, stable employment and resulting self-sufficiency was important to them.
- While education and career planning often rests on young people’s stated goals and action plans it is important to recognize that the process of “goal setting” may not be a comfortable fit for many young people. Some may have had a limited experience of planning and achieving goals due to care histories in which they had limited control over life decisions. Young people may often have aspirations but difficulty expressing these as specific educational and career goals. Consequently, careful listening is needed to hear their aspirations and help them figure out how to move forward to attain them.
- Many young people in our study reported flexible or multiple goals. Their educational career pathways are often non-linear, interrupted, concurrent and complex, requiring adaptability in supporting these pathways. This, too, indicates a need for individualized support and careful listening as well as flexibility in educational programs that allow for multiple on-ramps or opportunities to re-enroll when pathways are disrupted.
- Pathways to education and careers only partially reflect the young persons’ interests and their caseworkers’ abilities to support their interests. Other factors in the broader economic, social and political environment are critical. This includes the range of policy supports (for care leavers and other young people) which can support access to education and careers or can impede it. Broader economic environments are also relevant; some localities have more education and employment opportunities than others. This larger context must be considered in helping young people to be successful.
The core take-away from the study is that supporting young adults who are care experienced requires flexibility to provide the best guidance possible. TVET offers a potential career pathway that may be underutilized and could be valuable for some young people. Guidance from workers, flexibility in systems, land robust policy supports are needed to support these journeys.
Collins, M. E., A. Augsberger, and R. Howard. 2023. “Post-Secondary Vocational Education for Youth Leaving Care: Examining a Potential Pathway to Successful Outcomes.” British Educational Research Journal 50, no. 2: 599–613. https:// doi. org/ 10. 1002/ berj. 3933.
Collins, M.E., and Taussig, H. 2025. “Post-secondary educational aspirations among young adults with foster care experience: A focus on vocational education”. Child and Family Social Work. https://doi.org/10.1111/cfs.13319.
