Educational Advocacy for Youth in Foster Care: Perceptions of Program Staff, Caregivers, Educators, and Foster Care Liaisons.

This article evaluates the Educational Advocacy Program (EAP), a community-based initiative by the Foster & Adoptive Care Coalition in St. Louis designed to support foster youth's educational success by collaborating with caregivers, educators, and district foster care liaisons. Qualitative findings from interviews and surveys indicate that stakeholders generally view the EAP positively, valuing its tailored, wraparound services and its role in facilitating caregiver-school collaboration, though challenges such as long waitlists and occasional miscommunication were noted. The program's advocates provide individualized support addressing special education needs, enrollment, behavioral issues, and advocacy during disciplinary actions, emphasizing relationship-building and responsiveness to unique child and family circumstances. The study highlights the importance of specialized advocacy beyond mandated foster care liaisons and suggests that expanding program capacity and improving communication with schools could enhance effectiveness. Limitations include the single-site focus and lack of foster youth perspectives, with recommendations for future research to explore replication and combined caregiver-youth support models.