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

Improving the educational success of children and youth in foster care is an important goal for school social work practice. However, discussions of effective interventions remain limited in school social work literature. The Educational Advocacy Program (EAP) is a community-based approach designed to support these students by collaborating with caregivers, educators, and district foster care liaisons. This article presents qualitative findings from an evaluation of the EAP, focusing on stakeholder perceptions of the program's implementation, strengths, challenges, and areas for improvement. Overall, stakeholders expressed favorable views of the EAP, with caregivers reporting slightly higher levels of satisfaction compared with educators and foster care liaisons. Participants especially valued the various forms of support provided by the program. Reported challenges included a long waitlist, limited contact between educators and EAP staff, and occasional miscommunication among EAP staff, families, and educators. The article also provides recommendations for enhancing program delivery and discusses the implications for replicating EAP in other settings and integrating such models into school social work practice.