A new NBC News report finds Michigan foster care institutions are failing to provide adequate education to many young people in their care.
In some cases, foster youth found that some education credits gained while in the state’s care didn’t transfer to public schools.
As a consequence, kids were set back years in classes and forced to repeat grade levels.
WKAR's Megan Schellong spoke with NBC News national reporter Erin Einhorn, who interviewed 10 Michiganders that are either currently in or have been in, the state’s foster system about their educational concerns.
Interview Highlights
On how Michigan handles education of young people in foster care
So most foster youth in Michigan are in foster families, which means they go to regular schools, you know, along with other non-foster youth. But the one consistent theme is that they all got out, whether or not they'd had a good experience with the education in these facilities or not, they got out and learned that their credits didn't transfer or didn't count. It can really, really throw them off the direction that they were moving in the positive direction.
On the changes Michigan’s foster youth are calling for
Simple things, like, the day they get out, they should be given their transcript. Another change would be, you know, making sure that having those contracts be more specific about what appropriate educational services means. So, it can't be like, you know, life skills classes, it has to be, you know, or even, you know, some kind of a system to make sure that kids and their workers are keeping track of the credits that they're earning.
On the response from state lawmakers and educators
So far, not much. I mean, I talked to both the state health and human services agency and the education department, you know, for the story, and there's a lot of, you know, “Oh, there's not that much we can do.” Kind of, you know, throwing up of hands.
Interview Transcript
Megan Schellong: A new NBC News report finds Michigan foster care institutions are failing to provide adequate education to young people in their care.
In some cases, foster youth found that some education credits gained while in the state’s care didn’t transfer to public schools.
As a consequence, kids were set back years in classes and forced to repeat grade levels.
Reporter Erin Einhorn spoke with 10 Michiganders that are either currently in, or have been in, the state’s foster system about their educational concerns.
She joins me now to share her findings.
Erin, can you start us off and explain how Michigan’s current foster care system handles the education of its youth?
Erin Einhorn: So most foster youth in Michigan are in foster families, which means they go to regular schools, you know, along with other non-foster youth.
But my story in particular, was about youth who have been placed in facilities and institutions, residential facilities, either because the state couldn't find a family to take them, or because they needed treatment for some kind of mental health or other similar issues.
But the one consistent theme is that they all got out, whether or not they'd had a good experience with the education in these facilities or not, they got out and learned that their credits didn't transfer or didn't count. It can really, really throw them off the direction that they were moving, in the positive direction.
Schellong: The state health department can’t require that credits earned in residential facilities count towards another school, so is this issue a matter of lack of oversight on the state’s part or is there something larger at play here?
Einhorn: I mean, these are the state's children. So, these are children who are in the state's custody and they're attending, they're placed in facilities by the state, that are licensed by the state, and paid by the state, that have contracts with the state.
So, it's clearly the state who has an obligation here. The actual mechanism of that is a little bit more complicated.
And part of the problem is that Michigan is a local control state for education. So, there's more than 800 school districts around the state, and each one of them can make its own decisions about what constitutes an academic credit. You know, there, everybody uses the same Michigan Merit curriculum, which says how many math credits and how many science credits you need.
But if you're coming in as a transfer student, it's up to the individual school, the receiving school to say whether or not the class, the earth science class you took or the physics class you took, meets that district's criteria.
So that's kind of where the state of saying, “Well, there's not that much we can do about it, in the sense that we can't dictate we can't put in the contract, oh, it has to be, you know, a credit that's going to count somewhere else.”
Schellong: These young kids are calling for changes that would allow them to receive, you know, a, quote, “appropriate high-quality education” so that they can graduate. What are some of the changes that these young people are proposing?
Einhorn: I mean, simple things in, like, the day they get out, they should be given their transcript. I mean, some of them probably got a real education.
Another change would be, you know, making sure that having those contracts be more specific about what appropriate educational services means. So, it can't be like, you know, life skills classes, it has to be, you know, or even, you know, some kind of a system to make sure that kids and their workers are keeping track of the credits that they're earning.
Schellong: What has been the response or lack of response been among Michigan’s child welfare and education agencies after your report was brought to their knowledge?
Einhorn: I mean, so far, not much. I mean, I talked to both the state health and human services agency and the education department, you know, for the story, and there's a lot of, you know, “Oh, there's not that much we can do.” Kind of, you know, throwing up of hands.
I sent the story to the governor, I sent the story to the attorney general, I sent the story to leadership in the legislature.
And I'm getting a lot of “Oh, my God, this is terrible. We've got to do something.” But so far, we're still waiting to figure out what that something is.
Schellong: Based on what you’re saying it sounds like, changes from lawmakers are not coming anytime soon?
Einhorn: Yeah, it's not a good time of year for solutions. I mean, they all have a primary in a few weeks, that they're pretty focused on as far as the legislature goes. But you know, this is a this has been going on for a long time, and I don't think anybody expected that there would be kind of a quick fix.
You know, I think there's a cultural change that needs to take place. You know, when they're in a facility, they're there for treatment, and they're brought in and they leave based on their treatment needs as opposed to their academic needs -- and the education kind of takes a backseat to sort of more urgent mental health care, for example.
And, you know, I think maybe even just the possibility that raising education as a priority and making sure that people in the system who work in the system are keeping that in mind, I think could also in and of itself, create change.
Schellong: Erin Einhorn is a national reporter for NBC News based in Detroit.
Thanks for your time.
Einhorn: No, thank you. I really appreciate you highlighting this issue.
This conversation has been edited for clarity and conciseness.
