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This memo adds to the growing literature on the transition to college for young people in foster care, focusing specifically on issues of preparedness to enter higher education. First, the authors assess the extent to which youths' perceptions of their own educational preparedness and their child welfare workers' perceptions of their educational preparedness each predict the likelihood that youth will enroll in college. Next, the memo compares youths' perceptions and their child welfare workers' perceptions, examining youth and worker agreement about how ready the youth is to pursue their educational goals. Finally, the authors investigate the extent to which foster youth enter colleges that align with their academic proficiency, identifying cases where foster youth may have attended colleges that did and did not align with their proficiency. [For related publications, see "Memo from CalYOUTH: Early Findings on the Impact of Extended Foster Care on Foster Youths' Postsecondary Education Enrollment and Persistence" (ED597313) and "Youth and Caseworker Perspectives on Older Adolescents in California Foster Care: Youths' Education Status and Services" (ED602993).]

This report presents findings from the "CalYOUTH Wave 3 Youth Survey." CalYOUTH (the California Youth Transitions to Adulthood Study) is an evaluation of the impact of the California Fostering Connections Act on outcomes during foster youth's transition to adulthood. CalYOUTH includes collection and analysis of information from three sources: (1) transition-age youth; (2) child welfare workers; and (3) government program data. The study, directed by Dr. Mark Courtney at the University of Chicago and conducted in collaboration with the California Department of Social Services and County Welfare Directors Association of California (CWDA), is being carried out over a 6-year period from 2012-18. The study addresses three research questions: (1) Does extending foster care past age 18 influence youth's outcomes during the transition to adulthood (e.g., outcomes in education, employment, health, housing, parenting, and general well-being)?; (2) What factors influence the types of support youth receive during the transition to adulthood in the context of extended foster care?; (3) How do living arrangements and other services that result from extending foster care influence the relationship between extending care and youth outcomes? The "CalYOUTH Wave 3 Youth Survey," conducted when the young people participating in CalYOUTH were 21 years old, follows up on surveys of the same young people when they were approaching the age of majority in California's foster care system and again when they were 19 years old. Results from the "CalYOUTH Wave 3 Youth Survey" are summarized in this report. The report provides feedback for all parties interested in improving youth's transitions from foster care to adulthood. [For "Findings from the California Youth Transitions to Adulthood Study (CalYOUTH): Conditions of Youth at Age 19," see ED614175.]

The current "CalYOUTH Wave 2 Los Angeles County Report" presents findings from the "CalYOUTH Wave 2 Youth Survey," focusing on just study participants in Los Angeles County. Of all of the counties in California, Los Angeles County has the greatest number of children in foster care. Since child welfare services are administered at the county level in California, studying Los Angeles provides an important perspective on one of the largest foster care jurisdictions in the nation. CalYOUTH (the California Youth Transitions to Adulthood Study) is an evaluation of the impact of the California Fostering Connections to Success Act on outcomes during foster youths' transition to adulthood. CalYOUTH includes collection and analysis of information from three sources: (1) transition-age youth; (2) child welfare workers; and (3) government program data. The study, directed by Dr. Mark Courtney at the University of Chicago and conducted in collaboration with the California Department of Social Services and County Welfare Directors Association of California (CWDA), is being carried out over a 5-year period from 2012-17. The study addresses three research questions: (1) Does extending foster care past age 18 influence youth's outcomes during the transition to adulthood (e.g., outcomes in education, employment, health, housing, parenting, and general well-being)?; (2) What factors influence the types of support youth receive during the transition to adulthood in the context of extended foster care?; (3) How do living arrangements and other services that result from extending foster care influence the relationship between extending care and youth outcomes? The current "CalYOUTH Wave 2 Los Angeles County Report" is limited to just CalYOUTH Study participants who were under the supervision of Los Angeles County child welfare services at the time the study sample was drawn. This report provides feedback for all parties interested in improving youth's transitions from foster care to adulthood. [For "Findings from the California Youth Transitions to Adulthood Study (CalYOUTH): Conditions of Youth at Age 19," see ED614175.]