High School Graduation of Youth in Foster Care

One of DCYF’s strategic priorities is that we create successful transitions to adulthood for youth and young adults in our care. Graduation from high school is an outcome indicator for this priority. Over the past decade, high school graduation rates have increased a bit for all students, however a persistent gap of around thirty percentage points persists between those students and youth who have not experienced foster care. In the class of 2015, 41% of youth who had experienced foster care graduated in four years, compared to 78% of those who had not experienced foster care. Statewide, the 2025 four year graduating cohort included 90,315 students, 83% of whom graduated on time. Among that 2025 cohort, 398 youth were indicated as having been in foster care. Youth who have not been in foster care graduated at the rate of the overall class, whereas 51% of youth who had been in foster care graduated on time. In most years, an additional 2-3 percent of the class have graduated by the end of their fifth year.

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