IMPACT & OUTCOMES FOR SOUTH CAROLINA’S CHILDREN AND YOUTH

Young SC Children (under 4) Not Later Succeeding in School

• Almost half (48%) of the children who have been in foster care will not be ready for kindergarten.^[1]
• One third (32%) of those children will be retained a grade by third grade.^[2]

Middle School SC Youth Struggling to Achieve

• Almost half (48%) of the 6^th-8^th grade students in foster care scored Below Basic in Reading on the PACT compared to 29% of all students^[3]
• 62% of the middle schoolers in foster care scored Below Basic in Math on the PACT compared to 37% of all students^[4]

Older SC Youth Not Succeeding in Adulthood

SC youth who “aged out” of the system in 2004:

• 50% visited the Emergency Room of an area hospital^[5]
• 49% received Food Stamps^[6]
• 14% received services from the Department of Mental Health^[7]
• 31% were arrested within 2 years^[8]

For youth exiting foster care:

• 66% scored Below Basic on the English portion of the PACT^[9]
• 77% scored Below Basic on the Math portion^[10]

---

^[1] ORS Data Warehouse files from DHEC Vital Records and DSS linked to SDE PACT data.
^[2] ORS Data Warehouse files from DHEC Vital Records and DSS linked to SDE PACT data.
^[3] Office of Research and Statistics, from SY02 PACT
^[4] Office of Research and Statistics, from SY02 PACT
^[5] Office of Research and Statistics, from 2004-2006 Hospital Discharge data
^[6] Office of Research and Statistics, from 2004-2006 DSS Food Stamps files
^[7] Office of Research and Statistics, from 2004-2006 DMH files
^[8] Office of Research and Statistics, from 2004-2006 SLED records
^[9] Office of Research and Statistics, from SY02 PACT
^[10] Office of Research and Statistics, from SY02 PACT