Translating evidence into practice: Supporting the school performance of young people living in residential group care in Ontario

This paper provides an overview of an on-going ‘research-to-practice synthesis’ project that explores the education and learning supports provided to youth in residential group care in Ontario. The project is focused on how group care programs support the education and learning of youth in the context of the residential program itself, since there is already much evidence that support for education in the everyday living environment from direct care givers strongly impacts on education and learning performance. The project synthesizes input from a range of stakeholders that include executive leadership of agencies, front line staff as well as youth. In addition, the project provides for a detailed review of policies and procedures for residential group care programs and their relevance to the promotion of education and learning. One outcome of the project is a Self Assessment Tool attached to this paper that allows group care providers to monitor their performance with respect to supporting the education of youth living in their programs. Although the project at the time of writing is not entirely completed, it is already apparent that there is a need for systematic and broad change in the purpose and design of residential group care across service sectors.