New research by UCLA Pritzker Center for Children and Families examines impact on the educational experiences of children and youth involved with the child welfare system.
A new research brief, “The Aftermath of the Eaton Fire – Foster Care and Education Disrupted,” by the UCLA Pritzker Center for Strengthening Children and Families finds that the Eaton Fire and its aftermath compounded existing educational challenges for children and youth involved with the child welfare system across Altadena, Pasadena, and Sierra Madre, disrupting educational continuity and exacerbating instability.
“Longstanding educational challenges facing children in foster care were compounded by the Eaton Fire—as Altadena rebuilds, equitable recovery and upholding the educational rights of children in foster care must be a long-term priority,” said Taylor I. Dudley, JD, executive director of the UCLA Pritzker Center for Strengthening Children and Families.
“These findings underscore the importance of the continued need for targeted mental health and academic supports, and the vital role of professionals who bridge the child welfare and education systems,” said the study’s principal investigator, UCLA Professor of Education Tyrone Howard, who is the Pritzker Family Endowed Chair in the School of Education and Information Studies at UCLA and co-director of the UCLA Pritzker Center for Strengthening Children & Families.
The Pritzker research team includes Dudley, Professor Howard; Audra Langley, PhD, co-director; Laura Liévano-Karim, PhD, postdoctoral research fellow; Ivy Zucaya, PhD and Brenda A. Tully, PhD, research directors; Olivia Gilchrist, undergraduate student researcher; Nancy Olivares, MPP, policy and community impact director; Emma Chen, research assistant; and Gifty Ayawvi, MA, graduate student research assistant. The project was supported by the UCLA School of Education and Information Studies, Wasserman Dean Christina Christie, the Anthony Pritzker Family Foundation, and The Ralph M. Parsons Foundation.
The research brief was presented by UCLA Pritzker Center researchers at a community event, Wednesday, October 29 at the Altadena Community Center. Participants in the briefing included Supervisor Barger, Brandon Nichols, director of the Department of Children and Family Services, and Altadena community members. Baby2Baby provided 200 bundles of diapers, clothing, and other infant necessities.
Barger shared the fact that Altadena has the largest number of foster children and youth in LA County and commended the Department of Parks and Recreation for setting up a camp for youth the day after the fire, providing a place for 6,000 students who no longer had schools to attend.
“It’s no fault of the youth in our system that they’re in our system,” she said. “We are their de facto parents, and this fire highlighted how precarious our system is. Now, more than ever, the county needs to step up and make sure that we provide every resource not only for foster youth but for youth as a whole in Pasadena and Altadena.”
The Eaton Fire affected 225 dependent children and youth living in the impacted area, interrupting access to school and adding another layer of instability to their lives and education. Nearly half of these young people (44%) were receiving permanent placement or extended foster care services. More than one-third (36%) were involved in family maintenance services (36%), while 20% were receiving family reunification services. Sixty percent of impacted youth are Latino. Three months after the Eaton Fire, one in six (17%) dependent youth had relocated outside of the Altadena area. On average, these children and youth moved about 16 miles from where they lived at the time of the fire.
Surveys conducted by the researchers with key individuals and agencies at the forefront of response and recovery efforts illuminate the disruption to the lives of students. Beyond placement changes, shifting home environments, and frequent school transitions that already characterize the experiences of youth in foster care, the fire led to further displacement, school closures, lengthy commutes, and changing schools.
School closures limited access to classroom learning and the transition to virtual learning exacerbated educational setbacks.Access to school-based services and supports was limited and relocation disrupted students’ social connections and undermined belonging. The fire also disrupted the postsecondary plans of high school seniors involved with the child welfare system, interfering with key milestones such as graduation and college preparation.
The study also finds that the Eaton Fire strained the capacity of educators and service providers to support students further straining educational continuity and mental health care for children and youth in foster care.
The researchers underscore that despite reduced capacity and personal losses among school and service personnel, the educational community demonstrated exceptional resilience and dedication adapting quickly to relocate classrooms, modify schedules, and find creative ways to sustain learning and connection amid uncertainty. At the local level, the Pasadena Unified School District acted swiftly to reopen schools, and the LA County Department of Children and Family Services provided flexible funding, transportation coordination, and temporary placement waivers. State and local agencies also mobilized to support student recovery.
A panel discussion was moderated by Jim Newton, UCLA lecturer and founding editor-in-chief of Blueprint, featuring the perspectives of Joe Ford, chief program officer of Sycamores, and Alexander Ballantyne, a former foster youth, who both lost their homes in the Eaton fire.
Ford described his experience of evacuating the youth from Sycamores, a group home for boys aged 11-18, as his own house burned down.
“Those youth … come first,” Ford said. “They have already been through a lot of trauma. They’re going to always have to deal with it – they just get better at dealing with it if they get the right supports.”
Ballantyne, who now attends UC Santa Barbara, was living with his aunt and uncle at the time of the fire. He recounted the challenge of keeping his elderly relatives safe when they had to evacuate their home and being grateful that he was able to be with his own family through the ordeal.
“Just having my biological family there with me… that sense of ‘we’re going to get through it together’ … that is kind of what kept me through [the fire],” said Ballantyne. “Having my family there grounded me in the situation.”
Dudley said that the event marked “the start of a conversation.”
“It may have been shocking to hear the findings or hear from our panelists,” she said. But what we also know is that we can come together going forward, and that’s our commitment at the UCLA Pritzker Center.
“We want to join hands with everybody in this room, to continue to make these commitments to the children in foster care; to the families that live in Altadena, so that we don’t see more children enter care because of this. This is not the end – we’re not putting the brief on your chair and walking away. We know that there are so many more things to say, more facts to share, more opinions, more advice, more suggestions. We welcome them.”
Visit the UCLA Pritzker Center for Strengthening Children and Families website to read the research brief, “The Aftermath of the Eaton Fire – Foster Care and Education Disrupted.”
Above: Olivia Gilchrist, an undergraduate student researcher for the UCLA Pritzker Center (at podium) is a co-author of the research brief, “The Aftermath of the Eaton Fire – Foster Care and Education Disrupted.” Photo by Joanie Harmon