Abstract
Young children in foster care are often at higher risk for maladjusted outcomes in socio-emotional and cognitive development than their non-systems involved counterparts. These children are also overlooked in early childhood education and care (ECEC) due to the highly insulated nature of the U.S. child welfare system. This article argues that socio-emotional and behavioral challenges have important implications for foster preschoolers’ outcomes in school readiness. First, the current literature review explores the extent and implications of emotional disturbances, impaired cognition, behavior problems and related mental health disorders among foster children. Then, this review examines foster children’s schooling outcomes such as attendance, academic achievement, and discipline. Next, this review attempts to establish a relationship between mental health and learning outcomes of foster preschoolers through the lens of child welfare related factors such as placement type, length of stay, and placement instability. The present literature review concludes with a set of actionable policy recommendations pertaining to the Family First Prevention Services Act (FFPSA), family visitation rights, Early Head Start and Head Start, as well as Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) with the intent to improve school readiness outcomes of special needs foster preschoolers using a whole-child approach.