Passport to Careers: Aiding Foster and Homeless Young Adults

The Passport to Careers program in Washington State supports former foster youth and homeless youth unaccompanied by a parent or guardian in achieving their college and career goals, despite the barriers they face along their educational journey. Their persistence, resilience, and motivation to attain college degrees or vocational credentials are augmented by this unique program. The legislatively mandated program was launched in 2007 under a different name to serve former foster youth and expanded in 2018 to include unaccompanied homeless youth. Passport now offers a college scholarship pathway and an apprenticeship opportunity pathway, both of which provide financial aid and support services to eligible young adults. To date, more than 3,000 young adults have participated in the program, highlighting its reach and impact. The Washington Student Achievement Council (WSAC), a cabinet-level state agency, implements the program.

Despite the program’s growth and the number of participants, Passport to Careers had not been externally evaluated, leaving a gap in understanding its effectiveness and areas for improvement. Recognizing this gap, WSAC tapped Westat in September 2023 to conduct an implementation and outcome evaluation of the program.

Westat’s Lori Nathanson, PhD, a Principal Research Associate for Education Studies, directed the study, and Nina Page, a Research Analyst for Social Policy and Economics Research, led the qualitative work, bringing valuable insights into the experiences of the program’s participants. The entire team infused principles of equity into the evaluation, emphasizing the importance of fairness and inclusivity in their approach. Here they discuss the study, the challenges they faced, and their findings and recommendations, which can be found in Passport to Careers Implementation and Outcome Evaluation: Executive Summary and Report (PDF).

Q. What methods did you use to evaluate the program and make the process equity-focused? 

A. Nina Page: We used quantitative and qualitative methods, which included interviews and focus groups with program participants and program staff. We also relied on various sources of extant data. Vitally important was our use of We All Count’s Data Equity Framework, which allowed us to break up our data work into manageable parts and maintain an equity-oriented process as we made key decisions along the way. Our work demonstrates that applying this framework to projects leads to swift, sustainable improvements in equity.

Q. What challenges did you face in implementing the evaluation? 

A. Lori Nathanson: We worked within a very short time frame. For example, we interviewed 76 staff members and program participants in less than 3 months and conducted an outcome study of more than 1,200 participants from 60 Washington State postsecondary institutions to learn how many Passport participants completed a credential (certificate or degree). In addition, we examined outcomes at 2 time points—4 and 8 years after students had enrolled in a postsecondary institution. This was because, like many students in recent years, this group of students may have required more time to finish college due to work and family obligations. 

Q. What are some of your findings? 

A. Lori Nathanson: Passport participants reported that they benefited from the program in many ways that helped them stay on track to achieve their goals of work or postsecondary credentials. In fact, 31% of Passport students in the outcome study (n = 1,233) earned at least 1 certificate within 8 years. Seven percent of the subgroup who started in a 4-year institution (n = 222) achieved a graduate degree or credential, which was impressive. Additionally, some Passport students obtained more than 1 credential or degree within the study window. However, even with the Passport program, some students who lacked the financial resources to cover college and basic needs expenses may “stop out” (take a break), drop out, or take on additional student loan debt. We also found that tracking individual student journeys would have provided better insights into how many institutions they attended, whether they enrolled in consecutive semesters or stopped out, and how many credentials they obtained.

One caveat to note is that this is an outcome study that focuses on Passport participants and does not include a comparison group. Therefore, we cannot definitively assess if these outcomes are directly attributable to the program itself. Still, the findings are promising and indicate positive trends among Passport participants.

Q. How did the client use the report?

A. Passport staff used the findings to advocate for the legislature to allocate stable funding to continue to meet the needs of eligible students. They emphasized the importance of financial resources to cover both college and basic needs expenses to prevent students from stopping out, dropping out, or taking on additional student loan debt. The report’s insights also informed program improvements and strategies to better support students’ educational and career goals.

Q. Are there other key recommendations you have based on the findings?

A. Nina Page: In addition to the recommendation for stable funding that Lori mentioned, we recommend that, in light of the program expansion to include unaccompanied homeless youth and an apprenticeship pathway in 2019, it’s time to refresh and redesign the program with these young adults and a career-focused pathway in mind. 

Q. How did Westat excel at this work? 

A. Lori Nathanson: We have extensive experience in conducting focus groups and interviews, gathering and analyzing data, interpreting findings, and making relevant, targeted recommendations. We are also adept at infusing equity principles into evaluations, something that the client valued and wanted reflected in the report. And I believe our client appreciated our adaptability, transparency, and collaborative spirit.

Q. How do you see the evaluation results helping the Passport to Careers program and programs like it? 

A. Our client has collected and used data to improve the program since its inception and decided to bolster its insights with this external evaluation. We believe our findings will lead to Passport’s improvement and expansion in support of its constituents. Our findings will also aid other states seeking a model program to support foster and unaccompanied homeless young adults in preparing for and succeeding in college or apprenticeships.