Keep the Light of a College Education Burning Bright for New York’s Foster Youth
Growing up in New York state’s foster care system in the 1980s, I was well aware of the plight of those who age out of foster care without a parent or safety net. They often ended up on public assistance, homeless or incarcerated. They did not attend college, let alone graduate. In fact, less than 2 percent of foster youth completed college, and today the statistic is only marginally better — 3 percent. After three decades the needle barely moved. Why? Because, we cannot expe
Life In College After A Life In Foster Care
OAKLAND, Calif. — Being an extrovert is a double-edged sword. I can speak confidently in my college classes and in front of large groups. But everyone seems to think I’ve got it all under control, and I rarely feel that way. There’s a ticking clock always in the back of my mind. I need to graduate and become financially independent before the support I get from the foster care system disappears. I was a year old when my five siblings and I were taken away from our parents. Fo
Colorado Takes Lead on Meeting Federal Education Requirements for Foster Youth
Children in foster care change schools as many as 15 times during their K-12 education. And each time they do, they risk falling behind up to 6 months academically. That’s why the Every Student Succeeds Act, the most significant federal education overhaul in more than a decade, gives states specific guidelines about meeting the needs of youth in the child welfare system. President Barack Obama signed ESSA into law in December 2015. The bipartisan initiative not only aims to m
Child Maltreatment History Should Be a Bar to Being a Foster Parent
It’s just common sense: An adult's past criminal history or history of child maltreatment is not to be balanced against the safety of a child. This is not to say a person with any criminal record should be barred as a foster parent, but certainly an applicant with a substantiated history of child maltreatment, no matter how far in the distant past, should be permanently barred. Foster care agencies have a legitimate reason to inquire about a prospective foster parent’s crimin
First Star Institute Press Release Best Practice Project
Washington, D.C.—The First Star Institute, a national non-profit organization, is conducting a survey on college programs for foster youth and former foster youth. With only three percent of foster youth completing their college degree, First Star Institute aims to identify the most effective practices within higher education that advance the success of these students. To ensure a range of information and input, the initial First Star Institute survey will be sent to more tha
Comprehensive legislation introduced in U.S. Senate and House to address trauma
The “Trauma-Informed Care for Children and Families Act” (S. 774, H.R. 1757) was introduced on March 29 in the Senate by Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND) with co-sponsors Dick Durbin (D-IL), Al Franken (D-MN), and Cory Booker (D-NJ), and, for the first time in the House of Representatives, by Chicago Rep. Danny K. Davis (D-IL7). A version of the bill was introduced in the Senate in the final days of the last Congress. The bill’s sponsors were not successful in their efforts to gain