By John Emerson and Lee Bassett, Casey Family Programs— Casey Family Programs recently modified the guidelines of the Supporting Success plan provided to organizations of higher education to focus on specific programs to engage foster youth.

Youth aging out of the foster care system have lower educational attainments for a number of reasons including changing schools, difficulties obtaining loans, and troubles meeting basic needs like clothing and shelter upon their emancipation. The Supporting Success project seeks to provide a framework for creating programming that will address the specific needs of former foster youth in pursuing higher education.

They found that there are certain administrative needs to have a successful initiative to engage aging out youth. First, there must be designated leadership and staff support to make sure that such a program is specifically within employees’ job tasks. They also recommend that there is collaboration with community agencies that work with aged out youth and a plan in place to sustain the work they are doing.

On a direct level, Supporting Success gives several suggestions to improve the education of foster youth. First, they say that year-round housing and making sure students have basic needs be top priority. They also recommend specialized advising and personal counseling as well as engaging students in leadership development and community service opportunities.

The model is being used in many colleges and universities including some schools in Texas, Michigan, California, and Connecticut.

Courtesy of Children’s Bureau Express

Original Article: Supporting Higher Education for Students from Foster Care

http://cbexpress.acf.hhs.gov/index.cfm?event=website.viewArticles&issueid=124&articleid=3121