Young people who were once in the foster care system are now getting help getting through college.
At SF State, two coordinators are attempting to create a system to aid former foster youth with financial aid, year-round housing and counseling to help them earn a degree. The new program, which will begin in the fall, will include 10 students.
This program was created because of concerns about former foster youth becoming homeless after they are emancipated from the foster care system at age 18, and having a low likelihood of attending a university.
About half of former foster youth enrolled at community colleges, according to a 2002 report by the California Department of Social Services, but 42 percent of those students did not earn any credits. A mere 1.5 percent of these students received associate’s degrees, while 1.5 percent transferred to four-year universities, according to another study referenced by Sonja Lenz-Rashid, assistant professor for SF State’s school of social work.
Lenz-Rashid is working with Xochitl Sanchez-Zarama, pre-college coordinator for the Educational Opportunity Program at SF State, to create the Guardian Scholars Program, which they hope will help increase the odds of success for former foster youth.
In 2001, 65 percent of teenagers who were emancipated from foster care were homeless at the time they were emancipated, according to statistics provided by Lenz-Rashid.
“We are working with housing,” Lenz-Rashid said. “We are working on making sure the students are housed year-round, either off campus or on campus.”
She added that former foster youth often do not have another home to return to during breaks from school.
“They often have no family to support them,” Lenz-Rashid said. “There is not a good support network available.”
Former foster youth Tiffany Brooks is now a sophomore at SF State. She started here as a freshman after receiving encouragement to go to college.
“My foster mother led me to go to college,” she said, adding that a foster care counseling program helped guide her through the university application process.
Working and living on campus, she has begun studies as a criminal justice major. Brooks’ plans for the future include hopes of attending law school in New York.
“I want to be a juvenile lawyer or a homicide detective,” Brooks said.
She added that she wishes SF State could offer year-round housing. During summer, she now visits her former foster mom, commuting to campus to work and attend classes.
Lenz-Rashid said the Guardian Scholars program is being partially modeled after a similar program at Cal State Fullerton, but it will be tailored to fit SF State’s particular needs for affordable housing along with diversity. The application process combines a written essay with a face-to-face interviewing process.
“We are looking for students who are diverse not only ethnically and culturally, but also in life experience,” Lenz Rashid said.
Lenz-Rashid added she hopes the program will be successful and become larger eventually.
“For now, starting with 10 students is a reasonable amount,” she said. “Our goal is to grow.”
Brooks said she believes the new program will be beneficial for former foster youth who want a chance to become successful, but don’t know where to go for help.
“Most of them don’t know that there are resources out there,” Brooks said. “They probably want to get help, they just don’t know how.”
She said she hopes others who were once in the foster care system will be able to have a more hopeful outlook on the future.
“As a foster kid, I want them to know that they can do it,” Brooks said. “Just because they don’t have the support of a family doesn’t mean they can’t.”
She added she wants to tell former foster youth that they are not without entirely without support.
“I want to tell them, ‘There is someone out there trying to help you,’” Brooks said. “Work with them, and your dreams will come true.”