Funding for program helps keep foster children in school
Some parents have their child’s college picked out before they
are even born. Athletes will pick a college based on a particular
sport. Girls sometimes even pick a college based on where a
boyfriend is going.
Funding for program helps keep foster children in school
Some parents have their child’s college picked out before they are even born. Athletes will pick a college based on a particular sport. Girls sometimes even pick a college based on where a boyfriend is going.
Just about every student has been told that a college education equals a good career. But for some children, going to college can seem like an unreachable goal.
To help these students, California created the Foster Youth Services program, which provides support and resources to designated students to ensure they are receiving a proper education. Although the program has been around since the 1970s, it was focused primarily on large districts in the Los Angeles and Sacramento areas. The program was expanded to all counties throughout the state approximately six years ago, but this is the first year San Benito County has secured funding for it.
“Our mission is to help foster youths be successful in completing school and going on to college,” said Frank Beitz, director of the local Foster Youth Services program. “We service children ages four to 19 as long as that child has a foster parent or is in a group home, such as Chamberlain’s Children Center.”
Because this is the program’s first year locally, districts here are still learning what services Foster Youth Services provides and how to obtain them.
“This is our start up year,” Beitz said. “I’m helping all players involved to get to know the program, realize it is here and it is a resource for them to use. I’m teaching them the rules and helping them design how they want their program to run. The goal is to orient the districts and public and get everyone on track.”
Foster Youth Services is funded by the state. Each county has its own program, with its own director. Within the county, each school district will eventually have a program liaison that will work with Beitz to identify children who would benefit from the program’s services.
The program is aimed at helping these children, who often slip through the cracks, finish school and continue towards a secondary education, Beitz said.
“National and state statistics show that only about 30 percent of foster youths graduate from high school,” he said. “That’s part of the hole we are trying to fill. The other part is that only about three percent continue on to college.”
Within each district, the liaisons work with Beitz to make sure the students enrolled in the program stay on track. There are approximately 60 students in San Benito who currently receive support from Foster Youth Services, Beitz said.
“We make sure they are going to school and progressing the way they should,” Beitz said. “Each liaison carries on the mission of the program at the school level. They talk to the students and I work with them on any issues that may come up.”
Of the 60 students receiving help locally, most are seniors in a high school program who need help meeting graduation requirements. Ideally, Beitz said, students would begin receiving help as freshmen, but because this is the first year Foster Youth Services is in operation in San Benito County, they opted to target seniors instead.
“There are so many requirements seniors must meet,” he said. “They have to pass the [California High School Exit Examination], they have to have enough credits before they can graduate. Right now, we are working specifically with three students, doing whatever we can to help them graduate. We can get them the resources they need, or if they haven’t yet passed the CAHSEE, we can get them tutoring. We can work with a school on a credit program and help them earn the credits they need.”
Approximately four years ago, the state passed AB490, a provision to the Foster Youth Services program that allows a foster child who has moved during a school year to stay with the original school they were enrolled in. This is important to provide a student who has faced upheaval in his or her life a sense of stability, Beitz said.
“One problem we face is that foster youths are often moved around quite a bit,” he said. “AB490 sets up a provision that gives these youths the right to remain in the original school they were first enrolled in. Everyone has a teamwork obligation to explore that option and see if it is in the best interest of the child.”
However, staying with the original district doesn’t always work, Beitz said.
“There are other things we have to look at when trying to make this happen, such as transportation,” he said. “Just a while back we had a student move to San Juan Bautista from Pacific Grove. This student had the right to stay in the Pacific Grove school district, but we had to consider who would provide transportation to and from school, and how much time the student would spend on the road. We ended up placing the student in a local school.”
Beitz said the main goal of Foster Youth Services is to determine the reasons foster youths are not as successful in school, and try and correct any problems.
“We try not to be negative,” he said. “We have to look at the reasons. Often, they are one or two grades behind where they should be. Maybe they have moved several times. But if they don’t go to high school or put some time in at a college, they probably won’t make enough money to support themselves.”
