Helping foster youth get
to college
...
Cal State San Marcos offers registration and housing priority;
other help through the ACE program
California legislators have introduced a bill to give former foster youth priority registration in the Cal State system, but Cal State San Marcos in North County has been ahead of the curve for several years now.
The San Marcos university began giving priority registration and housing to former foster youth in 2008. It also helps those students through its ACE Scholar Services program, which stands for Achieving College Excellence, and with things like scholarships and time-management courses.
By all accounts, they need as much help as they can get. Numerous studies have found that youth who “age out” of the foster care system after turning 18 face staggering dropout rates, poverty and homelessness.
“The statistical probability of a person getting a college degree coming out of the foster care system is worse than someone coming out of prison,” ACE Director Jim Mickelson said.
A 2007 study by the Children’s Advocacy Institute at the University of San Diego reported that only 1 to 3 percent of all former California foster youth attain a college degree.
Mickelson said foster youth often have a poor education base because of frequent moves. He also said they are often not encouraged or expected to attend college.
“One of the things I’m trying to change is people often say to foster youth, ‘if you go to college,’” he said. “I want those kids to hear ‘when you go to college.’ I want to help them, but they have to get that message.”
Nastassja McDonald is a fourth-year biology student at Cal State San Marcos and a former foster youth. College wasn’t on her radar during her teenage years.“I didn’t even know what the SATs were,” she said.
Part of the problem is 65 percent of youth have no place to live when they leave the foster care system at age 18. McDonald said, for many foster youth, getting a job and being able to pay for housing and groceries takes priority over getting a college education.
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The statistical probability of a person getting a college degree coming
out of the foster care system is worse than someone coming out of prison
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McDonald’s plans changed when she moved in with a woman who became her mentor, taking her on college tours and preparing her for the SATs. She was accepted to Cal State San Marcos, got in contact with the ACE program and now plans on going to medical school to become a forensic examiner.
McDonald had a mentor, but other foster youth are not so lucky. Mickelson and other administrators have been hashing out specific provisions with legislators for AB 194, the priority registration bill, and AB 12, a bill passed in 2010 that will extend foster care benefits to age 21. Part of the work, Mickelson said, is ensuring that foster youth know how to prepare for SATs, when to apply to college, where to go for assistance and more.
“The whole idea is for the case workers to keep some connectedness, so the kids can make the leap from 18 to adulthood,” Mickelson said.
A recent Cal State San Marcos graduate who was involved in the ACE program took a different path. Core Slali, 28, was a foster youth, but she grew up with close family friends who supported and encouraged her to go to college. She now runs a before-and-after-school enrichment program for grade-schoolers that uses art and music.
Slali waited awhile before looking into the ACE program. “I never wanted sympathy or handouts, but I figured I’d go check it out,” she said.
The ACE program gave Slali a grace period on tuition payments when her grants arrived late, as often happens. The program also defers textbook costs for its students. For a biology student like McDonald, those books can add up to $600 a term.
“Any form of support, it plays a bigger role than people think,” McDonald said. “It makes a huge, life-altering difference. If I didn’t have all this support, I probably wouldn’t be here right now.”
Carl Ciaramella
7 April 2011
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2011/apr/07/helping-foster-youth-get-college/
