Educational Lifeline for Youth

Support for foster and systems-impacted youth

Pilot or new project, program, or initiative (testing or implementing a new idea)

So many children and families struggle in the Foster care systems because of the overwhelming number of children in comparison to the number of families available for placement. As the children are often moved from home to home, they often fall behind on basic care, especially educationally. According to the Children's Law Center of California, children in the foster care systems miss 10% or more days of school and only 53% of them graduate high school, compared to a state-wide rate of 83%.

The program aims to fill the gap for the youth in the foster care systems. We will provide customized supplemental tutoring for those youth, so that they will have the educational support necessary to keep them on track. Our organization already partners with Brain Gym Education LA, a tutoring and after-school education center, and this grant will allow this program to grow and expand to help youth that systems-impacted. The program will not only provide educational tutoring, but also provide volunteer opportunities that will give the student a better chance at college and higher education. Another program that our partner Brain Gym Education is a verified brain training center that implements a program that utilizes neurofeedback and brain mapping. There has been growing research and statistics that show that Brain Gym training positively affect mood and focus, and would be a great program for many youths in the foster care systems. The grant would help pay for training and upkeeping of this program for more staff, so that more youths could be assisted. It would also help pay for school supplies and activities so that the youth could be best prepared.

If our work is successful, we would see a rise in the success rate of youth coming out of the foster care system and acclimating to adult life. We would be see them reach their potential and not be held back by a system that was designed to help families and children in difficult situations. The Foster Care system would no longer hold a negative connotation in Los Angeles County. If this program is successful, we would expand our program to be able accommodate as many youth in the system as possible. The need is infinite, and if successful, we would want our program to be able to match that need in order to make a true difference in Los Angeles County.

This is a proposed project, one that will be measured by the educational success of the youth in foster care system. Their success will be measured in both increments and long term. In increments, their success will be measured by the rising of their grades; this will depend on each student by their starting grade so each student will not be measured against someone else's standards. In the long run, the success of this program will be measured by the student graduating from high school. As stated above, the rate of high school graduation of the youth in foster care is 30% lower than that of non-systems impacted children. If the program succeeds, that rate will be impacted and the gap will be closed, one percentage at a time.