Supporting Foster Youth with Scholarships for Educational Advancement

Support for foster and systems-impacted youth

Expand existing project, program, or initiative (expanding and continuing ongoing, successful work)

Over 70% of youth in foster care aspire to attend college (Kirk & Day, 2011), however nationally, only about 3% will earn a bachelor’s degree (Pecora, 2012). Researchers have documented a number of challenges foster youth experience, such
as: difficulties satisfying their basic needs like food, shelter, and money; frequent and abrupt changes in school placement; low educational expectations; lack of access to adequate healthcare; and unstable social supports and financial resources (Davis, 2006; Johnson, 2021; Pecora, 2012; Wolanin, 2005). By awarding youth with scholarships, we aim to narrow the opportunity gap and improve the economic outcomes of foster youth. This grant will support a scholarship program for graduating high school seniors in foster care in Los Angeles County, providing financial assistance for educational and career development.

The Los Angeles County Office of Education Foster Youth Services Coordinating Program Scholarship Fund aims to address the low college enrollment and graduation rates among foster youth and the economic disparity they face. By providing financial assistance, this program will help foster youth pursue higher education and complete their higher education degrees in a two-year college, four-year public or private university or in a career technical education program. We plan on awarding $60,000 in scholarships distributed among thirty (30) high school seniors in foster care in Los Angeles county who will receive $2,000 each to help them pay for tuition, books, rent, and transportation costs and empower them to pursue a higher education and complete their degrees. This will enable them to achieve greater economic stability in their futures.

Our vision for success includes not only greater rates of completing college among a select few foster youth, but on a wider scale reaching out and supporting more youth as the program grows. We intend to transform Los Angeles County by creating more educational opportunities, and therefore job opportunities, for the foster youth in the county of Los Angeles, a demographic that experiences significantly less support than their peers. Success means a generation of empowered foster youth contributing meaningfully to their communities. In the longer term, we plan to scale the program by increasing the number of scholarships we give out, increasing the amount of foster youth who benefit from these opportunities, which will then create a ripple effect of positive change in their lives and the community of Los Angeles County as a whole.

The Los Angeles County Office of Education Foster Youth Services Scholarship Fund is a project in its early-stages. We had the inaugural Scholarship Event in May 2023. During this event, we awarded four (4) scholarships of $275 to four (4) high school seniors in foster care attending schools in Los Angeles County. To measure the success of this program, we plan to track several metrics:
College enrollment: We will monitor the enrollment status of the scholarship recipients through enrollment information shared by National Student Clearinghouse.
College graduation: We will monitor degree completion through the National Student Clearinghouse.

The Los Angeles County Office of Education Foster Youth Services Coordinating Program team facilitates cross-systems collaboration and builds capacity to maximize the educational success of students in foster care. They will implement the scholarship program and liaison with partners to ensure that foster youth have access to the scholarship.
The Greater Los Angeles Education Foundation is the philanthropic partner of the Los Angeles County Office of Education. They will serve as a granting agency and ensure fiscal oversight.