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Improving their Odds: Program aims to help former foster kids go on to college
Journal Photo by Jennifer Rotenizer
Jahquon Johnson of Fayetteville works on an exercise in a time-management class and uses Jane O’Leary’s back to write something down.
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Published: June 24, 2009
Updated: 06/24/2009 12:30 am
For many teenagers who are in foster care or have just aged out of the system, college is a daunting prospect.
Many, such as Jasmine Green, have moved around so often that they don't have a trusted family member or friend to help them with applications, course loads and financial questions.
"Because of our situation, a lot of things are temporary to us," said Green, 19. She spent her childhood in foster families and group homes and lived several years with an adoptive family. She recently aged out of the system and lives alone in Charlotte.
"We don't form bonds because we don't know how long people will be in our lives," Green said.
She is one of 22 young people in foster care who are participating in the Duke Program Summer Experience, which is geared toward high-school students and recent graduates from North Carolina and South Carolina who want to go to college.
The Summer Experience is a four-day camp at The Children's Home that offers the students all sorts of skills. There are workshops on time management, motivation and financial literacy, as well as visits to Forsyth Technical Community College and Winston-Salem State University.
Post-secondary education is a tough road for many kids in foster care, according to Jane O'Leary, who is the program director for the Orphan Foundation of America, the agency that is putting on the Summer Experience.
About 50 percent of all foster youth graduate from high school, she said. Of that 50 percent, 13 percent go on to some sort of post-secondary education. Just 2 percent graduate with a college degree.
Part of the problem is that foster kids don't have role models, O'Leary said.
"Often, they move from high school to high school, and there is no one there to help them continuously reach their dreams," she said. "Sometimes, life as a foster child is day to day."
Academics are another problem. The average foster child will attend five high schools.
"You can imagine the academic holes," O'Leary said. "It's daunting for sure, but these are wonderful kids."
One of the goals of the Orphan Foundation of America is to reach kids early in high school and start directing them toward college.
With that in mind, O'Leary approached The Duke Endowment of Charlotte about helping to pay for some programs to target the foster youth population in North Carolina and South Carolina.
Besides the Summer Experience, the program also includes a virtual mentoring program that pairs foster kids with mentors who provide encouragement and offer support; and assistance finding money to pay for college.
About 150 foster kids participate in the program. All are invited to attend the Summer Experience.
As it enters its fourth year, the program is showing signs of success, O'Leary said. About 95 percent of the kids who participated in the program are continuing their education beyond high school. The high-school-dropout rate for kids in the program is about 1.5 percent.
"This shows them that with extra encouragement, you can do it," she said.
Jahquon Johnson, 18, said that the program has taught him that he needs to rely on others to help.
Johnson lives in Fayetteville and recently graduated from high school. He plans to apply to an arts institute in Charlotte at the end of this month and hopes to one day to be a graphics designer.
"You can't do it all by yourself," he said. "You need support from family and friends."
■ Lisa O'Donnell can be reached at 727-7420 or at lodonnell@wsjournal.com.
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