Foster care and higher education, by the numbers:
- 18 is the age Georgia's youths currently exit foster care unless they opt to stay in the system until age 21. A policy change would extend the age to 21.
- 490 youths ages 18-21 are currently in state foster care
- 251 of Georgia's former foster care youths are enrolled at a four- or two-year college or university, technical college, or in a job training program
- 3 percent to 6 percent of Georgia foster care students earn a bachelor's degree
Source: University of Georgia
Georgia is expanding its foster care coverage until age 21, a move that could better provide support for hundreds of vulnerable youths considering or entering college.
Foster children now age out of the system at age 18, although slightly fewer than one in five choose to voluntarily stay for extended care. The policy change, to take effect in the next few months, increases the age in an effort to provide more support and guidance in the years after high school.
“This is a culture change for us,” said Sharon Hill, the director of the state’s Division of Family and Children Services. “We are trying to offer as much to (foster) youth as any family would offer. We’re not just concerned through childhood.”
The expansion — which Hill announced at a recent conference involving foster children — would better bridge the gap for youths between lives totally governed by the state agency and independent living.
Foster youths who choose not to extend care at 18 lose access to the money the state pays their caretakers, and many end up living on their own. Before aging out, they establish a living plan with a DFCS case manager. But the abrupt transition still has led to high numbers of homelessness and even incarceration for some of these youths.
DFCS couldn't provide any details on costs for the expansion, telling The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that the agency is "still in the exploration and planning phase" and has not adopted new policy concerning this initiative yet. Hill has said the agency would tap into available federal funds to cover the additional expenses. The idea to expand services is similar to a plan lawmakers in Florida approved to take effect this year. Critics there say the state can't afford to implement the changes.
Unlike many college students who have families who provide stability in their lives and help them navigate the difficult parts of college, foster students many times have to handle these issues themselves.
For them, staying in care can mean help with housing — particularly during school breaks — and assistance in negotiating the opportunities of higher education, said Victoria Salzman, a program coordinator for the Georgia Youth Opportunities Initiative, an agency that works with youths transitioning out of foster care.
In her freshman year of college, Schylundye Thomas experienced her first bout of depression. The Georgia State University student had a supportive foster mother but said she wishes DFCS would help older students learn more about the intricacies of college, including providing better assistance in obtaining financial aid and teaching them how to find help on college campuses once they get there.
“I felt that everyone there was better than me,” said Thomas, 22, who moved four times while in foster care. “… I decided long ago I didn’t want my kids to grow up like this.”
A college education is seen as a way to help children overcome the challenges that come with growing up in foster care.
Nationally, college graduates ages 25 to 32 who are working full time earn, on average, about $17,500 more a year than working young adults with only a high school diploma, according to a recent Pew Research Center study.
In-state tuition alone at Georgia’s public institutions can cost up to $4,000 per semester; and private college tuition can be even higher. Like other college students, former foster youths are eligible for federal and state funding, including the Pell Grant for low-income students and state HOPE funds. DFCS helps pay for the rest with federal matching funds capped annually at $12,500.
“This fund is to pay for the unmet needs,” DFCS spokeswoman Susan Boatwright said. “We look to HOPE and anything else the child is eligible for.”
But money for college is just one of the challenges that face youths who grow up in the foster care system. The policy change could also help combat other obstacles, such as a lack of constancy in their lives and the absence of stability that a family can provide.
On average, youths in Georgia’s foster care system move seven to 10 times while in state care, setting them back academically an average of four to six months. And only 3 percent to 6 percent of foster care students in Georgia — which falls within the national average — earn a bachelor’s degree, according to the University of Georgia’s J.W. Fanning Institute.
There are currently 490 youths ages 18 to 21 in the state’s foster care system. About 250 former foster care youths, including some who may fall outside that age group, are enrolled in Georgia’s four- and two-year colleges and universities, technical colleges, and job training programs, DFCS officials said.
State foster care students say the system now can dissuade them from pursuing their dream colleges in exchange for less-expensive options. Plus, the system isn’t flexible if students’ college plans change.
Extending foster services could benefit youths such as Mia Calvo. Two failed adoptions left Calvo, who was placed in foster care as a baby, alone and on her own for the first time after high school, living in DFCS-subsidized housing.
“We need more support for us to pursue our dreams,” said Calvo, 21.
When working full time and attending college was too much, Calvo dropped out. She ultimately joined a young adult employment program and is now working in Cobb County. She hopes to return to college soon.
“Everybody needs support,” she said, “and I just didn’t have any.”
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