Lessons From Fostering Education Leaders

Since November, Foster Advocates has been working with a group of Fosters with post-secondary experience through a human-centered design process to explore educational attainment issues and opportunities for Fosters.

Despite many barriers in K-12 education, over 80% of Fosters want to attend college. However, Fosters are less than half as likely as their peers to start a degree or certificate program, and in the Midwest, only 3% complete a degree by age 24. The data tells us there are big gaps between interest and ability to get to and through college—but that’s only part of the story. Our Fostering Education leaders helped illuminate a more complete picture, as they developed and addressed the question:

“Why do Minnesota Fosters have lower rates of getting to and through college
& career pathways, and how do we break those barriers and promote success?”

The insights these Fostering Education leaders provided will direct Foster Advocates on educational priorities related to programs, research, and reform this year (stay tuned for updates on related legislation!). However, they didn’t stop at sharing lessons from their own lived experience. The group took four actions to test out their ideas:

  1. To address the lack of guidance, limited knowledge of options, and isolation related to college pathways that Fosters face, they are hosting a “Fosters 4 Fosters: Talking about College” webinar on March 4th.

  2. To explore the “why” more and ensure broad representation on issue understanding, they are launching a Minnesota Foster College Experiences survey (see details below!)

  3. To address concerns about consistent case-worker knowledge of college barriers, funding, and resources for Fosters, they are sending a letter to the MN Child Welfare Training Academy.

  4. To address a lack of guidance and barriers during the application stage and while in school, they are creating a Foster College Resource Guide—stay tuned for a release later this spring!

Please help us share the webinar and survey opportunities to Fosters in your network, through this email or from our social media platforms!

Foster Advocates is so grateful to our amazing group of Fostering Education leaders and their thoughtful and passionate work over the past four months!

In Solidarity, 

Elena Leomi
Associate Director
Foster Advocates

*Fostering Education leaders use college to refer to trade/technical certification, associate degrees, and bachelor degree tracks.*

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