For young people in foster care, the path to higher education can be challenging. They may have faced instability and adversity, which could impact their academic journey. They may lack the funds, resources, and support systems to navigate scholarship applications and the entire admissions process. With the right support and guidance, young people can overcome obstacles and unlock their full potential. In this blog, we’ll explore the importance of preparing youth in foster care for college and offer some valuable tips to help them move closer to achieving their dreams.
When Timothy Murphy, MD, decided to become a foster parent, he knew that he wanted to provide a home for adolescent boys. It wasn’t just because teenagers, especially teenage boys, are disproportionately represented in the U.S. foster care system, and he wanted to fill a need. Tim chose to foster adolescent boys because he had experience working with this population as a doctor and knew this was where he could make the greatest impact.
For nearly 50 years, the Ozanam Campus Day Treatment School has been doing things differently to address its students’ unique behavioral and academic challenges. Located on the southern edge of Kansas City, Missouri, the school provides individualized curriculum, small class sizes, and therapeutic support for students in grades 6-12 who have yet to find success in their regular classroom setting due to unique academic or behavioral challenges.
Expressive therapy combines principles of psychology and the benefits of the creative process to promote emotional growth and healing. The expressive therapists at the Ozanam Campus Day Treatment School provide at least one session each week to the 42 youth on campus as a supplement to their other school curriculum and activities. It is creative, but it’s more than just play. As with any other therapy, it is a way to provide trauma-informed care.
Courtney Morgan-Roberts was boarding a plane to California in early January for a work trip when she received a congratulatory email announcing that she and her partner, Brittany were officially licensed as foster parents. A few hours later, the plane landed on the west coast, and Courtney checked her phone again. To her surprise, there was a voicemail in her inbox that said, “We have a five-month-old girl. Can you take her?”