There are 3,000 foster youth within 40 miles of the University of Utah. The Utah Division of Child and Family Services fully supports this collaboration and notes that the state of Utah lacks intensive mentoring programs focused on supporting foster youth to be successful in high school and to be better prepared for higher education.

More young adults who age out of foster care experience homelessness, incarceration, welfare or teenage parenthood than earn a high school diploma. Less than ten percent of youth in foster care enroll in higher education, and less than one percent graduate.

In Utah, First Star Academy and Impact Scholars are changing this story. Our mission is to ensure more youth in foster care graduate high school, enroll in college, and graduate college. First Star Academy supports high school students in foster care. Impact Scholars supports college students in foster care.