The Foster Youth Pre-College Collective Releases “Destination Graduation” Report; Underscores Foster Youth Challenges and Promising Practices That Successfully Impact Academic Progression LOS ANGELES, Calif. (June 4, 2024) - Deeper investment in highly relational one-on-one services will close the persistent gap between the high school completion rates of youth in the foster care system and other [...]
First Star's Co-Founder and President, Peter Samuelson, has been selected to receive this year's Outstanding Media Coverage Award at APSAC's Virtual Colloquium. Peter is being honored for both his work with First Star and his latest film Foster Boy, which has activated a national movement of reform against corruption in the for-profit foster care system. The Award will be [...]
BRIDGETON, N.J. July 20, 2016 – Lamenting that less than ten percent of youths in foster care go on to achieve a bachelor's degree, the South Jersey First Star Collaborative announced that 30 full college scholarships for such students will be provided by the Give Something Back Foundation. Nationally, only about 50 percent of foster [...]
Daniel Pollack and Noy Davis* just published an article on Youth Today about the legitimate need for foster care agencies to do background checks before granting licenses to prospective foster parents. "Across the country, some municipalities have begun to “Ban the Box,” to no longer at the outset ask questions about an applicant’s criminal history. [...]
"This holiday season there are many things to be thankful for. I want to take this opportunity to say thank you to everyone involved with First Star for all being who you are and for being a part of the First Star Greater Washington Academy. Without your commitment, support and engagement we would not be able to fulfill [...]
John Kelly reported on October 14, 2015 in The Chronicle of Social Change on Focus on Figures. Focus on the Figures is a regular partnership between The Chronicle of Social Change andKidsData.org, a nonprofit dedicated to providing data on the health and well-being of California’s children. In 2014, there were 496,972 reports (allegations) of child abuse and [...]
David Crary of the Associated Press reports that for the first time in a decade, there was a notable increase last year in the number of U.S. children in foster care, according to new federal figures released Wednesday. The annual report from the Department of Health and Human Services tallied 415,129 children in the foster [...]
U.S. Reps Karen Bass (D-Calif.) and Jim McDermott (D-Wash.) will introduce a bill next week that would allow former foster youth access to Medicaid in any state until the age of 26. The Affordable Care Act, passed in 2009, guarantees Medicaid eligibility until 26 to youth who age out of foster care, the same amount of [...]
Our latest Academy meeting on College Application Tips was on held on Saturday, January 10th, at the CFSA building from 9:00-3:00. We started our day with fresh orange juice, bananas, and hot chocolate with marshmallows to warm up our cold bodies and wake up our sleepy brains in preparation of our very full day of [...]
Published in EdSource July 27, 2014 | By Susan Frey Instability — multiple homes and multiple schools — is one of the biggest obstacles to academic success for foster children. But about two dozen high school students in foster care in Southern California are benefiting from one constant in their lives: a program each summer [...]
