On October 22, 2013, an extraordinary group of invited individuals representing child welfare, higher education, and state, local and national organizations gathered in Los Angeles to collectively address the unique educational challenges of foster youth in postsecondary programs.

This National Convening addressed five overarching goals:

• Increase knowledge of effective policies and practices
• Deliver tangible strategies for using data to improve student and program performance
• Provide successful strategies for developing collaborative networks
• Offer useful tools for campus-based programs
• Pursue preliminary conversation regarding the creation of a national network of stakeholders

and came up with five conditions necessary to create transformational, systemic change:

• A common agenda
• Shared measurement
• Mutually reinforcing activities
• Continuous communication
• Backbone support

Foster Care to Success authored two documents based on the Convening.  The first document highlights the activities of the meeting itself, and the second discusses issues, challenges and solutions and provides concrete recommendations to improve the educational outcomes of foster youth in postsecondary programs.

To learn more, follow the links below.

Links

• Challenges and Solutions from the 2013 National Convening
• Conference Proceedings: 2013 National Convening on Foster Youth and Higher Education
• Outline to Improve the Postsecondary Outcomes of Students from Foster Care