Positive Pathways was created by the Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF) to improve postsecondary outcomes and career transitions for former foster youth attending Florida’s public post-secondary educational system. Many of these students are eligible for the state’s generous tuition and fee exemption, which allows colleges, universities, and technical colleges to waive costs of students’ education.

Because adequate support and guidance is as important as funding to educational success, the Florida Legislature, in 2013, mandated that DCF collaborate with the Board of Governors (BOG), the Florida College System (FCS), and the Florida Department of Education (DOE) to help eligible youth transition to and through post-secondary educational settings (Chapter 409, Florida Statutes).

The program is managed by Educate Tomorrow Corporation (ET), a 501(c)(3) organization. Positive Pathways partners with Florida Reach, the state-wide volunteer initiative that was co-founded by DCF, in 2013.

ET was created in 2004 to serve current and former foster youth, homeless youth, and similarly disadvantaged young people by striving to make higher education an attainable goal for all.
ET’s programs primarily serve these youth and young adults by providing multi-year, goal-oriented academic and career coaching, intensive skill-building workshops and enrichment activities.

As the contracted provider for Positive Pathways, Educate Tomorrow is responsible for ensuring that the Program operates efficiently and effectively so that foster care liaisons will always have the support that they need to serve the students from foster care on their campus.