Higher Education
Post Secondary Education
The benefits of education are important for all children and postsecondary education has become an increasingly necessary stepping stone to well-paying, stable employment. Nationally, less than 5% (of the 50% that graduate high school) of youth who were raised in foster care graduate from a four-year college. This is due to multiple factors including financial barriers faced in attending a postsecondary school. More recently, Pennsylvania began The Fostering Independence Tuition Waiver Program.
Juvenile Law Center
Founded in 1975, Juvenile Law Center was the first nonprofit, public interest law firm for children in the country. As an advocacy organization they now use multiple approaches to accomplish our mission: legal advocacy, policy advocacy, youth-led advocacy, and strategic communications.
Happy 50th Anniversary
Higher Education Guide
In our evolving economy, the significance of a college degree and training for success as an adult has grown even more evident.
All young people have the right to succeed and maintain stability as they grow up and embark on their long-term professional journeys thanks to higher education and training. Youth in foster care should have the same realistic and attainable opportunities for higher education and training as their peers who were not raised in the child welfare system.
Foster youth possess the aptitude, motivation, and aspiration to seek and excel in post-secondary education and training. They often lack the resources, money, support, and direction that other young people receive from their families to help them achieve their educational goals.
Versus
What is the goal of the Juvenille Law Center's Higher Education Guide?
This guide aims to provide information for advocates and supporters of youth in the child welfare system about how to leverage key resources available to youth with foster care experience in Pennsylvania, such as tuition waivers through the Fostering Independence Through Education Program, which went into effect in Fall 2020.
Scholarships For Foster Students
If you have been in foster care and want to attend college, there is good news; you don’t have to go it alone. There are various scholarship programs expressly established for foster youth. These possibilities can help you pay for tuition, books, housing, and other school-related expenses, allowing you to focus on learning, growing, and achieving the future you deserve. Higher education is within reach, and there is genuine support to help you get there.
Pennsylvania State Resource Family Association
The PSRFA advocates for all those who care about children and their families. They work supportively with foster, adoptive, and kinship families, and with local foster parent associations and agencies who care for the children they serve.
Their vision is to involve all parts of the community to improve the quality of family life in Pennsylvania and to influence child welfare policy and practice, both nationally and internationally.
The PSRFA Scholarship
PSRFA continues its dedication and commitment to foster care through a scholarship fund for continued education. The scholarship program is open to high school seniors who are presently in care though a private or public foster care agency in Pennsylvania or whose parents are “active” members of PSRFA. Seniors in high school are awarded scholarships toward attending a college or trade school or other vocational training of their choice in PA.
National Foster Parent Association
The National Foster Parent Association (NFPA) is a non-profit organization established in 1972 to address the concerns of several independent groups of foster parents and child welfare professionals to provide foster families with opportunities for advocacy, networking, and education.
Organized by Helen D. Stone, MSW, Foster Care Program Director at the Child Welfare League of America (CWLA), and Beatrice L. Garrett, MSW, Specialist on Foster Family Services at the U.S. Children’s Bureau, the NFPA was created as a non-profit association with a volunteer Board of Directors and paid staff.
Dondiego Family Youth Scholarship
Honoring the Dondiego Family
To pay homage to the tremendous contributions of Sue Dondiego and her daughter Mary Beth to the National Foster Parent Association and to children in the state of New Jersey, as of 2024 we have renamed this scholarship program in their honor.
The National Foster Parent Association will provide annual competitive scholarships of $500 each based on availability of funds.
Scholarships will be awarded for each of the following categories:
- Foster Care – Youth (Youth in foster care at time of application or foster care alumni.)
- Kinship Care – Youth (Youth in kinship care at time of application or kinship care alumni.)
- Adoptive – Foster Youth (Youth adopted from the foster care system.)
- Resource Family – Biological Youth (Birth child of a resource family.)
- Continuing Education (Former foster youth wishing to continue their education through Technical School enrollment or College enrollment beyond their first year.)
The applicant’s parent, or another supportive adult, must be a member of the NFPA. Scholarships are awarded to high school-level students who are graduating or getting their GED.
Application Requirements
- Application and all attachments must be submitted before the year’s posted deadline.
- Applicant must have a parent, or other supportive adult, that is a member of the NFPA. They can join at here.
- Must be in your senior year of high school (regardless of age).
- Must provide a copy of high school transcript.
- Must be at least 17 and no more than 21 years of age.
- A minimum of two letters of recommendation from foster parents, social workers, residential center, principal/teacher/guidance counselor, or employer.
- Essay in 300-500 words on the topic, “How my foster care experience has impacted my future educational goals.”
- Incomplete applications will be disqualified.
When the scholarship has been awarded, the applicant:
- Must provide a copy of college acceptance.
- Must provide proof of enrollment.
Hope you find these resources helpful! Please reach out if you have any questions or need support pertaining to foster-care/kinship/adoption.