FAFSA

Writer Tatiana Lemire offers practical advice on resources as well as encouragement for foster youth interested in pursuing college.

While the country plunges ever deeper into uncertainty amid the worsening coronavirus pandemic, ongoing protests, and a looming high-stakes presidential election, California foster youth still see a future in academia – and they are applying in record numbers for federal help to attend college.

The Imprint is highlighting each of the policy recommendations made this summer by the participants of the Foster Youth Internship Program (FYI), a group of 12 former foster youths who have completed congressional internships.

The winners of the second California Foster Youth FAFSA Challenge were announced this week at the Foster Youth Education Summit in Sacramento, recognizing five county offices of education for helping foster youth qualify for financial aid for college.

California College Pathways, a group of advocates and philanthropists working on improving college access for foster youth, has been awarded the 2018 Secretary’s Award for Public-Philanthropic Partnerships from the U.S. Department on Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

The Government Accountability Office’s report, “Higher Education: Actions Needed to Improve Access to Federal Financial Assistance for Homeless and Foster Youth,” examines enrollment data from 2011-2012 and 2013-2014, and completion data from 2009, to determine ways in which access to federal financial aid impacts homeless and foster youth’s experience in college.

Maurissa Sorensen, former foster youth and currently studying for her second Master’s Degree at USC, has transformed how foster youth are notified about potential federal aid to attend college. Chronicle reporter Teddy Lederer interviewed Sorensen about how she helped change the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) as an intern working in former Sen.

Here is a rundown of all the funding opportunities, news, analysis and opinion pieces produced this week by The Imprint BUSINESS Early insider details on Obama’s $750 million proposal to improve mental health services for foster youth and address the “over-prescribing” of psychotropic medications to that population.