Guardian Scholars

On Thursday, Dana Mack, 26, stood in her in-law’s house, watching her 10-year-old foster daughter Lucy* eat her Thanksgiving meal surrounded by family. She felt grateful but it was also painful — it had been her turn to host Thanksgiving dinner.

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 10 former foster youths who have completed congressional internships.

When she was 5, J.R. was already dreaming of going to college. Her father was in jail, her mother was addicted to drugs, and she and her two older brothers were living in separate foster homes.

Recognition that youth who have experienced foster care are far less likely than their peers to graduate from college has spurred growing efforts in educational institutions and child welfare organizations to find ways to improve their odds.

Jenny Dang Vinopal, a child welfare advocate with 20 years of experience working with foster youth, was named today as the new executive director of the National Foster Youth Institute (NFYI).

Kimberly Contreras, an emancipated foster youth attending the University of California Riverside (UCR) and studying to become a surgeon, feared that her studies — and her dream — would be interrupted because of her inability to afford the MCAT (medical college admission test).

From ages 13 to 18, I hated everything about the child welfare system: my social workers, my foster placements, court dates–you name it, I hated it. I was so frustrated with the idea that the choices my parents made forced me to be “different.”

On Tuesday, California College Pathways — a consortium of charitable foundations, policy advocacy groups and college-based service centers for foster youth — will host its annual Blueprint conference in Los Angeles.

I was 17 years old when I graduated high school and went away to college. There were several reasons I wanted to move to a new county. I had a desirable scholarship package at the University of California, Irvine (UCI), which has a great acting program.