You have to go to college if you want a good life.

Just about every student hears the words, “You have to go to college if you want a good life,” as early as their first day of kindergarten. But for some children, going to college can seem to be an unattainable dream.
Enter the Foster Youth Services program, which provides support to foster children to ensure they are receiving a proper education.
“Our mission is to help foster youths be successful in completing school and going on to college,” said Frank Beitz, Director of the local Foster Youth Services program. “We service children ages four to 19 as long as that child has a foster parent or is in a group home, such as Chamberlain’s Children Center.”
Foster Youth Services has been around since the 1970s, but was focused primarily on large districts in the Los Angeles and Sacramento areas. The program expanded to all counties throughout California about six years ago, although this is the first year San Benito County has elected to secure funding for it.
“This is our start up year,” Beitz said. “I’m helping all players involved to get to know the program, realize it is here and I am a resource for them to use. I’m teaching them the rules and helping them design how they want their program to run. The goal is to orient the districts and public and get everyone on track.”

The program is state funded, and districts have a program liaison to work with the local director. The legislation is aimed at helping these children, who often slip through the cracks, finish school, and continue on towards a secondary education, Beitz said.
“National and state statistics show that only about 30 percent of foster youths graduate from high school,” he said. “That’s part of the hole we are trying to fill. The other part is that only about three percent continue on to college.”
Within each county, individual districts have a Foster Youth Services liaison. These liaisons work with Beitz to make sure students involved in the program stay on track.“We make sure they are going to school and progressing the way they should,” Beitz said. “Each liaison carries on the mission of the program at the school level. They talk to the students and I work with them on any issues that may come up.”
Additionally, about four years ago the state passed AB490, a provision that allows a foster child who has moved during a school year to stay with the original school they were enrolled in.
“One problem we face is that foster youths are often moved around quite a bit,” Beitz said. “AB490 sets up a provision that gives these youths the right to remain in the original school they were first enrolled in. Everyone has a teamwork obligation to explore that option and see if it is in the best interest of the child.”
Staying with the original district; however, doesn’t always work, Beitz said.
“There are other things we have to look at when trying to make this happen, such as transportation,” he said. “Just a while back we had a student move to San Juan Bautista from Pacific Grove. This student had the right to stay in the Pacific Grove school district, but we had to consider who would provide transportation to and from school, and how much time the student would spend on the road.”
There are approximately 60 students locally now receiving support through Foster Youth Services, mostly seniors in a high school program. Ideally, Beitz said, students would begin receiving help as freshmen, but because this is the first year Foster Youth Services is in operation in San Benito County, they opted to target seniors instead.
“There are so many requirements seniors must meet,” he said. “They have to pass the CAHSEE, the test for graduation, they have to have enough credits before they can graduate. So far we have referred three students, and we will do whatever we can to help them graduate. We can get them the resources they need, or if they haven’t yet passed the CAHSEE, we can get them tutoring. We can work with a school on a credit program and help them earn the credits they need. The State of California is very interested in seeing how many students will graduate and we can help with that.”
Beitz said it is important to try and determine the reasons why foster youths are not as successful in school, and try and correct any problems.
“We try not to be negative,” he said. “We have to look at the reasons. Often, they are one or two grades behind where they should be. Maybe they have moved several times. But if they don’t go to high school or put some time in at a college, they probably won’t make enough money to support themselves.”

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