The Road to the Finish Line:Support for Youth in Post Secondary Settings

Great ExpectationsAn Initiative of Virginia’s Community Colleges & the Virginia Foundation for Community College Education

About Great Expectations

• Serves foster youth 13 – 24, in both high school and college. • Focuses on the value of a college education as the best way to

gain employment and achieve independence.

• Provides education and employment opportunities that will improve the likelihood of success for foster youth.

• Offers individual support for at-risk foster teens as they finish high school, leave their foster homes and transition to postsecondary education and living on their own.

About Great Expectations

Launched in 2008 at 5 Virginia Community Colleges.

Now offered at 15 of the 23 community colleges; 2 additional colleges joining in 2012.

• Danville• Germanna• J. Sargeant Reynolds• John Tyler• Lord Fairfax• Mountain Empire• New River• Northern Virginia

• Patrick Henry • Piedmont Virginia • Southside Virginia• Southwest Virginia• Tidewater• Virginia Highlands• Wytheville

Great Expectations Services

• Help with the college admissions/financial aid

• Resource Center www.GreatExpectations.vccs.edu

• Personal counseling and individual tutoring

• Career exploration and coaching; job preparation

• Mentoring (by college staff, college peers and community volunteers)

• Special programs, e.g. life skills, healthy relationships

• Emergency and incentive Funds

• Online Best Practices Forum

Starting a New Program

Essentials

• Support of the college’s admin. • Special training for Campus

Coaches• Coordination with other depts.

(e.g. financial aid, student success, counseling, tutoring)

• Special programs• Emergency funds

Challenges

• Part-time Campus Coaches • Recruiting students in rural

areas• Building awareness of the

program in the community• Setting boundaries• Lack of housing• Transportation

It Takes a Team!

The Great Expectations Campus Coaches are the key!

Coaches are…..the go-to person who musters the other services available on the campus and in the community for the students

The team includes….the high school career coaches, DSS workers

foster and adoptive parents, volunteer mentors

interns and work/study students, community supporters

College is within reach

Virginia’s Community Colleges have Tuition Grants available for foster youth, former foster youth and special needs adoptees who have a high school diploma or GED.

The Tuition Grant covers tuition and fees.

Requirements- Enrolls and maintains at least half-time credit in an academic program of at least 1 year-Is a bona-fide resident of Virginia-Meets the satisfactory standards of the college for federal aid programs- Has not been previously enrolled full-time in a postsecondary program for more than 5 years and does not have a bachelor’s degree

- Demonstrates a financial need

Workforce Development Services

o- Career Coaches-Middle College-Virginia Career Readiness Certificate-Apprenticeship Related Instruction – working with sponsoring employers-Occupational Instruction (for certifications and licenses)

- Institutes of Excellence (for high demand occupations) -Postsecondary Perkins (to continuously improve career/technical education)-Business & Industry - courses to meet VA professional and occupational regulations for Engineers, Architects, Contractors, Land Surveyors, etc.-Customized Training for more than 170 participating companies -Virginia Education Wizard www.vawizard.org For more information on VCCS Workforce Development:

http://www.vccs.edu/WorkforceServices/WIARegionalLocator/tabid/922/Default.aspx

Project Statistics

o- Served over 700 foster youth in the past 3 years- 15 colleges currently participating- More than 500 enrolled in fall 2011 (67% college; 11% hs; 22% dual)- Hundreds of workforce development certification pgms. available- 68 foster youth have earned workforce certificates- 8% of those eligible have graduated with an associate’s degree or

workforce certification- 66% of those in the high school program graduated- 130 students are over 21

- 26 staff

- Emergency funds have been used for housing, transportation, utility bills, medical care, books and, in special cases, loss of financial aid.

Economic Analysis

o“Measuring the Costs of Foster Care and the Return on Investment of the Great Expectations Initiative,” produced by Chmura Economics&Analytics, provided these highlights:

•Costs of foster care include economic costs and social costs.

•The total annual costs for Virginia foster youth are estimated to have been $29.7 million in Virginia in 2010, or $41,460 per aging-out foster youth.

•Foster youth tend to have lower educational attainment, are more likely to utilize public assistance, and are more likely to be involved with the criminal justice system.

•Community college students who were foster youth achieved lower academic performance than the VCCS student body at large. They were also more likely to have part-time jobs while attending school than other students.

•The WIA (Workforce Investment Act) participants who were foster youth tended to have lower educational attainment and lower skill levels than other WIA youth.

Economic Analysis

o• On an individual level, each foster youth who drops out of high school costs the public

sector $209,100 over a lifetime due to lost wages and greater need for public support services. (National Governor’s Association Report 2010)

• The Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service at the University of Virginia, when discussing college completion rates in general, found, “A single year’s college degree production accounts for $349 million in Social Services cost savings to the Commonwealth.”

• Currently, there are more than 500 students enrolled in Great Expectations programs across the state. If the programs are successful in eliminating the achievement gaps in terms of economic and social outcomes, GE can save Virginia $10.1 million per year, far more than the 1.5 million annual cost of the program.

What Our Students Say

“I want to become a chef and open my own restaurant. Great Expectations is important because it shows there’s a support system. Someone else is out there who cares about helping you.”

- Heather, age 18

Contact Information

Carol Underhill

Project Director of Great Expectations

Virginia Community College System

101 N. 14th Street, 15th floor Richmond, VA 23219

(804) 819-5397

cunderhill@vccs.edu

http://greatexpectations.vccs.edu/