NextUp is the newest resource to provide assistance for former foster youth at Long Beach City College.
In Los Angeles County, Kids-Alliance.org reported that out of 30,000 kids in foster care, only 3% of those children go on to receive their college diploma.
“There’s many obstacles that are presented to them. Just their upbringing, the fact that they are removed from their biological homes, that’s still a trauma. That’s your family. So, that separation within our community creates a very big obstacle for foster youth,” Claudia Garcia said, Program Manager of Foster & Kinship Care Education at LBCC.
Cooperating Agencies Foster Youth Educational Support, or CAFYES better known as NextUp, provides assistance to students under the age of 26, who were in foster care for at least a day on or after their 16th birthday, and are enrolled in at least nine units at a college with the NextUp program.
Services include academic and personal counseling, priority registration, tutoring, supplemental textbooks and food assistance.
NextUp is a branch of the Extended Opportunity Programs and Services that focuses on providing services for students who are economically and educationally disadvantaged.
EOPS, a state-funded program, celebrated its 50th anniversary on Sept. 4.
Former LBCC student Carolina Alarcon, who was in the foster care system said, “The decision to go to school was all on myself. The obstacle was having to become self-motivated with so little people around you. I was all on my own starting a new chapter of my life.”
Alarcon, like many other former foster youths, struggled with homelessness. She lived in her car for around a year while working at both McDonalds and Denny’s.
“It took me to be at my very low end to see that education was the only way out,” Alarcon said.
Alarcon is a part of NextUp as well as Guardian Scholars, another subset of EOPS, and is studying psychology and sociology.
Alarcon is considering going into social work.
Former foster youth face many obstacles such as homelessness, food insecurity, drug addiction, early pregnancies and lack of resources.
“One of the biggest things that we see as a deterrent for them is the fact that they don’t embrace the services that do exist for them,” Garcia said.
“As far as them focusing on education, they instantaneously become a population that runs a high risk of becoming involved in activities that are not going to promote a healthy adult transition. And one of them is that they don’t seek higher education, unfortunately.”
Even with programs like NextUp in existence, lack of awareness leaves much of the research to be conducted by students.
“Misinformation is a common problem that makes it challenging for former foster youth to pursue higher education,” said Alarcon.
“I reached out, just because of the social workers I had. I didn’t even know about financial aid, or that school could be free for me. I didn’t even know where to begin. With so many other problems to worry about, it was so easy to want to give up because of being misguided.”
According to Alarcon, despite having these services available, a lot of foster youth don’t know how to take advantage of them.
Regarding the need for NextUp at LBCC, Garcia estimated there are 200 – 500 current LBCC students who were in the foster care system.
“It’s not just folks who started in foster care when they were young. Some become wardens of the court because of judicial issues. Sometimes parents have been deceased. Sometimes parents have been deported. So it’s all these things that are part of that, and you want the children to not be impacted. So we try to provide a pseudo-family for that,” Dean of EOPS Ramon Knox said.
“Sometimes you have a hard day, and you need somebody to let you know it’s going to be alright.”
Having a network of support to provide assistance during the stress of college is the central goal of NextUp.
“Sometimes we have our structures in place, whether that’s friends or family, that help us along the way. Sometimes folks are part of the system and don’t have that kind of consistency, and that kind of mentorship. It’s really important for folks to see that they can change the outcome of their lives, and they are not defined by their circumstances,” Knox said.
“For students that participate in NextUp, they get to not only prove themselves wrong, and also other folks wrong, in that they can be successful. And success is meant for them.”
According to Alarcon, the communication issues at LBCC initially made it difficult to fully utilize the services available. Since NextUp, her experience has greatly improved.
“The communication is wonderful. Now I know who the support system is, now I know who to contact. It’s come a long way,” Alarcon said.
Even with these services available, many students who were in foster care still encounter many challenges as they continue on with their education.
Alarcon explained the difficulties of working full time and supporting herself while studying.
“Programs aren’t with me every night, checking in on me, asking how’s my mental health. My goal is to be healthy mentally, and mentally stable while doing the process,” Alacron explained.
While services such as NextUp can’t completely alleviate the hardships that former foster youth deal with, the hope is to lessen them and make earning a degree more obtainable.
“I see you. Your existence is important,” Knox said.