NSHE Fostering Success Initiative

Board of Regents launched the systemwide Nevada System of Higher Education (NSHE) Fostering Success Initiative (formerly known as the NSHE Foster Youth Success Initiative) when they unanimously approved the NSHE Foster Youth Fee Waiver—a course registration fee waiver permitting qualifying NSHE undergraduate students to register for classes without being charged course registration or certain laboratory fees—thereby increasing college access for specific students who have experienced foster care.

In February 2019, the Walter S. Johnson Foundation awarded NSHE System Administration an initial one-year $200,000 grant, to hire a system-level employee (the NSHE foster youth ambassador) to facilitate the successful implementation and coordination of the initiative—including its fundamental fee waiver component—across NSHE’s seven degree-granting institutions, and to support with other system-level initiative needs.

NSHE System Administration began their 1-Year $200,000 Walter S. Johnson Foundation grant cycle on March 1, 2019. The grant funds were allocated toward the NSHE foster youth ambassador’s salary and fringe benefits, as well as other system-level initiative needs.

In July 2019, NSHE hired Foster Youth Ambassador Laura Obrist to facilitate the successful implementation and coordination of the initiative—including its fundamental fee waiver component—across NSHE’s seven degree-granting institutions. This includes developing and implementing effective postsecondary education planning, preparation, access, transition, and persistence practices that are formulated to assist young people who have experienced trauma, educational instability, inadequate financial resources, and limited support systems.

Shortly after beginning the role in mid-2019, the NSHE foster youth ambassador launched the initiative website to get the word out about activities and resources. The ambassador also launched a Twitter account for the systemwide initiative.

In an effort to ensure that the system office was engaging, first-hand, with students who have experienced foster care, then-Chancellor Thom Reilly hosted two regional roundtable discussions during the Fall 2019 semester. From these discussions, 14 key recommendations addressing postsecondary education access/success barriers were identified for Nevada education and community providers. The student feedback from the roundtable discussions was then disseminated to the college/university presidents, in a memo, as well as used to inform the development of the initiative’s strategic plan.

The NSHE foster youth ambassador hosted the first annual NSHE Fostering Success Initiative Retreat in September 2019, during which 33 educators/providers and five students worked collaboratively to build a more cohesive statewide learning community focused on supporting students who have experienced foster care in accessing and thriving in college, including the development of the NSHE Fostering Success Initiative Strategic Plan.

In October 2019, a delegation of NSHE employees, community partners, and one high school senior in foster care who was admitted to/preparing to enroll at the University of Nevada, Reno (UNR) attended the California College Pathways Blueprint for Success Conference—a nationally-renowned, biannual event focused on supporting students who have experienced foster care with postsecondary education enrollment and success.

In November 2019, the Walter S. Johnson Foundation awarded Truckee Meadows Community College (TMCC) an initial 18-month $30,000 grant, to improve housing stability and peer mentorship support for its students who have experienced foster care.

In December 2019, the NSHE foster youth ambassador provided the Nevada Board of Regents with the first official update on the initiative’s progress, including the initial NSHE Foster Youth Fee Waiver utilization numbers (for Fall 2018, Spring 2019, and Fall 2019).

Truckee Meadows Community College (TMCC) began their 18-Month $30,000 Walter S. Johnson Foundation grant cycle on January 1, 2020. TMCC utilized their funds to improve housing stability and peer mentorship for its students who have experienced foster care.

The NSHE foster youth ambassador formally established the Nevada Fostering Higher Education Support Network in January 2020, which includes a core group of NSHE employees, students, and community partners that comprises the Nevada Fostering Higher Education Committee. The committee meets quarterly, alternating between a statewide and regional format.

The NSHE foster youth ambassador developed the Nevada Fostering Success Financial Aid Toolkit in early 2020, which went live on the initiative website in May 2020.

In February 2020, the Walter S. Johnson Foundation awarded NSHE a second grant—in the amount of $400,000 over two years—to sustain the NSHE foster youth ambassador position and provide for other system-level initiative needs.

In February 2020, the Walter S. Johnson Foundation awarded the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) a $200,000 grant to launch a campus-based support program. Due to pandemic-related hiring delays, UNLV was granted an extension on their grant term and was able to hire a coordinator the following summer (in June 2021).

NSHE System Administration began their 2-Year $400,000 Walter S. Johnson Foundation grant cycle on July 1, 2020. The grant funds were, once again, allocated toward the NSHE foster youth ambassador’s salary and fringe benefits, as well as other system-level initiative needs.

In July 2020, the NSHE foster youth ambassador facilitated an expert panel on best practices in providing campus-based wraparound support to students with experience in foster care, for University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) staff/faculty.

The panel featured a UNLV student with experience in foster care, a child welfare professional with the Clark County Department of Family Services, and four California-based students/professionals who have participated in and/or run campus-based support programs for this student population. Five out of six panelists had lived experience in foster care.

To accomplish the initiative’s objective of providing students who have experienced foster care with the support needed to flourish, it is important to identify and serve any student in that category, regardless of fee waiver eligibility.

This is critical for the purposes of accurately tracking key data, increasing fee waiver utilization, and connecting students to resources/services. To this end, the NSHE foster youth ambassador worked with institutional presidents and registrars during the first half of 2020 to add a standardized foster care identification question to all NSHE applications for admission.

The question was fully implemented by all 7 degree-granting NSHE institutions in time for the Fall 2021 admission cycle. The ambassador continually works with the institutions to identify and serve these students through targeted outreach efforts.

The NSHE foster youth ambassador established the systemwide peer and community educator position—a part-time student leadership role with the initiative—in mid-2020. The role has an intentional one-year term design. This is to allow multiple students to have the opportunity to hold the position, and to support students in moving onto other resume-building opportunities after one year of service.

The initiative’s first peer and community educator began the role in August 2020, for the 2020-21 academic year. In line with national best practices that reiterate the importance of youth-informed and/or youth-led work when serving young people with experience in foster care, this student leadership role is an initiative cornerstone.

In Summer 2020, the NSHE foster youth ambassador secured one-time approval, due to the onset of COVID-19, to reallocate system-level grant funds directly to NSHE students with foster care history. NSHE also partnered with Foster Love (formerly named Together We Rise) to secure and execute their own Walter S. Johnson Foundation grant, specifically serving Nevada students who have experienced foster care through their COVID-19 Rapid Response program. The partnership began in Fall 2020 and funding for unmet needs was disbursed through July 2021.

In Fall 2020, the NSHE foster youth ambassador and the 2020-21 peer and community educator launched an Instagram account for the initiative, expanding the online presence after establishing this website and Twitter account in mid-2019.

In Fall 2020, the NSHE foster youth ambassador developed and widely disseminated a quick-reference guide that provides a financial aid overview and detailed FAFSA completion instructions (as well as information for students who are ineligible for federal student aid) for Nevada students with foster care history. The guide is updated annually; and it is consistently disseminated and used in workshops/presentations.

The NSHE foster youth ambassador hosted the second annual NSHE Fostering Success Initiative Retreat in November, during which the 56 participants heard feedback from students on the strategic plan progress and worked collaboratively to generate initiative goals for the next year.

In June 2021, the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) hired Coordinator Heather Richardson to launch the UNLV Fostering Scholars Program, marking NSHE’s second full-time position serving students who have experienced foster care, and first full-time campus-based position and support program dedicated to students with experience in foster care.

Utilizing the $200,000 in funding support from the Walter S. Johnson Foundation that was secured in 2020, and an initial internal funding commitment of over $100,000, UNLV went through the hiring process for the Fostering Scholars Program coordinator position in Spring 2021, hired in Summer 2021, and began providing formalized wraparound support services for UNLV students with foster care history in Fall 2021. In addition to the coordinator role, the new program was supported by two UNLV Master of Social Work practicum students during its inaugural year (2021-22).

In Fall 2021, the University of Nevada, Reno (UNR) invested internal funds in a 2021-22 graduate assistant position dedicated to serving first-generation college students, including students with experience in foster care.

The University of Nevada, Reno (UNR) was invited to submit a Letter of Inquiry for a $200,000 grant through the Walter S. Johnson Foundation in Summer 2021, based on their targeted internal efforts to formalize and expand support for students with experience in foster care. They were then invited to submit a formal grant proposal to the Foundation, which was approved in November 2021.

Truckee Meadows Community College (TMCC) was invited to apply for a three-year $225,000 Walter S. Johnson Foundation grant in November 2021, which was approved in December 2021.

From April through July 2021, NSHE utilized some grant funds to pay for a specialized 16-week virtual Level I Fostering Success Coach Training. 18 NSHE employees and community partners successfully completed the training and thereby became Level 1 Certified Fostering Success Coaches. Since the initial group completed the Level I training, additional NSHE employees and community partners who have joined the initiative work have also successfully completed the training and become Level 1 Certified Fostering Success Coaches. This practice will persist as new people continue to join the work.

The NSHE Department of Academic and Student Affairs finalized and posted the first biennial fee waiver and program report, in August 2021. The NSHE foster youth ambassador then presented the report to the Nevada Board of Regents, in September 2021—which outlines the total number of students who utilized the fee waiver and the total cost to the NSHE institutions during the 2018-19, 2019-20, and 2020-21 academic years, as well as the student completion measures that NSHE will track moving forward and the initiative’s milestones in its first couple of years.

The 2020-21 peer and community educator and the NSHE foster youth ambassador conducted a systemwide needs survey that NSHE students who have experienced foster care were invited to complete from December 2020 through June 2021. The survey collected information about key barriers that have negatively impacted students’ ability to persist in their college education, including core issues associated with the barriers and what would be helpful in addressing them. The survey results are continually used to guide the initiative’s efforts.

The NSHE foster youth ambassador hosted the third annual NSHE Fostering Success Initiative Retreat, in November 2021. During the retreat, members of the Nevada Fostering Higher Education Committee worked collaboratively to build a more cohesive statewide learning community focused on supporting students who have experienced foster care with accessing and thriving in college, learned from student leaders with lived expertise in foster care and the professionals who serve them, and discussed/co-developed collective priorities for the subsequent year.

The University of Nevada, Reno (UNR) began their two-year $200,000 Walter S. Johnson Foundation grant cycle on January 1, 2022. UNR utilized their funds to establish Fostering the Pack—a formal, campus-based support program for students with experience in foster care, which launched in Spring 2022 and is housed within UNR’s larger First in the Pack program for first-generation college students. Expanding upon UNR’s previous work supporting students with foster care history, Fostering the Pack provides more intensive, customized wraparound support for its NSHE Foster Youth Fee Waiver recipients—through a dedicated graduate assistant who provides coaching services, resources, and opportunities to build a sense of belonging with other students who have experienced foster care and the larger campus community. The establishment of the graduate assistant role and the launch of Fostering the Pack mark NSHE’s second campus-based position and support program dedicated to students with foster care history.

In January 2022, the NSHE foster youth ambassador and University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) Fostering Scholars Program coordinator began serving on a newly created monthly Eighth Judicial District Court OPPLA (Other Planned Permanent Living Arrangement) Review Panel. The panel, which joins back-to-back permanency planning hearings for high schoolers in foster care on a designated day each month, is designed to improve the high school-to-college pipeline for Clark County youth in foster care who have an OPPLA permanency goal on file with the court and, by nature of that status, particularly limited support systems.

At each panel session, the NSHE foster youth ambassador provides information about the initiative resources/services at the 7 degree-granting NSHE institutions, and the UNLV Fostering Scholars Program coordinator provides information about UNLV’s campus-based support program, to the young people participating.

Beginning in Spring 2022, UNLV ramped up their funding sustainability efforts for their campus-based support program. The program coordinator is engaged in ongoing efforts to expand UNLV’s internal financial investment in the program, in addition to her numerous other job duties focused on directly supporting students. The coordinator successfully established a graduate assistant (GA) position in the program’s second year (2022-23), by strongly advocating for and acquiring that funding from Consolidated Students of UNLV. The coordinator has also been working very hard to identify, pursue, and secure potential external funding opportunities—to expand upon their two-year $200,000 Walter S. Johnson Foundation grant.

A notable example of this is the partnership that the coordinator created with private donors Lynda and Blake Maxfield, in 2022. The Maxfields have donated to the program themselves; and they have brought in other private donors to assist with funding direct student support, such as textbooks, as well as establishing another GA position to serve UNLV undergraduate students who have experienced foster care.

Throughout the 2022 calendar year, NSHE partnered with Foster Love (formerly named Together We Rise)—for a second time—to provide supplemental funding support to Nevada students who have experienced foster care through the Foster Love Rapid Response program. The program reserved $15,000 for the 2022 calendar year, funded by the Walter S. Johnson Foundation, for Nevada students with experience in foster care who are transitioning to or already enrolled in college. The funds are flexible and are available to cover expenses that cannot be covered by financial aid or other funding sources for which students may be eligible. NSHE employees and community partners did an excellent job with executing referrals, and we successfully spent all dedicated Nevada funding by October 2022.

Over the course of a year, the NSHE foster youth ambassador worked with the Nevada Fostering Higher Education Committee’s data subcommittee (both groups are led by the ambassador) to draft a joint data collection and information sharing letter, designed to inform the local child welfare and education agencies about education-focused federal and state laws, individual rights, and best practices pertaining to the unique circumstances, challenges, and needs of young people with experience in foster care. The letter was finalized, signed by DCFS and NDE leadership, and disseminated to the local child welfare and education agencies in February 2022.

Truckee Meadows Community College (TMCC) began their three-year $225,000 Walter S. Johnson Foundation grant cycle on March 1, 2022. TMCC—the only NSHE institution with a formalized commitment to serving students who have experienced foster care that predates the launch of the systemwide initiative—is using its second Foundation grant to build upon its longstanding efforts to address resource gaps for students with foster care history, through formalized support mechanisms.

Prior to the 2018 systemwide initiative launch, TMCC already had a part-time faculty mentor position and interdepartmental committee dedicated to students with experience in foster care. Then, with its first Foundation grant, TMCC implemented a pilot project focused on housing stability and peer mentor support. TMCC is using its new seed funding to launch a campus-based support program dedicated to students who have experienced foster care—similar to what the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) and the University of Nevada, Reno (UNR) now offer.

In May 2022, the Walter S. Johnson Foundation awarded NSHE a third grant—in the amount of $600,000 over three years—to sustain the NSHE foster youth ambassador position and provide for other system-level initiative needs during a challenging budget period.

In early 2022, the NSHE foster youth ambassador worked with leadership in the NSHE Department of Academic and Student Affairs to draft two proposed NSHE Foster Youth Fee Waiver policy revisions that would expand eligibility. At their June 2022 quarterly meeting, the Nevada Board of Regents unanimously approved both fee waiver policy revisions. The first revision standardized the eligibility requirements for Nevada’s young people who have experienced foster care, regardless of the state from which they graduated high school, as long as they were under the care of a Nevada child welfare agency. The second revision lowered the age at which a student must have been in the custody of the Nevada foster care system—from 14+ to 13+ years old—opening up eligibility for students who exited foster care at age 13 (Board of Regents Handbook Revision, June 2022).

In Summer 2022, the NSHE foster youth ambassador, in collaboration with NSHE’s institutional research team, created a sustainable plan for expanding NSHE’s data collection and biennial report development related to NSHE Foster Youth Fee Waiver a utilization and the persistence and graduation rates for fee waiver recipients

NSHE System Administration began their three-year $600,000 Walter S. Johnson Foundation grant cycle on July 1, 2022. NSHE is using its third Foundation grant to strengthen and expand the work achieved with its first two Foundation grants. This additional grant is providing the initiative with sustained stability during a challenging budget period; and it brought the higher education system to a total of $1,025,000 in additional Foundation grant funding in 2022, to help improve financial and wraparound support for students with experience in foster care—after the University of Nevada, Reno (UNR) began their $200,000 grant cycle in January and Truckee Meadows Community College (TMCC) began their $225,000 grant cycle in March. With the $830,000 previously awarded to System Administration ($600,000), TMCC ($30,000), and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) ($200,000), this brought NSHE to a total of $1,855,000 in grant funding from the Foundation.

In August 2022, TMCC hired part-time Fostering College Success Advocate Annalisa Walker, who was tasked with launching its new campus-based support program serving students who have experienced foster care, the Fostering College Success Program. The dedicated advocate position replaced the part-time faculty mentor role, which was designed as an additional assignment and therefore limited in capacity. The advocate hire marked NSHE’s third campus-based position dedicated to students with foster care history; and the subsequent launch of the Fostering College Success Program marked NSHE’s third campus-based support program serving this student population.

In August 2022, the system-level foster youth ambassador joined the Nevada Children’s Commission Education Committee, to contribute expertise on topics related to the educational best interests of Nevada students with foster care history.

In September 2022, the systemwide initiative name was officially changed from NSHE Foster Youth Success Initiative to NSHE Fostering Success Initiative. This change removed the label of “foster youth” and reflects a person-centered, age-inclusive approach to supporting students who have experienced foster care. The 2021-22 and 2022-23 peer and community educators then created a logo concept that evolved into the new logo that now accompanies the new name.

The initiative has increasingly used person-centered language as it has evolved, so the name change aligns with the initiative’s efforts to remain student-centered and stay abreast of cutting-edge best practices in the field. For example, prior to the initiative name change, the NSHE foster youth ambassador revised the naming convention used for initiative-related materials and groups, such as the Nevada Fostering Success Financial Aid Toolkit and the Nevada Fostering Higher Education Committee. The ambassador also asked the three NSHE institutions launching campus-based support programs (UNLV, UNR, and TMCC) to follow suit when naming their new programs serving students with foster care history; as a result, those institutions have named their programs as follows: UNLV Fostering Scholars Program, UNR Fostering the Pack, and TMCC Fostering College Success Program.

This naming convention is in line with developing national best practice trends—with similar initiatives that serve students with experience in foster care—that call for a deeper understanding of what young people endure in the foster care system, the grit that it takes to persevere over the many obstacles thrown their way because of that experience, and how labeling them according to the status of having been in the custody of a child welfare agency can do them harm and hinder their progress toward their goals. While students who grew up in foster care need dedicated resources to help make up for their limited support systems, inadequate financial resources, and repeated disruptions to their education paths, their experience in the foster care system does not and should not define them. Ensuring that caregivers, child welfare professionals, educators, and other providers understand that is important for the future of the child welfare and education systems, as well as community-based organizations that serve young people with foster care history.

In October 2022, a delegation of NSHE student leaders, NSHE employees, and community partners participated in the California College Pathways Blueprint for Success Conference, which is a nationally-renowned, biennial event focused on supporting students who have experienced foster care with postsecondary education success (however, due to COVID-19, the conference originally planned for 2021 was postponed to 2022).

In November 2022, 11 NSHE employees and community partners completed the specialized Level II Fostering Success Coach Training that is tailored to supporting students who have experienced foster care with reaching their higher education goals; upon completion of the training, the participants became Level 2 Certified Fostering Success Coaches. This practice will persist as new people continue to join the work.

The NSHE foster youth ambassador hosted the fourth annual NSHE Fostering Success Initiative Retreat, in December 2022. During the retreat, members of the Nevada Fostering Higher Education Committee worked collaboratively to build a more cohesive statewide learning community focused on supporting students who have experienced foster care with accessing and thriving in college, learned from student leaders with lived expertise in foster care and the professionals who serve them, and discussed/co-developed collective priorities for the subsequent year.

Truckee Meadows Community College (TMCC) officially launched its Fostering College Success Program in Spring 2023. It serves current and prospective TMCC students who have experienced foster care, regardless of fee waiver eligibility. The August 2022 TMCC advocate hire and the January 2023 program establishment marked NSHE’s third campus-based position and support program dedicated to this student population.

In February 2023, the NSHE foster youth ambassador launched a new quarterly professional development group space for the campus-based staff/faculty at the NSHE institutions, known as the NSHE Fostering Success Champions Quarterly Roundtables. Each roundtable session features a discussion about resource materials on a specific subtopic focused on the intersection between foster care and higher education, which participants are asked to review in advance, as well as time for the participants to troubleshoot challenges that they are encountering and share successes/resources that may inspire ideas for other schools. The roundtable design honors the fact that the participants all have different areas of expertise to contribute to the group dynamic, and that there is a great deal that participants can learn from each other and the resources that the ambassador provides.

This should prove to be a helpful component to the initiative work moving forward, as the national landscape of the work continues to evolve and we continue to grow/strive to continually operate with best-practice approaches. There are people within the group who have many years of experience within the higher education system (in a number of specialty areas), people who have an extensive background in child welfare, and people who are new to both arenas but have other areas of expertise to contribute; so, there is something for everyone to gain from this new supportive group space.

In March 2023, the iFoster Jobs Program launched in Southern Nevada. NSHE is partnering with the program, which has provided additional student leadership opportunities within the initiative. The program is a collaboration between iFoster, NSHE System Administration, the Southern Nevada NSHE institutions, and several key Southern Nevada community partners (the primary partner being the Step Up program—which serves young people who aged out of foster care in Clark County, up until their 21^st birthday). In February 2023, the chancellor’s office established a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with iFoster to serve as a host site for the program’s inaugural year, for one part-time AmeriCorps member who is an NSHE student. The University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) Fostering Scholars Program is also serving as a host site, for two AmeriCorps members who are UNLV students.

In April 2023, the UNLV Department of Service Learning and Leadership—which houses the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) Fostering Scholars Program—secured a $900,000 federal basic needs grant, through the U.S. Department of Education. The grant funding provides critical support to UNLV students who have experienced foster care and/or homelessness, as well as other UNLV students who face basic needs challenges.

In May 2023, the NSHE Department of Academic and Student Affairs launched its first issue of the systemwide initiative newsletter, in honor of National Foster Care Month, to improve and expand upon existing efforts to ensure that students with foster care history, NSHE employees, and community partners are well-informed about key resources and developments.

In May 2023, the Walter S. Johnson Foundation awarded the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) a two-year $300,000 grant for its Fostering Scholars Program. Given UNLV budget constraints that made it challenging to internally fund the program coordinator position and other critical program needs immediately after the first grant’s June 2023 end date, the Foundation invited UNLV to apply for an additional private grant. In total, UNLV has been awarded $500,000 by the Foundation, which will last through June 2025. After that, the coordinator position currently funded by the Foundation will be funded as part of the UNLV Department of Service Learning and Leadership budget; and other program needs currently funded by the Foundation will either be internally funded or funded by other external funding sources. Aside from the program coordinator position, the second grant will help to fund the launch of enhanced student programming, dedicated scholarships for program participants, and a dedicated emergency fund.

The NSHE Department of Academic and Student Affairs finalized and posted the second biennial fee waiver and program report, in August 2023. The NSHE foster youth ambassador then presented the report to the Nevada Board of Regents, in September 2023—which outlines the total number of students who utilized the fee waiver and the total cost to the NSHE institutions since the program began in the 2018-19 academic year, new student demographic and completion measures that NSHE is now tracking for fee waiver recipients, and the initiative’s milestones since the first report was written.

The NSHE foster youth ambassador hosted the fifth annual NSHE Fostering Success Initiative Retreat, in November 2023. During the retreat, members of the Nevada Fostering Higher Education Committee worked collaboratively to build a more cohesive statewide learning community focused on supporting students who have experienced foster care with accessing and thriving in college, learned from student leaders with lived expertise in foster care and the professionals who serve them, and discussed/co-developed collective priorities for the subsequent year.

In November 2023, the Walter S. Johnson Foundation awarded the University of Nevada, Reno (UNR) a two-year $250,000 grant for its UNR Fostering the Pack. Given UNR budget constraints that made it challenging to internally fund critical program needs immediately after the first grant’s December 2023 end date, the Foundation invited UNR to apply for an additional private grant. In total, UNR has been awarded $450,000 by the Foundation, which will last through December 2025. After that, the programming currently funded by the Foundation will be funded by internal UNR funds and/or other outside resources. Aside from the graduate assistant position, the second grant will help to fund student programming and other resources for program participants.