{"id":404,"date":"2022-04-07T22:45:11","date_gmt":"2022-04-07T22:45:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nshe.nevada.edu\/system-administration\/?page_id=404"},"modified":"2022-11-17T18:33:41","modified_gmt":"2022-11-17T18:33:41","slug":"overview","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/nshe.nevada.edu\/system-administration\/departments\/asa\/students\/fostering-success\/overview\/","title":{"rendered":"Fostering Success Initiative Overview"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Initiative Overview<\/h2><\/div><\/div><\/div>
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In September 2018, the Nevada System of Higher Education (NSHE) launched its system-wide Foster Youth Success Initiative<\/em><\/strong> when the Board of Regents approved the Foster Youth Fee Waiver<\/strong>\u2014permitting all NSHE institutions to waive the course enrollment (tuition) fees for their eligible students (each institution covers the cost of the fee waiver for its own students). Shortly thereafter, NSHE received a $200,000 one-year grant from the Walter S. Johnson Foundation<\/strong><\/a>, to assist with implementing and coordinating the initiative across its seven degree-granting institutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The primary mission of the Foster Youth Success Initiative<\/em><\/strong> is to more effectively recruit, support, and retain students who have been dependents of the child welfare system; and, the course enrollment fee waiver is one key component in achieving that goal. However, we know that providing college funding for foster youth is just one crucial part of clearing the way for their successful transition to and persistence in a postsecondary education program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To that end, NSHE hired Laura Obrist\u2014in July 2019\u2014to serve as its Foster Youth Ambassador<\/em><\/strong>. Laura is dedicated to achieving the initiative\u2019s mission, by assisting Nevada\u2019s two- and four-year public colleges\/universities with implementing processes and designing\/coordinating campus-based support services to aid foster care alumni with enrolling and succeeding in college. She serves as the primary point of contact for, and liaison between, all of the NSHE institutions and community providers\u2014working in collaboration with NSHE system- and institution-level employees, current and former foster youth leaders\/students, child welfare agencies, K-12 educators and administrators, legal services providers, court representatives, and other community stakeholders who are well-versed in the unique challenges and needs of this under served student population. Laura facilitates a statewide learning community, composed of NSHE and community partners, which is committed to building a comprehensive, sustainable, and permanent education support system for foster care alumni residing in Nevada\u2014from secondary education completion, to postsecondary education attainment, to a career path. She is leading the development of effective postsecondary education preparation, access, transition, and success strategies that are formulated to assist people with limited support systems. Laura is also working to increase financial aid access and utilization for all<\/u><\/strong> NSHE students who have been in foster care\u2014particularly in the form of the Foster Youth Fee Waiver<\/strong> (for eligible current and former dependents of the Nevada foster care system), state and federal grants, and\/or scholarships.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In establishing best practices and strengthening resources\/services that are tailored to current and former foster youth, NSHE seeks to expand foster youth-serving systems\u2019 capacity to support college-planning activities, improve its own ability to effectively serve students who have been in foster care, and achieve the statewide community\u2019s desire to build stronger career pathways for foster youth.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

2020 Initiative Growth<\/h2><\/div><\/div><\/div>
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The Walter S. Johnson Foundation<\/a> awarded a $30,000 18-month grant to Truckee Meadows Community College (TMCC); the grant was approved in November 2019 and the grant cycle began in January 2020. TMCC\u2014the only NSHE institution with a formalized commitment to serving foster care alumni that predates the launch of the system-wide initiative\u2014is using the funding for a pilot project that will reinforce its existing efforts to support \u201cvulnerable youth\u201d and address resource gaps for current and former foster youth who are enrolled at the community college. The majority of TMCC\u2019s grant funding is going toward housing stability and peer mentor support for foster care alumni. Additionally, in February 2020, the Foundation awarded NSHE an additional $400,000 two-year grant, to further support the successful execution of the initiative\u2019s objectives\u2014including increasing utilization of the course enrollment fee waiver for current and former dependents of the Nevada child welfare system and expanding formalized assistance for all<\/u><\/strong> students who have experienced foster care. The Foundation also awarded the University of Nevada-Las Vegas (UNLV) a $200,000 two-year grant to launch a campus-based support program for enrolled foster care alumni, including a new coordinator position dedicated to serving that student population. The 2-year grant cycles for NSHE and UNLV will begin on July 1, 2020.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":370,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"views\/template-1-widget-custom.blade.php","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"folder":[14],"class_list":["post-404","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nshe.nevada.edu\/system-administration\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/404","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nshe.nevada.edu\/system-administration\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nshe.nevada.edu\/system-administration\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nshe.nevada.edu\/system-administration\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nshe.nevada.edu\/system-administration\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=404"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/nshe.nevada.edu\/system-administration\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/404\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2270,"href":"https:\/\/nshe.nevada.edu\/system-administration\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/404\/revisions\/2270"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nshe.nevada.edu\/system-administration\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/370"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nshe.nevada.edu\/system-administration\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=404"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nshe.nevada.edu\/system-administration\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=404"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nshe.nevada.edu\/system-administration\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=404"},{"taxonomy":"folder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nshe.nevada.edu\/system-administration\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/folder?post=404"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}