From Foster Care to College: Barriers and Supports
This session will examine the unique issues, learning challenges, and practical obstacles facing students who have been in the Foster Care System and are attending college. The ancillary conditions that frequently accompany Foster Care such as homelessness and poverty will also be discussed. Statistical data and research on the impacts that being in Foster Care has on college success will be shared. Successful strategies and techniques that allow educators to better connect with students and encourage and promote higher levels of engagement will be discussed. There will be opportunities for participants to discuss and share their particular approaches and methods that have worked with this specific population. This session may not be able to address every factor that encompasses the unique Foster Care phenomenology, but it is hoped that by discussing this topic, attendees will have a greater awareness of what those factors are and how to best meet the needs of these students.
Presenters: Dr. Brittnee Fisher, Learning Resources; Dr. Douglass Lobo, Student Affairs; Dr. Melissa Perry, Adult Education