New TSU Program Supports Former Foster Students
January 31, 2012
Texas State University-San Marcos' Foster Care Alumni Creating Educational Success (FACES) initiative has been awarded a Public Benefit Grant from Texas Guaranteed Student Loan Corporation (TG).
FACES is a community and campus-wide effort to help Texas State students who grew up in the foster care system achieve educational success for personal and professional stability beyond graduation. In partnership with the Central Texas Foster Care Work Group, the School of Social Work, the Sociology Department, the Vice President for Student Affairs Office and the Center for Children and Families, FACES will expand and evaluate existing direct services to foster care alumni at Texas State through recruitment, retention and graduation.
An important aspect of this initiative is to ensure the success of foster care alumni by providing each student with a Texas State faculty or staff mentor. Currently the Vice President for Student Affairs office has matched 20 faculty and staff mentors to foster care students at Texas State. FACES has also created the Foster Care Advisory Council, made up of students, faculty and community members committed to working together to meet the complex needs of students who were in foster care.
Benni Velasquez, vice-president of FACES, said she knows how crucial support is during college.
“I used to be in foster care,” Velasquez, respiratory care senior, said. “Having a mentor for support really helped me stay on track. Some people consider me a success story. Most foster care students don’t really have a support system.”
“Only 5 percent of students previously in the foster care system go to college, and only 2 percent of them actually graduate.” says Christine Norton, assistant professor in the school for social work. “Most of these kids have been worked over by bureaucratic systems, going from family to family. Here, we hope to give them a voice and provide family support.”
One of the organization’s goals is to show students every aspect of Texas State so they can know the resources offered to students, Velasquez said.
“We are not only providing support for these students, but also social activities,” Norton said. “They will have the opportunity to help with the GOAL program, Bobcat Build, and other projects in the community. There will also be an awards ceremony and reception April 9 to honor the work and resilience of these students.”
The organization is not exclusively for foster care students. Students wanting to help can be mentors.
“Part of the family aspect is for the students to have someone to look up to and rely on,” Velasquez said. “There is some special training to go through, but anyone can help.”
The special training is provided by the mentoring program.
“KC Family Service provides a video and instructional program to train our mentors,” Terence Parker, assistant director of the student affairs office, said. “It gives an idea of some of the challenges foster care students go through and how the mentor can help.”
The organization is run by and for foster care alumni, Norton said.
“We purposely named it FACES because we don’t want them to feel separated from the other students. They are part of the many faces of Texas State.”
*Reprinted from the University Star, By Paige Lambert
