Activating University-Community Partnerships to Increase Postsecondary Education Among Youth with Foster Backgrounds

Overview: Participants will interact with panel members to learn how Arizona State University School of Social Work and Maricopa County Community Colleges District cultivated and activated community partnerships to advance post-secondary education among youth and young adults with foster care backgrounds.Proposal text: The Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that education is a fundamental human right and higher education should be accessible to all (UNESCO], 2021). However, youth and young adults with foster care backgrounds face a number of barriers to accessing higher education including how to pay for college (Courtney et al., 2011). In 2013, the State of Arizona passed legislation providing a foster youth tuition waiver for any state funded institution of higher education (Tuition Waiver for Persons Formerly in Foster Care: Pilot Program: Report: Definition, AZ, 2013). Recognizing the unique challenges faced by this student population, Arizona State University (ASU) School of Social Work and Maricopa County Community College District (MCCCD) took action to create programming that would support this student population’s educational pursuits. The outcome was the Bridging Success initiative that was funded through a philanthropic grant from the Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust. The goal of the Bridging Success initiative is to increase access to higher education and provide holistic support through degree completion. Bridging Success is a campus-based program that provides direct support to students in applying, enrolling, and persisting in college, as well as macro-level support in engaging and training university and community-level stakeholders.
To achieve their goal, Bridging Success adapted a collective impact model between the two institutions which serves as a foundation for building a statewide coalition of government entities, non-profit organizations, policy influencers, and other institutions of higher education (Collective Impact Forum, 2014). ASU and MCCCD recognized the importance of understanding the challenges faced by young people in care from all perspectives and invited key stakeholders to inform their program development. This collaboration created the Bridging Success Joint Advisory Council (BSJAC), whose sole focus is ensuring that young people with foster care backgrounds can pursue any form of postsecondary education (vocational, certification, 2-year or 4-year degrees) and have the support needed from planning/pre-enrollment through graduation. Since its inception, the BSJAC has guided and supported the direction and practices of Bridging Success. BSJAC has become a space for all involved community partners to communicate, brainstorm, and collaborate on numerous issues impacting postsecondary education for young people in care.
Using the same approach, ASU and MCCCD developed community partnerships within their respective institutions to create a supportive network of administrative staff and faculty. Key frontline and administrative individuals were identified to serve as champions in admissions (first year and transfer), housing, financial aid, college prep programs, etc. Due to the large number of community colleges under the MCCCD umbrella, development of networks on each college campus was the primary strategy to improve access and persistence. ASU used a centralized approach with a single student support program covering students located on their four campuses.
This panel presentation will provide attendees with a brief overview of the processes described above and then provide ample time for participants to ask questions and seek guidance on how they might build similar university-community partnerships to advance postsecondary education for young people with foster care backgrounds.