Directory from SP2’s Field Center aims to help foster youth pursue higher education

For youth who have experienced foster care, the process of pursuing a post-secondary degree may pose particular challenges. The 2024 Campus Programming Directory produced by The Field Center for Children’s Policy, Practice & Research at Penn’s School of Social Policy & Practice (SP2) aims to address this issue by raising the visibility of information that can help students with experience in foster care in Pennsylvania find higher education access and success.

Now in its fourth edition, and presented for the first time in an interactive web format, the Directory brings together information about campus programs and services that can be particularly helpful towards the students’ college success, from application through graduation.

“Prior to our efforts to consolidate information about Pennsylvania’s campus-based support programs for youth with care experience, much of this information was inaccessible. Young people and their advocates had limited access to crucial answers needed for informed decision-making about post-secondary education,” says SP2 Associate Professor Johanna K.P. Greeson, PhD, MSS, MLSP, managing faculty director of The Field Center. “Now, this information is readily available online, serving as a model for other states to compile and publicize similar resources.”

The first-of-its-kind resource provides information about institutional supports, services, and programs, in addition to noting four primary indicators of student support for each highlighted institution:

• Identification & Tracking of Foster Youth
• Specific Programming for Foster Youth
• Beneficial Programming for Foster Youth
• Year-Round Housing Available

The information is intended to assist students with experience in foster care in selecting prospective colleges that may be a good fit for them, and to be used as a supplement to existing college directories and other available information.

“Working on higher education access for young people in the foster care system is one of the most rewarding aspects of working at The Field Center and SP2,” says Sarah Wasch, MSW, associate director of The Field Center. “As we work to train future social work, social policy, and nonprofit leaders here at Penn, we are reminded of the transformative power of education, and it is my hope that Pennsylvania’s youth who have experienced foster care can access the resources and support available to achieve their educational goals.”

VISIT THE DIRECTORY