Passport Program Dedicated to Supporting Foster Youth

This National Foster Care Month, College Success Foundation remains dedicated to proactively supporting the most vulnerable student population: foster youth and alumni of foster care.

These students face obstacles to thriving and succeeding in college that go well beyond academic achievement and preparing for college. Recognizing their unique challenges, we provide additional trauma-informed programs and services to help them succeed. 

A Holistic Approach

CSF’s holistic strategic approach has proven to be effective. Our programs provide scholarships and direct, student-facing services; systems improvement and partner-facing services; and technical assistance along with policy and advocacy efforts.

• We created the Washington State Governors’ Scholarship for Foster Youth with then-Washington governor Gary Locke in 2001. This scholarship has supported hundreds of young people from foster care to graduate from college. Our Governors’ Scholars graduate at more than 15 times the national rate.
• We provide ongoing, tailored support to dozens of colleges in our state that run foster care student support programs. This includes facilitating trainings, giving program development coaching, and leveraging recommended practices across colleges. 
• In collaboration with our partners, we do year-round policy and advocacy work. This work ensures our support systems for students from foster care continue to work effectively and have enough resources.

A Robust Program

CSF’s foster student support programming is robust. We have two dedicated Passport coaches: Kati Ortiz at Skagit Valley College, and Anjilica Gonzalez at Central Washington University.

Kati and Anjilica work to empower students to develop self-awareness and self-confidence. They also help students navigate the complicated college and financial aid landscape.

Working closely with campus staff, Passport coaches ensure students successfully persist beyond issues that affect their educational success. Our coaches’ goal is to find the career path that best matches each student’s skills, abilities, interests, and experiences.

Passport coaches also work with students to develop essential communication skills. These skills help students close the gap between where they are and where they want to be. 

A Strong Base of Support

CSF is also committed to building a stronger base of Passport student support throughout Washington state. The Washington Passport Network supports students by coordinating services and creating cohesive programming in regional groups.

At CSF, we work to identify effective student support practices, model policies, and relevant research. We facilitate regional and statewide professional development events for our members. And we share research, stories, and accomplishments of members and the students they serve on our Washington Passport Network blog.

We are passionate about this heartfelt work. The pandemic has been difficult and challenging for everyone, but many are not seeing the worst of it. There’s a smaller group of students experiencing tragic change.

During this pandemic, we came together as a team to motivate and support students in the face of worsening crises. We are here for them during National Foster Care Month and beyond.