Child Welfare in Education Fact Sheet
Before you get to know us, please review FSM's Child Welfare in Education Fact Sheet! The Fact Sheet provides an overview of statewide and national issues in the education pipeline for students with experience in foster care. Readers of this document can expect to learn how many youth are in foster care, what financial benefits are being used, and what steps have been taken by FSM and other organizations to support youth with experience in foster care. Similarly, this document provides information on a national level, citing data about the number of youth in foster care, success in higher education, and the financial impact of foster care.
Click here to read the Child Welfare in Higher Education Fact Sheet!
History
Through generous support from The Kresge Foundation, Western Michigan University, the Havirmill Foundation, and others, the Fostering Success Michigan statewide initiative was established in 2012 to help increase college-going rates and successful career transitions among Michigan’s students from foster care by building a network of support on college campuses and within local communities. In 2018, Fostering Success Michigan transitioned programming to The New Foster Care, an organization committed to accomplishing change through servicing at risk families, supporting fostering and adoptive families, and strengthening youth who are transitioning out of foster care with future opportunities. Fostering Success Michigan continues to lead Michigan’s collective-impact effort to increase access and success in higher education and post-college careers for Michigan’s students with experience in foster care ages 12 to 25. Fostering Success Michigan has become a state and national hub of resources and information for those who work with students from foster care ages 12 to 25 years old, resulting in a significant increase of knowledge, skill and social capacity of network participants.
Our Mission
Fostering Success Michigan will increase access and success in postsecondary education and post-college careers among Michigan's students with experience in foster care through the building of a holistic network that insulates (i.e., strengthens protective factors and reduces risks) the education to career “pipeline” for students from foster care. The Fostering Success Michigan Network participants include: students with experience in foster care, higher education professionals, child welfare professionals, community organizations, supportive adults, philanthropic support, and the business community.
Collective Impact Framework
Fostering Success Michigan is utilizing a Collective Impact Framework to address Michigan's need for large-scale social change in the area of students with experience in foster care and their access and success in higher education and post-college careers. The Collective Impact Framework employs five distinct conditions for social change: Backbone Organization, Common Agenda, Mutually Reinforcing Activities, Shared Measurement, and Continuous Communication.
Backbone Organization
As a collective impact backbone organization, Fostering Success Michigan employs three strategies: Resourcing, Supporting, and Networking. These strategies address the knowledge, skill and social capacity gaps that must be filled to create a sustainable education to career pipeline for students with experience in foster care. Fostering Success Michigan is a hub, supporting Michigan’s network of experts versus being an “expert organization”. Bringing together the combined energy and efforts from partners across the State of Michigan allows Fostering Success Michigan to identify areas where resources are lacking and collaborate with partners to fill these gaps.
Common Agenda
Fostering Success Michigan has aligned with the Michigan College Access Network in support of Governor Gretchen Whitmer's statewide postsecondary attainment goal, which is that 60% of Michigan residents complete a postsecondary certificate or degree by the year 2030. Until the governor's announcement, Michigan was the only state in the Midwest and one of nine in the country that did not have an established postsecondary attainment goal at the state level. FSM is proud to align with the new vision, which will help create more paths for youth with experience in foster care to earn postsecondary certificates and degrees, and address a growing talent shortage in Michigan's workforce.
Mutually Reinforcing Activities
Each partner in the Fostering Success Michigan Network plays a vital role in the education to career pipeline for youth and alumni of foster care. As a partner in the Fostering Success Michigan Collective Impact strategy, partners agree to work collaboratively and share best practices, knowing that the best solution in one community may need adaptation for success in another community, or may not fit at all.
Shared Measurement
A shared measurement strategy is being established through the collaborative efforts of the Fostering Success Michigan Higher Education Consortium (FSM HEC). FSM HEC participants utilize the 7 Life Domains model, adapted from Casey Family Programs “It’s My Life framework”, to monitor progress of success and provide a realistic understanding of how Michigan’s students with experience in foster care move to and through postsecondary education and into professional careers.
Click here to read the Fostering Success Michigan Developmental Evaluation 2012-2015!
Continuous Communication
To ensure that our diverse group of partners maintains an awareness of successes, challenges, priority issues and shared solutions, FSM supports continuous communication through a variety of networking activities. These include the FSM Google Group listserv, FSM Monthly Newsletters, FSM Student Spotlights, and in-person networking opportunities. “Like” FSM on Facebook and “Follow” @FSMichigan on Twitter for up the minute info about child welfare and higher education.