Every year an estimated 25,000 youth "age out" of the foster care system nationwide. These students come from every culture, race, and background. Yet they share one common characteristic: they leave foster care without a family or support structure to help them make the transition into adulthood. While 70 percent of foster youth say they want to attend college, only 10 percent actually do and only 4 percent go on to obtain a two- or four-year degree.

The Chafee Foster Care Independence Program (CFCIP) and the Chafee Educational and Training Voucher Program (Chafee ETV Program) are working with states to change all that by helping youth from foster care attain economic self-sufficiency through education. A new publication from Casey Family Program, The Chafee Educational and Training Voucher (ETV) Program: Six States' Experiences, evaluates how ETVs - in partnership with other state-based efforts - have been working for these young adults.

The publication provides an overview of the Chafee ETV Program and reports the successes and challenges that some states have been experiencing. The Chafee ETV Program makes vouchers of up to $5,000 per year available to young adults coming from foster care to offset their costs of attending college. The program was established by Congress in 2001 and receives about $47 million in appropriated funds. States receive an annual allocation based on the percentage of children and youth in foster care. States have two years to spend each year's allocation. They are also required to provide 20 percent of their annual allocated amounts in matching funds.

The Chafee Educational and Training Voucher (ETV) Program: Six States' Experiences publication examines the experiences of six states (California, Maine, Montana, New York, North Carolina, and Wyoming) in their efforts to implement the Chafee ETV Program. These states were chosen to provide a good cross section of different youth from foster care. Challenges and successes varied from state to state.

Noteworthy State Findings

A few of the notable successes chronicled by publication include the following.

California had significant levels of collaboration between state agencies, counties, local organizations, colleges and universities, and other stakeholders. The California Student Aid Commission (CSAC) also created a WebGrants Web site that carries the entire Chafee ETV grant application process online. The Web application allows other advocates involved with the youth to monitor their progress and track important application deadlines.

Maine offers a wide array of state coordinated benefits to help youth from foster care, including state tuition waivers, state payment of room and board expenses up to age 21, and the coordination of ETV and federal financial aid programs.

Montana increased the likelihood that youth will work with the Chafee ETV Program administrators because it is no longer administered by the state's foster care agency. Having the ETV administered by another foundation removes the "stigma" of being associated with "foster care."

New York implemented a 24-hour access to a state-specific ETV database that details exactly how much money has been disbursed to each youth and for what purposes. The system also collects extensive amounts of information that are categorized into reports to better examine and understand youth from foster care.

North Carolina legislators began providing free tuition at any of the University of North Carolina (UNC) system colleges and 57 community colleges for ETV eligible youth in July 2006. The Orphan Foundation of America is also partnering with NC corporations and community groups to prepare and send thousands of care packages three times per academic year to youth from foster care currently enrolled in college to encourage them to persist.

Wyoming has ensured that youth from foster care are not negatively impacted by processing delays in federal or state financial aid programs. State agencies have forged partnerships with financial aid offices at colleges and universities within the state to ensure good communications and negotiation when ETV payments have been delayed. This helps ensure that delays in financial aid do not prohibit a youth from foster care from attending.

Recommendations

The publication concludes that several federal and state recommendations - gleaned from the experiences of the six states - should be implemented for even more success. Some of those recommendations include:

• Full federal funding of the program of $60 million per year
• An extension of program eligibility to youth who leave foster care at age 16
• A national tracking and reporting system for ETV implementation

A full list of the recommendations and results from the six states' experiences can be found in the publication at www.casey.org/Resources/Publications/ETV.htm.

Other Resources

• To find information regarding a state's Chafee ETV Program, contact the state Independent Living Coordinator. A list of state Independent Living Coordinators, with contact information, can be found at: www.nrcys.ou.edu/yd/resources.html.

• Additional state level information about the Chafee ETV Program can be found at: www.nrcys.ou.edu/yd/state_pages.html and www.statevoucher.org.