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A Report to the CommunityOnConnected by 25 HillsborougheckerdfamilyFOUNDATION

Connected by 25 Hillsborough:A Community Success StoryBackgroundDuring the past decade, individuals in both the public and private sectors haverecognized the importance of dealing with the challenges of youth who “age out”of the foster care system.There is little disagreement about the extent of these challenges:s20 percent of youth in foster care face homelessnesss50 percent of them are jobless at the age of 21sOnly 12.5 percent of youth in foster care attend collegesNationally, 75 percent of the young women have received public assistanceThese challenges led to a strategic solution in 2004 with a concept developedby the Foster Care Work Group of the Youth Transition Funders Group. The ideawas to establish public/private investments and partnerships to improve outcomesfor youth ages 13-23 who were aging out of the foster care system. Strategies wereand continue to be developed with active participation by youth in the system,supported by advocacy efforts by partner organizations.A number of states -- Florida among them – established initiatives to createsystemic change to improve opportunities and outcomes. Florida’s program wasthe Connected by 25 Hillsborough site. In Hillsborough County, four organizationscame together in 2005 to establish Connected by 25 Hillsborough. By the nextyear, it had gained the support of the Jim Casey Youth Opportunities Initiative.Collaboration members were Connected by 25 Hillsborough; Hillsborough Kids,Inc.; Hillsborough County Public Schools and the Eckerd Family Foundation. At thattime there were about 600 youth ages 13-21 in foster care in Hillsborough County.In 2010 there were about 480 youth ages 13-21 in foster care in HillsboroughCounty.Following is a brief description of each of the partner organizations:sConnected by 25 Hillsborough (www.cby25.org) is a communityinitiative that engages youth, public/private partners and policymakers 1

to improve outcomes for foster youth through investments in servicesand programs.sHillsborough Kids, Inc. (www.hillsboroughkids.org), the lead agencymanaging child welfare in Hillsborough County, oversees the care ofapproximately 2,500 children and teens due to abuse or neglect. Itsmission is to keep kids safe while strengthening families.sHillsborough County Public Schools (www.sdhc.k12.fl.us) has themission of providing an education that enables each student to excel asa successful and responsible citizen. Its vision is to become the nation’sleader in developing successful lyfoundation.org)has the mission of providing leadership and support for innovativeeducational, preventative, therapeutic and rehabilitative programs forchildren, youth and their families.Working with a number of public and private partners at the national, stateand local levels, these partners sought to take responsibility for the County’s youthin foster care. The Connected by 25 Hillsborough County collaboration defined itsmission as follows:To ensure that foster care youth are educated, housed, banked,employed and connected to a support system by age 25.Six years later, the collaboration can certainly be considered a success basedon these criteria articulated by the Eckerd Family Foundation:sWhether it changed and improved outcomes for youth aging out of fostercaresThe extent to which it influenced systems and policies related to theseyouth to achieve lasting impactsWhether it leveraged public and private funds and resources to achieveoutcomesUsing the outcome areas defined in the Connected by 25 mission statement,the following narrative will discuss results achieved by the collaboration. 2

Youth in foster care are educatedThree core strategies were employed to realize this part of the mission: (1) Identifyyouth in foster care in the school setting, (2) provide a guidance counselor foryouth in foster care and (3) create a GED program for youth in foster care.Before any programs could be put into place, it was critical that HillsboroughCounty Public Schools be able to identify youth in foster care who attend school.Once identified, they could then be engaged and supported, with their progresstracked and reported to the collaboration.Initially funded through grants, the position of a dedicated guidance counselorfor youth in foster care was established in the school district. The counselor servesas an educational “point person” for each young person, assuming a parent’s rolein certain aspects of the youth’s education by tracking and monitoring studentprogress, working with teachers to help select courses and coordinating resourceslike tutoring and transportation.In addition, youth who struggle to graduate from high school can nowparticipate in an Adult Basic Education/GED program that provides educationand guidance services, maintains student data and assists with career planning,among other services.Outcomes of this strategic area have been impressive:sStaying in school:In the 2008/2009 academic year, as reported by the Hillsborough CountyPublic Schools in June 2010, 77 percent of youth in foster care remainedin school. The national rate is 60 percent.sBeing academically promoted:72 percent of youth in foster care were academically promoted, comparedwith the national rate of 63 percent.s12th graders graduating from high school or receiving a GED/Certificateof Completion:70 percent of local youth in foster care achieved this, compared with lessthan 65 percent on a national basis. 3

sPerformance at or above grade level:63 percent of the youth in foster care are now at or above grade levelcompared with 33 percent in 2004.Youth in foster care are housed, banked and employedsBanked and Financial Assets - The “Opportunity Passport ”Developed by the Jim Casey Youth Opportunities Initiative, theOpportunity Passport provides eight hours of financial literacy training,establishes personal debit accounts for youth for short-term expensesand matches participants’ individual development accounts until age 23for more substantive expense items like educational costs and housingdeposits.Outcomes, as reported by Connected by 25, include:o209 youth have enrolled in Opportunity Passport for total savingsaccounts of 99,165.oIn a three-year period, Opportunity Passport has matched 30,870in participant savings.oIn 2004, only 20 percent of local youth in foster care had a bankaccount. That has since increased to 71 percent.oDuring the same time frame, 179 youth established IndividualDevelopment Accounts.sEmploymentoIn 2004, 80 percent of local youth in foster care were unemployed orunderemployed. Within three years, that was reduced to 56 percent– an accomplishment even more impressive because it occurredduring the same period in which the Tampa Bay area unemploymentrate increased from 4.1 percent to more than 12 percent.oBefore Connected by 25, less than 12 percent of youth in foster careparticipated in job training. With the assistance of the vocationaldevelopment specialist of Connected by 25 and improved access totransportation, 25 percent have participated in job training. 4

sHousingoThrough a partnership with the Homeless Coalition of HillsboroughCounty, the 46 percent of youth in foster care who were homelessfive or more nights has been reduced to 15 percent.oWork with the Florida Housing Finance Corporation has ensuredthat youth aging out of foster care can access low income, Section 8and tax credit housing with 20 vouchers available from the TampaHousing Authority.Increase youth connections, support and resources via public/privatepartnershipsConnected by 25 has two core strategies to realize this component of its mission:(1) Partner with like-minded organizations in a public/private partnership thatwill bring resources to youth in foster care and (2) provide youth with permanentlifelong connections with caring adults.sPublic/private partnershipsoThe list of organizations and systems with which Connected by25 has established these relationships is quite extensive. On theprivate side, these include Allegany Franciscan Foundation, AnnieE. Casey Foundation, Community Foundation of Tampa Bay, ConnMemorial Foundation, Eckerd Youth Alternatives, Frank E. DuckwallFoundation, Jim Casey Youth Opportunities Initiative, JuniorLeague of Tampa, Lerner Family Foundation, Lightning Foundation,Lumina Foundation for Education, The University of Tampa, TriadFoundation and United Way of Tampa Bay.oPublic sector partners include Florida Department of Children andFamilies, Hillsborough Community College, Hillsborough CountyCommunity Alliance, Hillsborough County Homeless Coalition,Hillsborough County Juvenile Court and University of South Florida.oCountless individuals have also committed resources of time anddollars to supplement the investments of the above partners.Itis a conservative estimate that Connected by 25 has leveraged theinvestments of the Eckerd Family Foundation more than twice overthrough contracts, grants and private donations. 5

sPermanent ConnectionsOne element sorely lacking for many youth in foster care is theestablishment of powerful connections with caring adults.Thesemay include a family member, family friends, foster parents, formerteachers and coaches, mentors, employers, neighbors and college ortrade instructors. Hillsborough Kids and Connected by 25, as well asthe entire child welfare system of Florida, have had a renewed focuson finding permanency or “family” for teens in the foster care system.The number of teens (ages 13 through 21) in care in Hillsborough hasdeclined from 600 in 2005 to 480 in 2010. The strategies supportedthrough Connected by 25 have provided many more opportunities foryouth to connect with these “permanent families.”Making a difference for the futureAs gratifying as it is to achieve change for one young person at a time, the drivingforce behind the Connected by 25 Initiative has always been to achieve systemicchange that will procure and safeguard the rights of youth aging out of foster care.Accomplishments to date are already yielding dramatic results:sIn the 2010 legislative session, the state of Florida revised policy toprovide tuition waivers to youth who have aged out of foster care, withwaivers lasting up to the age of 28. This allows them to attend postsecondary vocational and technical schools or colleges and universities.sIn 2008, Hillsborough County Public Schools assumed the expense ofthe guidance counselor position that is dedicated to providing supportfor youth in foster care.sYouth ages 16 to 17 who had been in the foster care system for yearswere often forced to choose between a “home” with supportive adults orreceiving Medicaid insurance and a tuition waiver if they aged out ofcare at age 18. Legislation was passed in 2008 that expanded Medicaidaccess until the age of 21 for all youth as well as those adopted at ages16 and 17 so they could continue to keep their tuition waiver for postsecondary education. 6