Foster Youth Program (PATH Scholars) Annual Report 2018-2019

II. Departmental Accomplishments

• Coordinated a summer program of events (Summer 2018) in collaboration with county partners (Butte County Office of Education, Champion Scholars, Butte County Independent Living Program, California Youth Connection – Butte Chapter, and Butte College Inspiring Scholars) to keep students engaged, connected, and to reduce isolation as the majority of students leave Chico during the summer months.
• Special Welcome for new incoming students. Collected donations (college living essentials) for new incoming students via our Annual Donation Drive (August 2018). With these donations, program staff was able to provide Welcome Packages to new and current students.
• Awarded Student Learning Fee funding ($26,000) for this academic year.
• PATH Scholars was added to the Cal Fresh student eligibility exemption list, which exempts participants from the student work rule. This reduces barriers to students in need.
• Received additional Walter S. Johnson Foundation (WSJF) Network funds ($4,875) for a student retreat and graduation related costs, which provided funds for cap and gown rental and university graduation application fees for six students.
• Provided Christmas gifts to over 40 PATH Scholar students, in collaboration with The Salvation Army Angel Tree, the Chico State Wildcat Food Pantry, and Chico State’s Regional & Continuing Education.
• Documentary screening, which highlighted PATH Scholar students to celebrate National Foster Care Month (May).
• There were twenty-one PATH Scholar graduates this May! This is the highest number of graduating students since the program’s inception.

Highlights

• Special Welcome for new incoming students: Transition to college life can be daunting, especially if you are doing it on your own, with little or no family support. Because of this, providing a special welcome is vital. In June 2018, PATH Scholars was selected as the focus for the service project component of Staff Development Day. This produced a variety of college living essentials for new students, such as bedding and personal care items. To supplement this, PATH Scholars hosted our second annual Donation Drive, and additional items were collected to make students feel comfortable and special in their new home. Donors included both on campus staff and faculty, as well as community members. A partnership drive, hosted by Bidwell Presbyterian Church, also produced many items for new students. To document this major milestone and accomplishment, the program collaborated with Chico State Creative Media and Technology to create a video of incoming students receiving welcome packages(opens in new window).
• PATH Scholars awarded Student Learning Fee funding: The program received $26,000 for the 2018-19 academic year. This funding provided salaries for two part-time student staff to continue our Peer Coach model to support students on an individual basis, as well as four new computers for the PATH Scholars Center. Prior to this, the Center was using computers on loan from ITSS. New technology for the Computer Lab at the PATH Scholars Center was instrumental for students and their success in this academic year. Students’ primary reason for visiting the Center for the computer lab exceeded 50% for ten out of the 15 weeks of instruction for fall 2018. For spring 2019, students’ primary reason for visiting the Center for the computer lab exceeded 50% every week of the semester. This substantially demonstrates that the computer lab is a critical resource for PATH Scholar students. Additionally, students’ access to a Peer Coach is also a critical component of PATH Scholars. There were 91 active student participants in the program this academic year. Student staff serving as Peer Coaches meet with students individually and provide financial literacy skills as well as academic and emotional support. This allows the Program Coordinator to meet with other students that have higher needs. With this funding, the Peer Coaches completed 64 individual sessions with 23 students over the course of year. This provides significant support to the Program Coordinator, but more importantly, to the students that otherwise would not get this level of assistance. 
• Documentary highlights PATH Scholar students: Two Chico State graduate students selected PATH Scholars for their community project. The primary focus of this venture was to increase awareness around students with a foster care and unaccompanied homeless background and how PATH Scholars supports them during their Chico State journey. The 24 minute documentary was screened on May 1^st, kicking off National Foster Care Month on our Chico State campus.

Diversity Efforts 

• Presented to several foster youth (from foster care agencies and schools throughout the state) in collaboration with Campus Special Tours.
• Continued regular events with campus partners (Butte College and Shasta College) to strengthen transfer pipeline.
• Services continue to be offered to older and re-entry students with a foster care background. There has been an increase in this student population seeking additional services as active PATH Scholars participants.

III. Changes In Policies And Procedures

Due to reaching maximum capacity from significant increase in student numbers and need, as well as limited staffing and resources, the Program Coordinator needed limit the number of students being admitted to PATH Scholars. The program will continue to be structured using a tier system – Tier I, to include students that have been verified with a foster care and/or unaccompanied homeless background and will continue to receive priority registration as well as useful information and resources; and Tier II, comprising of active students that submit an application packet and receive targeted, intrusive advising and case management services.  This year, the Program Coordinator admitted sixteen students (14-fall/2-spring) that demonstrated the greatest need and highest level of motivation to use their education to make a positive impact on their families and communities.

IV. Resources Summary

Note:  The Foster Youth Program was partially funded by the Walter S. Johnson Foundation (WSJF). Grant fiscal year is based on an October 1, 2018 – September 30, 2019 timeline.  Salary for the Foster Youth Program Coordinator is included within the EOP General Fund allocation.

Human Resources

     N/A

Facilities/Equipment

Space continues to be a challenge that is still pending to be resolved. Although we share a space with another program, we are not able to fully function in the capacity that best serves our students.  

V. Program Assessment Of Past Year

Program Objectives for 2018-2019:

1. Continue to explore options for a permanent PATH Scholars Center.
   Ongoing – The Center is still in a shared location with another program, the Dream Center.  The current space configuration has created some challenges, especially around privacy. Because of this and other challenges, we continue to work with the VPSA’s office to identify a more permanent space. 
2. Reactivate/revive campus Foster Youth Committee.
   Met – The Foster Youth Committee met twice during the spring 2019 semester. The first meeting included current members, but was also opened up to other campus professionals by way of Campus Announcements. This yielded several new members who were enthusiastic to support this student group. The Committee Chair and Program Coordinator updated the Committee, in terms of the PATH Scholars program, participating students, programming and current needs. Due to significant and continued program growth and need, the Committee agreed that it should evolve and be more action/task focused. During the second meeting, committee positions were selected and members volunteered for the various roles. Moreover, the Committee joined forces with Butte County Office of Education and Butte College Inspiring Scholars for a County Advisory Council to extend into the local community and leverage resources on a larger scale.
3. Compare academic progress of Tier I participants vs. Tier II (active) participants.
   Met/Ongoing – First of all, a mechanism should be added to Advisor to identify/differentiate active/Tier II vs. Tier I. Since the numbers are relatively small (151), this process was completed manually. At the end of the spring 2019 semester, eleven percent of the Tier I students earned a cumulative GPA of below a 2.0 whereas it was slightly higher (14%) for the Tier II (active) group. Looking at cumulative GPA of 2.0 to 2.9, 59% of Tier I students comprise that category, with 46% of Tier II (active) in that same category. The most noteworthy is with students that earned above a 3.0 GPA. Forty percent (40%) of students in the Tier II (active) group have a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or above, whereas only 30% of students in the Tier I group have a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or above. This is the first year examining this data, so it will be important to continue looking at this trend.

Ongoing Assessment Efforts

Note: *Time of campus closure due to Camp Fire.

Student Learning Outcomes

Note:  A Student Learning Outcomes survey was sent out at the end of the academic year to 91 students (Tier II/active). Twenty-seven students completed the survey (30% completion rate). The results of that survey inform the following:

SLO #1 – As a result of participating in the PATH Scholars Program, students will increase in their academic self-confidence and networking skills.

• As a result of attending a PATH Scholars New Student Orientation and/or Welcome Reception (19 respondents), 74% of respondents stated that it was Extremely Helpful or Very Helpful to their overall success.
• As a result of attending a PATH Scholars Academic Advising Success Workshop (17 respondents), 76% of respondents stated that it was Extremely Helpful or Very Helpful to their overall success.
• As a result of attending PATH Scholars Networking Opportunities (18 respondents), 89% of respondents stated that it was Extremely Helpful or Very Helpful to their overall success.
• As a result of attending a Cultural Activity (19 respondents) and/or a Social Activity (25 respondents), 79% of respondents and 68% of respondents stated that it was Extremely Helpful or Very Helpful to their overall success, respectively.

SLO #2 – As a result of participating in the PATH Scholars Program, students will develop and improve independent living skills, reducing their emotional stress and giving them more time to focus on academic goals.

• As a result of attending PATH Scholars Independent Living Skills Workshops (14 respondents), 71% of respondents stated that it was Extremely Helpful or Very Helpful to their overall success.
• As a result of working on Independent Living Skills during individual meetings with the Program Coordinator and/or a Peer Coach (21 respondents), 86% of respondents stated that it made a Significant Impact or Moderate Impact to their overall success.
• As a result of learning and practicing healthy coping skills to manage stress during individual meetings with the Program Coordinator and/or a Peer Coach (22 respondents), 86% of respondents stated that it made a Significant Impact or Moderate Impact to their overall success.
• As a result of participating in PATH Scholars (26 respondents), 23% of respondents stated that it Completely assisted in overcoming challenges, 38% of respondents stated that it Considerably assisted in overcoming challenges and 15% of respondents stated that it Moderately assisted in overcoming challenges.

VI. Analysis

• Overall, students continue to utilize PATH Scholars and the resources available to them to reach their academic goals because this program connects with their foster care and/or unaccompanied homeless identity and experience. Ultimately, the goal is to increase access, retention and graduation rates, and this year proved hugely successful as twenty-one active students graduated. According to the Student Learning Outcome survey distributed after the end of this academic year, 85% are Very Satisfied or Moderately Satisfied with their PATH Scholars experience. One survey respondent stated, “PATH Scholars means THE WORLD to me. I am very appreciative of all the support I have gotten because I don't know where else it could have come from without this program”. Another student shared that PATH Scholars “means family and support for students who have faced adversity and have not had the real experience of healthy love”. To further demonstrate the tremendous need to support this student group, another participant poignantly states, “PATH Scholars empowers those who feel the most alone”.
• The PATH Scholars Center continues to play a vital role in the success of the program goals. As described in the Highlights section, computer usage is one of the main reasons that students visit the Center. According to the Student Learning Outcome Survey results, 23 out of the 27 students that completed the survey stated that they used the computers at the PATH Scholars Center. One hundred percent of those 23 students indicated that access to those computers was Extremely Helpful or Very Helpful to their overall success. While students utilize the computer lab, meet with program staff and connect with their peers at the Center, a significant challenge continues with the current space being shared by two distinctive programs. The location divides PATH Scholars and the Dream Center with office partitions, which leads to high noise volume, limited student occupancy and lack of privacy and confidentiality, allowing opportunity to overhear sensitive conversations by both populations. Students from both programs have shared that they do not feel comfortable utilizing the Center due to these reasons. Ultimately, PATH Scholars needs a space solely dedicated to this program in order to effectively and appropriately serve this student group.
• As student numbers and needs continue at significantly high levels, and program staff and resources remain the same, it is imperative that students also enroll in EOP. Many CSU Foster Youth Programs require that students enroll in both programs. However, due to early admission deadlines in EOP, the majority of foster youth miss those deadlines due to navigating the college application process with little to no support. The Program Coordinator will strengthen partnership with EOP to ensure that students are optimally supported.
• In addition to ensuring that students receive effective support and services, it will also be important to closely review current student participation and evaluate student need. For example, some students on the active/Tier II list have not met all program requirements for various reasons, including but not limited to, an overcommitted schedule, success on their own or no longer interested or in need of high level services. Those students will be given an opportunity to stay on the current roster if they need. If the need is low to zero, students will be transferred to the Tier I list, where they will still receive priority registration and access to campus department liaisons. This frees up program staff time and resources to better assist and give more attention to students with the highest needs.
• Next year should focus on reducing total numbers, while providing more one on one support to students who are struggling academically and have high needs. Equally as important, more targeted support is needed for first-time freshman as they transition to college life.

VII. Program Objectives For 2019-2020

1. Continue to explore options for a permanent PATH Scholars Center that best meet the needs of the students.
2. Launch Mentor Program with the assistance of a Mentor Coordinator (MSW Intern).
3. Strengthen collaboration with EOP and SSS.