THE NEED​

50% of the United States’ homeless population spent time in foster care. (National Foster Youth Institute, 2024). Youth in foster care end up with lower employment rates and college graduation rates than children who have not been in foster care. (National CASA Association, 2019). In Oregon, 49% of foster teens earn a high school diploma or GED. (Annie Casey Foundation, 2023). 

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CASA KNOWS HOW TO HELP FOSTER TEENS THRIVE

CASA volunteers and staff can help teens build confidence and develop healthy boundaries. To effectively serve foster teens, CASA volunteers and staff must acquire specialized knowledge and training to help teens get a driver’s license, apply for college or a vocational school, get a car, find a job, and find stable housing after they age out of foster care. This is why CASA of Marion County is creating its Fostering Futures Initiative. The Fostering Futures Initiative will build in checkpoints to ensure that teens are on track to graduate on time, enroll in post-secondary education or find full-time employment, and more.

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PROGRAM DESIGN 

CASA of Marion County plans to devote a full-time position to managing teen cases, thereby creating a new mechanism to secure additional volunteers and funding, while providing scalability and specialization to support CASAs advocating for this vulnerable population. A role tailored to serve teens (about 33% of CASA’s caseload) would enhance coordination, promote more in-depth knowledge of resources and best practices, ultimately leading to better outcomes. 

 

CASA’s Fostering Futures initiative will be culturally-specific, trauma-informed, and teen-centered.

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The Fostering Futures Initiative will be led by a full-time Advocate Coordinator who will (a) receive specialized training and become CASA’s in-house subject matter expert on community resources (b) supervise and conduct specialized training of volunteers assigned to teen cases (c) research, design and update CASA’s Teen Resource Guide (d) identify teen-specific child advocacy training and (e) collaborate with other CASA staff to create performance metrics.

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We will create the CASA College Fund to identify funds for collegebound foster youth to help pay for textbooks, school supplies and technology, and dorm room essentials. The Advocate Coordinator is a full-time position paid between $25.00 and $30.00 per hour plus benefits. CASA’s Executive Director, Program Manager, Administrative Services Manager, and Volunteer and Outreach Coordinator will all play supporting roles in implementing the Fostering Futures Initiative.  

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CASA of Marion County has served thousands of foster teens since 2002. We help teens apply for college, find their first jobs, and more. The Fostering Futures Initiative builds our capacity to provide customized case plans for every teen we work with.

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