Community College Pathways for Foster Youth (CCP)

Student Photos: “Bridge to a Bridge” Program (B2B)
A joint project of the Workforce Collaborative and the East Bay Career Advancement Academy.
Roy Robles © Career Ladders Project

Community College Pathways for Foster Youth (CCP) is an initiative designed to assist California community college campus programs in improving college and career outcomes for former foster youth. CCP is supported by the Walter S. Johnson Foundation, the Stuart Foundation, and the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and operates in close partnership with California College Pathways.

CLP, as the coordinating partner, provides direct support in the form of technical assistance and professional development, working with the colleges individually and collectively to expand and deepen their work with former foster youth. CCP focuses on linking community colleges across California in order to strengthen outcomes for former foster youth in not only achieving postsecondary educational goals, but also accessing careers with family-sustaining wages and advancement opportunities. The CCP learning community has a particular focus on collective strategies which increase connections with career pathways and demonstrate effective instructional strategies that benefit former foster youth

Each year, almost 4,000 youth emancipate from, or “age out” of, the foster care system. These youth represent one of California’s most vulnerable populations, facing enormous social, economic, and educational challenges. In the face of these challenges, many struggle to enter and succeed in postsecondary education. However, without access to and achievement in post-secondary educational institutions, former foster youth are extremely limited in their ability to find employment that will be personally rewarding and provide financial stability.

Through this and other initiatives, CLP works to not only improve services for former foster youth on individual community college campuses, but also identifies structural and systematic barriers to student success as well as develop practice and policy recommendations that will improve services statewide.

Foster Youth Resources and Links