Educational success is associated with almost every measure of a society’s health and well-being, which is why education is such an important building block for foster children.Unfortunately, youth in foster care are falling behind their parented peers concerning education:

• In BC, only 21% of foster youth graduate from high school within six years of entering Grade 8.
• A higher proportion of foster children in B.C. become involved with the justice system (35.5%) than graduate from high school (24.5%).

To support education for our participants, Aunt Leah’s is working with community partners, and offers programs such as Supporting Education for Foster Youth (SEFFY) that allows our support workers to be more involved in helping foster youth reach their educational goals.

Supporting Education for Foster Youth (SEFFY)

The mission of the Supporting Education for Foster Youth (SEFFY) program is supporting long-term education planning for foster youth and former foster youth in care, primarily between the ages of 16 to 24. The SEFFY model, adapted from Treehouse, emphasises highlighting strengths, identifying needs and advocating for resources that lead to academic success for youth.

There are two parts to the SEFFY model:

• An educational specialist working in partnership with foster youth and other caring professionals in their lives to promote education permanency, with specific focuses on advocacy, resources, reducing barriers and career planning.
• An advisory committee made up of educators and staff from community support agencies to provide guidance on program direction as well as assessing recipients for bursaries on a wide range of educational, skill enhancement and training opportunities rounds up the other part of the SEFFY model.

To Apply: