Celebrating Foster Care Awareness Month by Improving Educational Opportunities

Dan Lips / May 29, 2009

May is national foster care month. In Arizona, the state legislature marked the occasion by passing emergency legislation to rescue an education program that helps foster children from being terminated.

Since 2006, Arizona has provided tuition scholarships to students who have been placed in foster care to attend private school. Research shows that foster children are among the most at-risk groups in our society, and they often face challenges in the classroom. Among the challenges that foster children often face are instability (with frequent home placements leading to school transfers) and low-expectations. Arizona’s scholarship program was designed to give students who had been placed in foster care a special opportunity to attend a school of their guardian’s choice to ensure that they receive a great educational opportunity. (more…)