The Bridges to Success Program
When we build strong children, we build a strong community
What happens when teenagers age out of foster care without the knowledge, tools, and experience they need to succeed?
By the time they reach their mid-twenties, their outcomes are bleak, according to this longitudinal study by Chapin Hall, University of Chicago:
- 54% were unemployed;
- 37% had been homeless or lived in unstable circumstances;
- Only 8% had completed a 2- or 4-year degree;
- 75% of the young men had been in jail; and
- 80% of the young women had been pregnant, 32% before age 18.
Piedmont CASA is changing those outcomes
For years, experts recognized that older youth in care were not thriving and that young men and women who turned 18 and "aged out" faced dismal outcomes. When we looked at our own cases, we saw older kids experiencing more frequent placement changes, often to more and more restrictive settings, further and further from home. They were not doing well in school and certainly were not developing the soft and hard skills they needed to step over the threshold into young adulthood.
In January 2017, Piedmont CASA launched Bridges to Success. Today, three professional adult mentors provide 1:1 guidance and support to foster kids ages 13 to 18, and continue to work with young adults who stay on our caseload up to age 21.
We set four goals: improve placement stability, improve academic performance, improve soft and hard skills needed for employment and - this is the game-changer - engage the youth in the life-planning process. We want our kids to see that despite everything that has happened to them, they can learn the skills they need to take control of their own life in a positive, productive, and rewarding way.
Our Bridges to Success Coaches
