Get a Mentor
Attending college is within your reach! You can combine financial aid awards from different sources to pay for the costs of most programs.
Applying for financial aid can be confusing. You are not expected to do this by yourself. Find a trusted, knowledgeable adult to help.
Here are some people to consider as your mentor:
- Your caregiver.
- An adult with whom you already have a connection, such as a teacher, tutor, coach, or youth leader.
- An education advocate within the child welfare system.
- Your caseworker or Independent Living Coordinator.
- A mentor from a community or school mentoring program.
- Your court-appointed special advocate (CASA), if you have one.
- If you have a disability, your IEP coordinator or special education teacher.
If you cannot find a mentor, high school counselors and college financial aid counselors will help. Every college program has financial aid professionals who are experts at putting together financial aid packages. Some even have a single person dedicated to students from foster care who can help meet your unique financial needs.
Mentoring Resources
Big Brothers Big Sisters has documented excellent results with their mentoring programs. To find an agency in your area, enter your zip code in the find my local agency box.
CASAnet - Court-Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) state offices will be able to tell you if their CASAs offer education advocacy. To find CASA programs in your area, under Program Services, click Find CASA Programs.
Casey Family Programs, It's My Life: Financial Aid - This is an excellent book that offers tools to help guide foster youth through the financial aid process.
Do-It, a program for youth with disabilities, offers online career and college mentoring. For an application, call (888) 972-DOIT (3648) or e-mail doit@u.washington.edu.
Washington State Mentoring - To get a list of mentoring programs in your area, click Find a Mentor, select your county, select your city, then click the Submit button.