UTSA welcomes freshmen who have a history of foster care

The UTSA Fostering Futures Program welcomed incoming freshmen during the Early Start Experience on Tuesday.

AUGUST 14, 2023 — From 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. today, the UTSA Fostering Futures Program (FFP) is hosting its Early Start Experience, a unique orientation designed for incoming freshmen who have a history of foster care. The event heavily focuses on peer-to-peer social connections and community-building to help the students successfully kick off their college experience.

The FFP is a student success program that provides support to UTSA students who have a history of foster care to empower youth overcome the challenges that foster students historically face when they pursue a college degree.

The program currently serves more than 250 enrolled undergraduate and graduate students, having reached more than 500 total UTSA students since the program launch in 2019. This fall, nearly 100 youth who receive educational benefits for having lived experience in foster care have enrolled for the first time at UTSA.

“This program is a gateway to move the needle on those trends, so students achieve critical building blocks for success and transform into active citizens for our community.”

“The energy of a new fall semester is so exciting because we get to meet so many new youth who come from very diverse backgrounds but each share a common identity of lived experience in foster care, and share the same dream of earning a degree in higher education,” said Emily Marcotte, UTSA associate director of the FFP and UTSA’s Foster Care Liaison. “National trends in education outcomes for this population have historically shown education access is a desperate need.  This program is a gateway to move the needle on those trends, so students achieve critical building blocks for success and transform into active citizens for our community.”

Students who have a history of foster care who choose to pursue higher education generally enter college without the financial and family support other college students enjoy. The FFP aims to close that gap by providing students who have a history of foster care a healthy support system and holistic resources that build equity for success in the classroom and to transition from foster care to adulthood.

UTSA data indicates that seven in 10 students with a history of foster care at the university take advantage of the FFP’s services including educational resources, housing and meal stipends, financial and employment assistance, life skills workshops, cultural and personal identity development, relationship and community connections, and well-being support.

The FFP is part of the Bexar County Fostering Educational Success Project (BCFES), a UTSA-led collaboration with Texas A&M University-San Antonio, the Alamo Colleges District, the Bexar County Children’s Court and Child Advocates San Antonio that serves as a national model for student success to develop programs and practices to guide students who have a history of foster care—as young as middle school—as they navigate the world of higher education.

The program was established in 2019 and continues to be supported by generous funding from the Texas Legislature and donations from individual supporters.

Since the FFPs founding, over 80 students with a history of foster care have crossed the commencement stage to earn their UTSA degrees, including Jazelynn Montemayor, who graduated last year with a finance degree and Krizia Frankin ’12, ’15, a double alumna who is now a social worker employed full-time in San Antonio.

— Christi Fish