185 families have signed up for program
FRANKFORT, Ky. (July 7, 2016) — Kentucky First Lady Glenna Bevin today announced a pilot project, Youth in Transition, a family mentoring program designed to provide support to youth aging out of foster care.
The First Lady’s Office, in partnership with Kentucky Youth Advocates, worked to develop the project, wrapping more services around foster youth participating in the Louisville-area Fostering Success summer work program, recently launched by the Cabinet for Health and Family Services, and commitment of community partners Orphan Care Alliance and True Up.
As part of the Youth in Transition Initiative, Orphan Care Alliance matches foster youth who are aging out with families in their community to provide a much needed family support system and ongoing mentoring.
“Where do you go on Thanksgiving or Christmas if you are a foster youth who has aged out?” said Bevin. “Just because you turn 18 doesn’t mean you no longer need a family. Developing a strong family bond is still important.”
Currently, 185 families have signed up to be a part of the program. Forty-five of those families have completed training and are in the process of being matched with youth.
True Up is lending their expertise to the other major initiative of the program — experiential learning sessions designed to engage youth as they gain both important life skills, and skills needed to increase their employability.
True Up has recruited the help from Junior Achievement and Net Work Louisville to host sessions on topics like interviewing for a job, money management and career mapping. Input from the young adults is incorporated into each session’s curriculum through a needs assessment and weekly reviews submitted by the youth that are aging out.
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