The day that children and teens come into foster care, their education takes a back seat to their survival as they are removed from familiar homes, neighborhoods, and schools. These difficult situations place children and teens in foster care at an increased risk for failure in education. Always Changing While attending a school for an […] The post Supporting the Education of Students in Foster Care in Phoenix first appeared on Arizona Friends of Foster Children Foundation ..read more

Mercedes first entered foster care when she was 15 years old, just two weeks shy of her 16th birthday. As a single mother, she lives paycheck to paycheck just trying to survive. She is going to community college full time to get an associate’s degree and had been using her phone to take online classes. […] The post Mercedes’ Story first appeared on Arizona Friends of Foster Children Foundation ..read more

Rich is an Arizona Friends of Foster Children Foundation scholar who is currently attending Arizona State University. Below is their story in their words about the AFFCF Post-Secondary Scholarship. “When I aged out of foster care in 2018, I no longer was certain about what I had wanted out of college. For the longest time, […] The post Rich’s Story first appeared on Arizona Friends of Foster Children Foundation ..read more

Even though Annie has been in foster care since she was seven, things have been going pretty well in her life. This amazing 17-year-old has a great placement in Central Arizona and is an active participant in school. Not only does she play for her school’s volleyball team, but also is a cheerleader and volunteers […] The post Annie’s Story first appeared on Arizona Friends of Foster Children Foundation ..read more

Thirteen-year-old Brady loves basketball so much that his dream is to be a professional basketball player one day. Playing basketball motivates him to keep his grades up and school. With his end goal in mind, he really wants to increase his basketball skills. Making Dreams Come True As a kinship placement, his family wanted to […] The post Brady’s Story first appeared on Arizona Friends of Foster Children Foundation ..read more

Growing up is already hard enough. You have teenage crushes, pimples, hormones, and math to deal with. These things can be a lot to handle. But imagine if you’re a child in foster care and you’ve been placed in a house with strangers. That’s going to be a lot to take on. That could be […] The post Top 5 Foster Care Books first appeared on Arizona Friends of Foster Children Foundation ..read more

The foster care system is designed to help children that don’t have a safe, loving place to call home or parents that can care for them. Each year, more than 250,000 children will enter the U.S. foster care system, and sadly, many will remain there for the duration of their childhood.  For some children in […] The post What Does “Aging Out” Mean and How You Can Support Arizona Youth Who’ve Aged Out of Foster Care Get a Better Start at Life first appeared on Arizona Friends of Foster Children Foundation ..read more

Arizona Friends of Foster Children Foundation’s scholarship program allows individuals to apply as long as they are the under the age of 25. This flexibility is especially beneficial for students who either completed high school or earned their GED later in life or chose not to pursue college immediately after graduating. Anna, who joined the […] The post AFFCF Scholars: Anna first appeared on Arizona Friends of Foster Children Foundation ..read more

Jose has been enrolled in AFFCF’s Keys to Success (KTS) program for 10 months and is already on a path to success and independence. His resilience, kindness and determination have not only propelled him forward, but also positioned him a role model for the younger individuals in his group home. Despite experiences the challenges of […] The post Keys to Success: Jose first appeared on Arizona Friends of Foster Children Foundation ..read more

It’s not uncommon for students from foster care to feel alone as they work to earn their degrees. Not having family support or enough resources to manage life’s challenges while getting their education can often deter their progress. With less than three percent of young people from foster care completing their degree programs, having a […] The post Post-Secondary Programs: Creating Community first appeared on Arizona Friends of Foster Children Foundation ..read more