Foster Nation is proud to share its progress implementing the CareerX coaching program that helps Los Angeles-area foster youth LEARN life, social and professional skills in order to be self-sufficient after foster care. Youth aging out of the foster care system are at a clear disadvantage when it comes to higher educational attainment and finding a job that pays a realistic living wage with health benefits. Without proper support, 20 percent of foster youth experience homelessness, while only 24 percent of foster youth graduate high school, 10 percent enroll in college, and 3 percent graduate from college.

The core of Foster Nation’s mission is to build a community that foster youth can rely on for support so they know they are not alone. Through CareerX, Foster Nation matches current and former foster youth with a volunteer career coach to develop the foundational life and professional skills, social networks, and confidence they need to enter the workforce and adulthood with greater self sufficiency. With the generous support of LA2050 and the Goldhirsh Foundation, Foster Nation is beginning to scale CareerX to empower more foster youth across LA to go from surviving to thriving – from “impossible” to “I’m possible.”

The CareerX program launched in April 2022 resulting in greater educational and employment attainment, career readiness, and leadership capabilities for 32 foster youth. Coaches met with foster youth each month, using Foster Nation’s curriculum with particular emphasis on relationship building, adulting, financial literacy, and career development. The CareerX class of 2022 completed their nine-month journey and graduated from the program in January 2023. In our post-program assessment of participants, we found that:

• 76.9 percent of mentees who were seeking a job reported that they secured employment during the program,
• 61.5 percent of mentees who were seeking a job reported that they had interviews during the program,
• 82 percent expressed satisfaction in their work performance (an increase of 13% from the beginning of the program),
• 86 percent saw increased levels of confidence in their ability to achieve their professional goals,
• 83 percent saw improvements in their mental health,
• Nearly all (94 percent) found their mentor’s impact to be beneficial to their personal and professional lives, demonstrating the unique and positive impact that mentorship has on transitional-aged foster youth.

One foster youth noted of their experience, ”I've learned a lot about my abilities. I realized that just by putting in effort, things may not go exactly how I want them but how I need them. I learned how valuable it is to have someone in my corner. Ultimately, I learned that I have a desire to give back to my community and am working towards that. I hope someday to be a mentor to a youth who needs direction and support.”

The CareerX class of 2023, including 123 new participants, began their journey in early March, and will graduate from the program in November 2023. Over the course of the next nine months, this new group of foster youth will receive critical social support and skills-based training in order to achieve greater soft and hard skills and core competencies related to career attainment. During April and May, we will be conducting the next round of recruitment and outreach activities to launch a third cohort in August 2023 and meet our goal of doubling our enrollment to reach at least 200 total participants through CareerX this year. In addition, this year we are planning to launch an alumni network to help foster youth that have been in the CareerX program stay connected to each other, their coaches, and other helpful resources. We will also continue to utilize our program assessments and focus groups to refine our curriculum and program services in order to make the greatest impact for youth.

Given that CareerX began as a pilot program in 2022, we have experienced tremendous growth and have been able to learn from the past year’s successes and challenges in a variety of ways. One of our biggest challenges has been in receiving eligible referrals for former foster youth. This pushed us to pursue more partnerships with referral sources, including the Los Angeles Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS). As a result of this collaboration, we are thrilled to share that our referrals increased by 40 percent throughout the year, with 40 percent of new referrals coming from DCFS. This partnership has also introduced CareerX to a younger population of transitional aged youth so that our average participant age is now 21. Thanks to the support of LA2050 and the Goldhirsh Foundation, we are so excited to continue making Los Angeles a better place for foster youth to LEARN and thrive!

We encourage all who are interested in learning more about how to participate in CareerX as a coach or participant to visit our website for more information!