The Littleton Report, dated February/March 2024, contained an article titled “South Metro Community Foundation Works to Improve Outcomes for Foster Youth.”
The South Metro Community Foundation (SMCF), a community-supported 501(c)3 nonprofit, is raising funds to help provide navigators for foster care youth at least a year before they leave the foster care system at age 18.
Currently, outcomes for these vulnerable youth are distressing:
- Many become almost immediately homeless
- They have lower high school graduation rates
- They experience higher rats of drug and alcohol abuse
- Theya re more likely to encounter the criminal justice system
- They have higher suicide rates.
South Metro Community Foundation’s navigators, hired through a partnership with Advocates for Children/CASA of Arapahoe County, will help these young people apply for housing vouchers, obtain job training or education, and develop life skills. Approximately 450 foster youth age out of foster care each year in Arapahoe County.
With a grant from the City of Littleton’s Local Partnership Funding program, SMCF will hold a free forum in 2024 where residents can learn more. Visit SMCFinfo.org to make a tax-exempt donation to help foster youth, and for more information about the forum.
