Background of Project Graduate

Founded in June of 2011 as an official, philanthropic program of the Riverside County Bar Association (RCBA), Project Graduate works in collaboration with the Riverside Superior Court and Riverside County’s Department of Public Social Services (DPSS) to assist foster youth to graduate high school, to continue their education beyond high school, and to plan for a successful future.

In 2011, RCBA members discovered that foster youth have a less-than 50% high school graduation rate - a product of a high likelihood of changing homes multiple times in a school year, enrollment in low-performing schools, and lack of consistent monitoring of their academic progress. As a direct result, they are at high risk for homelessness, unemployment and sexual exploitation when they reach age 18, emancipate out of the foster system, and are left to their own devices at this young, still-impressionable age.

Without the ability to actually foster these at-risk youth, the RCBA attorneys sought a way to help them using the skills and abilities the RCBA has an abundance of: the ability to provide advocacy, representation, guidance and a sympathetic ear. Working with DPSS and the Riverside Superior Court, a program was developed to provide attorney volunteers to advocate for these young people, and to help them grab hold of the one tool we could give them to lift themselves above the high risk of homelessness and exploitation: successful completion of high school. RCBA turned to its membership to recruit and train volunteer Educational Representatives. DPSS could then identify the most at-risk foster youth, and match them with those volunteers. A Juvenile Court bench officer would then oversee the students' progress during a monthly Education Calendar. 

RCBA Members who have gone through training and are approved by DPSS as volunteers will be appointed as the educational rights holder of foster youth participating in the program, by court order (Judicial Council Form JV-535).

We currently have eighteen RCBA members trained to serve as Educational Representatives. Thirteen RCBA members are active Educational Representatives for the 2023-2024 program year and more are answering the call to serve and are in the process of completing the training they need to become court-appointed Educational Representatives.

Since its inception in 2011, Project Graduate has helped fifty-eight (58) foster students graduate from high school with a diploma or GED.

The willingness to serve is there, and representatives are available to provide their (extensive) time and attention to the foster youths’ needs. Due to the fundraising efforts of the Chair of the Project Graduate Steering Committee, we currently have the economic resources to provide them with everything they need to succeed.

Foster Students

Youth in foster care volunteer to participate in Project Graduate. There are only three requirements in order to participate in the program: (1) the youth is 16-17 years old when starting the program, (2) the youth has a 2.0 grade point average or lower, and (3) the youth is another planned permanent living arrangement (APPLA).

The APPLA is any permanent plan for a youth in an out-of-home foster care placement, in which a youth may remain until adulthood, when the options to return home, place with a relative, place for adoption, tribal customary adoption, or legal guardianship have been ruled out. These options are ruled out for several reasons but what the APPLA means is that the foster youth will not be returning to the parents from whom the foster youth was removed, due to abuse or neglect.

Foster youth have an emotional need to be in permanent homes with loving parents, caregivers or significant adult role models in their lives. Foster youth in APPLA don’t have any of these options available to them and lack important adult support in their lives.

Our program provides them with at least one adult support person in their lives, in the form of the educational representative, who assists them in graduating from high school with a high school diploma.

Incentives for Foster Students Participating in Project Graduate

The students have the opportunity to earn points, which translates into dollars on a 1:1 basis, which they will receive in the form of a check, once they successfully complete the program. There are nine (9) categories in which points can be awarded as follows:

• Attendance;
• Discipline (lack thereof);
• Academics (Current Progress);
• High School Completion (on track to graduate);
• Transitioning into Adulthood (participating in events that will assist them when they turn 18);
• Supplementary Support (for example, tutoring);
• Recognition (receiving an award at school);
• Community Connection (the foster youth participates in community service).
• Attendance (at Educational Calendar).

These points are awarded on a monthly basis during our program year and the students can earn up to one-hundred (100) points per month. The educational rights holder is responsible for providing documents, in the form of transcripts, emails from school counselors, or other documentation, to support the award of points. The program year begins in September and ends in May. During these monthly meetings, the students receive lunch and speak with their educational representative before meeting with the Juvenile Court bench officer.

The students also receive a holiday gift, a birthday gift, and a gift card if they attend more than 50% of the monthly educational calendars overseen by a Riverside Superior Court Juvenile Judicial Officer. Often, this is the only gift they receive to celebrate these special occasions.

In addition, we provide foster youth who successfully complete our program and graduate from high school with:

• A base-level laptop computer, donated generously by Juvenile Defense Panel;
• A check for the amount of incentive points they earn as they progress through the program by maintaining their GPA, by attending all their classes and by participating in the leadership and volunteer opportunities offered by their schools;
• A plaque commemorating their successful completion of the program; and
• A luncheon celebration each June, all of which are paid for by our fundraising efforts.

When individual students have specific educational needs, these needs are brought before the Project Graduate steering committee for consideration.

Please help us to say "yes" to these needy requests and to our continued ability to provide our students with the tools and resources they need to be successful, independent adults. Please help us to encourage those foster youth who take it upon themselves to take the initiative to work hard despite all the challenges they face, to succeed, and, in turn, to go on to help those that follow in their footsteps.

Volunteers Needed – Project Graduate Needs Volunteers to Mentor Foster Youth!

The process of becoming a mentor or Educational Representative for these students, is straightforward, involving a background check, a LiveScan (fingerprinting), a short training program, and appointment by the judicial officer who oversees the Education Court program.

If you can't take on the role of an educational representative or a mentor, there are opportunities to help the steering committee, including, but not limited to, organizing and/or presenting special activities such as career day, tracking resources to help educational representatives do their work, coordinating volunteer recruiting and training, and raising funds for the student incentive program and many other activities.

Duties of an Educational Representative

The duties of an educational representative are varied, but include and are not limited to, the following:

1. Speak with the assigned foster youth at least once a month, outside of the day that we meet for educational calendar for the month;
2. Obtain the student’s educational records (attendance, disciplinary, and GPA) monthly from the student’s high school;
3. Attend meetings with school representatives to discuss the educational needs of the foster youth, which may include participating in the creation of an Individualized Education Program (IEP) for the student and attending IEP meetings;
4. Participate in Child and Family Team meetings with DPSS;
5. Attend Steering Committee meetings once a month via Zoom. Steering Committee meetings are held on the second Thursday of the month at lunch. We understand that our volunteers have busy schedules and are not able to attend every Steering Committee meeting;
6. Prior to attending the educational calendar with your student, the representative completes an Individualized Educational Advocacy Plan form, which is a fillable form if the representative prefers to type. The representative also provides supporting documents (student educational records) to justify the award of points. The maximum number of points that can be awarded monthly is 100. The completed form with supporting documentation is emailed to four people: (a) the supervisor at DPSS who oversees the program, (b) the court liaison, who provides it to the judicial officer overseeing Project Graduate, (c) The County Counsel representative to Project Graduate; and (d) the RCBA/Foundation representative to Project Graduate. This form and supporting documents should be completed at least three (3) days prior to the Educational Calendar and emailed to the individuals identified in the form at least two (2) days prior to the Educational Calendar;
7. Attend Educational Calendars in person, once a month. Educational Calendars are held once a month, in person, on the third Thursday of the Month, unless the judge changes the date. In person attendance is preferred by the court if your student is attending in person. If your student attends via Zoom, it is ok to attend via Zoom as well. The first in-person Educational Calendar meeting the student attends varies and can occur in September or October. The last in-person Educational Calendar meeting occurs in May and all participating students are invited to attend the June Graduation luncheon, where we celebrate those foster students who have graduated from high school during the program year;
8. At the educational calendar, the educational representative goes into court with the student and speaks with the court about how the student is doing in school and what he or she needs to help (Chromebook, supplies, tutoring, etc.). It is not the forum for the student to start complaining about DPSS or his or her attorney about non-school related subjects, which has occurred.

Each educational representative handles their students differently. Some foster students are excited to have an adult support person care for their educational needs; some are not. As an Educational Representative, you will gauge your assigned student to see how he or she would like to be handled. You would provide your contact information to your student to reach you, so if you want to set up a different email address and cell phone number, that is fine too.

We try only to assign one student per representative, but if you are available to handle two students, please let us know. We also attempt to assign students by geographical location, so that the Educational Representative is closer to the student’s school.

Please watch our videos, which were produced by DPSS:

For additional information about Project Graduate, you may review the articles from the following issues of Riverside Lawyer magazine: November 2011, February 2012, May 2012, September 2012, November 2012, December 2016, December 2017, November 2018, July-August 2019, December 2020, September 2021, April 2022.

If you are interested in becoming an Educational Representative for a foster student, please send an email to Alexandra Fong, Chair of the Project Graduate Steering Committee at RCBF.ProjectGraduate@gmail.com

Donations

Although we currently have the economic resources to provide the foster students with everything they need to succeed due to the fundraising efforts of the Chair of Project Graduate, donations to the Foundation and Project Graduate are happily accepted at any time.

Checks should be made payable to Riverside County Bar Foundation, Inc. and mailed to the following address:

Riverside County Bar Foundation, Inc.
ATTN: Project Graduate
4129 Main Street, Suite #100
Riverside, CA 92501