An exciting young leader has joined the JBAY team, Karen Lopez.
Karen entered foster care as a teen and attended five high schools. Like many young people in her situation, she didn’t think that college was in her future. Her high school grade point was just 2.0 and she didn’t have anyone providing encouragement or the practical information to enroll.
Karen was playing the popular video game Halo and formed an online friendship with a fellow gamer. He was attending Riverside Community College and encouraged Karen to enroll as well.
Karen took a chance and enrolled, struggling at first, but eventually connecting with the campus-based program for foster youth, called NextUp. NextUp helps foster youth on campus navigate the maze of higher education, providing academic, emotional and financial assistance. In 2014, JBAY sponsored the bill that created NextUp and has worked to expand it since.
Once Karen was connected to her local NextUp program, she started to succeed in college. A 2021 report to the California State Legislature found that she isn’t alone: foster youth participating in NextUp enrolled in credit bearing courses at higher rates than foster youth not participating in the program (96% vs. 52%). NextUp students were also more likely to remain enrolled from term to term – 68% remained enrolled versus 48% of non-NextUp foster youth.
A survey of students echoed these data. When asked how much NextUp contributed to their ability to stay enrolled and succeed in classes, 96% expressed that the program made a difference with 84% citing it as a significant factor in their success and a full 51% saying that they would not have been able to succeed without the program.
With the support of NextUp, Karen received her Associates Degree and set her sights on transferring to a four-year university. She was admitted to each of the nine University of California campuses and will start at UC Berkleley for the Spring semester.
With this success in hand, Karen now wants to make college possible for other foster youth like herself. As a JBAY Youth Advocate, Karen will work closely with Education Director Debbie Raucher on JBAY’s 2022 legislative agenda, which includes expanding NextUp from 45 to 116 community college campuses and establishing funding for campus support programs at four-year universities.
“I am delighted to have Karen on board. As we embark on the campaign to obtain funding for campus support programs across all three of California’s post-secondary systems in the coming year, I anticipate that having Karen on the team will bolster our effort immeasurably.”
In her role as a Youth Advocate, Karen will meet with members of the Legislature and share her perspective on why programs like NextUp are both effective and necessary. She started the process this week, meeting with the staff of Senator John Laird. According to Executive Director Amy Lemley, Karen did a great job. “Karen showed a lot of courage, sharing her personal journey,” said Lemley. “She is a great example of the drive foster youth have for a better life.”