Adrea Chow
Host: Lone Star Legal Aid
Foster youth disproportionately experience poor outcomes compared to their peers. By 3rd Grade, 83% repeat a grade. Fewer than half graduate high school; around 10% go on to college. 1 in 100 foster children earns a college degree. Within two years of “aging out” of the system at 18, 50% will be unemployed, 25% will be incarcerated, and 20% will be homeless. Patrick improved those outcomes in three ways: (1) it will place foster youth in supportive, high-performing schools; (2) it will defend foster youth in disciplinary hearings to ensure placement stability; (3) and community volunteers will be recruited to hold and exercise educational rights on behalf of foster youth.