to get priority housing at California universities
Experts say stable residency is crucial for students just out of foster care, who may have nowhere to go during school vacations. A new law requires public colleges to accommodate them year-round.
. . . More schools are allowing — and paying for — those students to live on campus year-round. A recently enacted state law, which is expected to have a major effect in the fall, requires that all Cal State and University of California schools give former foster youth priority for campus housing, even if dorm space is limited. Universities also must work toward providing housing without vacation interruptions.
The law aims to avert homelessness and couch-surfing among students who are emancipated from the system at 18 and no longer eligible to live in state-supported foster homes. While some former foster children can stay with relatives and friends during college vacations, "the vast majority of our youth have nowhere else to go," said Jenny Vinopal, who runs programs for former foster youths in the Cal State system and is an official with California College Pathways, an organization that seeks to boost college attendance among foster youth statewide.
The prospect of guaranteed housing will send an encouraging message to younger foster teens that "if I work hard in high school, I can get my college education and have a place to live," she said.
Some government-supported transitional housing is available for former foster children. But young people can only stay in those homes for two years and the locations are not always conducive to college life. Some private foundations and charities, including the YWCA in Santa Monica, provide housing for such students, but space is limited.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-foster-20100802,0,2583285.story
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