UC Education Fair Reveals Educational Opportunities for Foster Youth
An education fair at the University of Cincinnati aims to make the future brighter for young people in the foster care system, and so far, its part of an incentive thats showing results. The fair gets underway at 9 a.m., Saturday, April 9, in the Annie Laws Conference Room of UCs Teachers College.
The Higher Education Mentoring Initiative (HEMI) is a partnership thats preparing foster youth for educational opportunities beyond high school after they age out of the foster care system. Now in its second year, the partnership reports 12 HEMI students began their freshman year at a state university or college this year, including two here at UC. Thats triple the number from 2008, when only three of the 150 Hamilton County foster youth who graduated from high school continued their education.
The fair will include a panel of the HEMI students now in higher education, as they share their experiences with the high school students.
The keynote speaker is Adrian McLemore, a political science major at Wright State University, who grew up in Ohios foster-care system. He is a founding member of the states Youth Advisory Board and has advocated on the state and national level about improving the futures of children in foster care.
Representatives of the HEMI partnership include UCs Partner for Achieving School Success (PASS) program in the College of Education, Criminal Justice, and Human Services (CECH), the UC School of Social Work, Hamilton County Job and Family Services, the Hamilton County Board of Commissioners, Cincinnati State Technical and Community College and Great Oaks Career Campuses.
The HEMI partnership served 25 high school students during the 2009-10 academic year. That number has now grown to 50, with the addition of 25 new high school students during the 2010-2011 academic year.
In addition to programming, HEMI recruits long-term mentors to guide the foster students from high school through higher education. The mentors undergo an extensive screening and training process. The program now has 50 mentors from the Hamilton County community.
Related News: HEMI Among The Presidents Diversity Council Incentive Awards
Related Stories
4 steps to craft an outstanding graduate program application
July 2, 2024
Derrya Mathis, a graduate of the pre-occupational therapy program, shares her insights and experiences on successfully applying to graduate school.
Get to know Lisa Huffman, new dean of UC's CECH
July 1, 2024
UC News spoke with incoming CECH dean, Lisa Huffman, about her past experiences, the role family plays in her life, academic philosophies, goals for her time in this position and more. As we welcome the newest dean to University of Cincinnati, we encourage you to read on to learn more about Dean Huffman.
Rising temperatures possibly linked to increased city crime rate
June 20, 2024
Criminal Justice expert J.Z. Bennett interviewed by Fox 19 for his expertise on the relationship between rising temperatures and rise in crime. Bennett says there is no single cause to point to for the rise in crime during a heat wave, but that youth involvement in crime might be due to peer pressure and lack of supervision.