Brevard Family Partnership Receives Grant from Community Foundation of Brevard – Funding to help children aging out of foster care obtain high school diplomas

MELBOURNE, FL – Brevard Family Partnership (BFP) has been awarded a grant from the Community Foundation of Brevard to provide supplemental educational services to youth who have aged out of foster care so that they may acquire their GED and pass the FCAT.  The award was presented at a Grant Award Ceremony on September 1, at the Space Coast Early Intervention Center in Melbourne.

In BFP’s Making Connections program, young adults will be provided supplemental GED and FCAT preparation services, as well as adult mentoring.  In return, those in the program would agree to be trained as “peer mentors” and provide mentoring and encouragement to others in foster care.

“We believe that the benefit to the participants would be two-fold,” said Brevard Family Partnership’s COO, Jim Carlson. “By accomplishing the goal of achieving a high school diploma those in the program would realize that if they put their efforts and energies toward something, they are capable of success.  Then, as peers to other youth in similar situations, they can encourage and motivate them to succeed.”

“We currently interact with and support 80 young adults between the ages of 18 and 23 who have spent six months or more in foster care and now have aged out of the system,” Carlson said.  “Due to adversities in life many of them have not attained a high school diploma.   It is a state requirement and one of our primary goals to ensure that those aging-out of the system (turning 18 years old without having returned to the care of their parents or being adopted) have the education, as well as the basic life-skills necessary to live and thrive on their own.  The more we can do to help them enter adulthood with the tools and skills they need the better chance they have of becoming a successful member of their community”

Brevard Family Partnership works with youth and young adults through its “Independent Living” and “Road to Independence” programs -and in partnership with Connected by 25- to prepare youth for adulthood and life after foster care.  Training and education includes but is not limited to: financial literacy training, household management, and educational and career planning.  There also are several services that he or she can access, including: transportation, tuition assistance, housing and housing assistance, as well as emotional support.

More information about BFP’s programs and services for foster children can be found at www.brevardfp.org or by calling 321-752-4650.

About Brevard Family Partnership
Established in 2004 by a Legislative mandate to privatize foster care and related services in Florida (Section 409.1617, Florida Statutes), Brevard Family Partnership, a nationally COA accredited organization is Brevard County’s lead child welfare agency.  Working in partnership with over 70 community organizations, its mission is to protect children, strengthen families and change lives through the prevention of child abuse and the operation and management of a comprehensive, integrated, community-based system of care for abused, abandoned and neglected children, and their families.

###

Contact
Geo A. Ropert, APR
Communications Consultant
Community Based Care of Brevard, Inc.
Dba Brevard Family Partnership
760 North Dr., Ste. E
Melbourne, FL  32934
Phone: 321-752-4650 ext. 2084
Cell: 321-205-3155 (preferred)
Email: Geo.Ropert@brevardfp.org