MISSION STATEMENT
Promoting a culture of care for Texans with experience in foster care as they pursue post-secondary education.
VISION STATEMENT
We envision a Texas in which all youth with experience in foster care pursue a post-secondary credential, enabling them to thrive as adults.
What We Do
Education Reach for Texans seeks to eliminate barriers to success and build support programs for students with lived experience in foster care attending public colleges and universities in the state of Texas. We are one of a growing group of organizations across the nation seeking to improve the success of students with experience in foster care in postsecondary education. We work to improve postsecondary education outcomes by hosting professional development and training opportunities across the state to share evidence-based and best practices and by consulting foster care liaisons with implementing campus-based support programs.
We serve foster care liaisons and other stakeholders in their roles to support students with experience in foster care in higher education. Foster care liaisons are an unfunded state mandate and are the first point of contact for students with experience in foster care in higher education and help them navigate the institution, shares resources and benefits available to them, uses positive language focused on student strengths, and work with them to help them achieve their academic, professional, and personal goals. Campus support programs are often facilitated by liaisons and are programs that provide extensive care and resources for students with experience in foster care on campus. Liaisons cannot do this work alone and many institutions do not have a dedicated full-time employee to do this work. We do whatever it takes to make sure liaisons are educated in trauma-informed care, are well-versed in the benefits available to the students they serve and understand the components of and how to build a campus support program. We strive to have an active liaison and a campus support program in every public higher education institution in Texas.