BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — Transitioning to college may be a challenge for any student but for foster youth hoping to attend a four-year university without financial support, it can be even more difficult. However, a new Senate bill plans to change that.
Before entering the foster care system one local foster youth says he lived on the side of Edison Highway during the pandemic. Attending Foothill High School was his escape from struggling with homelessness.
“The day that I got in contact with CPS was the day I ended up getting shot in the leg,” said Rudy Hernandez.
After undergoing care at the hospital, Hernandez says he moved into a foster home with five other kids.
“Living with five other kids, it’s hard especially because you don’t know them. There’s always a possibility for hostility.”
Hernandez says that foster youth deal with trust issues because of their traumatic backgrounds but he made meaningful connections at Foothill High School with administrators, teachers, and staff who offered him support throughout his high school career.
“Foothill High School was my escape from all reality.”
Hernandez says his experience at Foothill motivated him to pursue higher education at Cal State Long Beach where he plans to major in math education, but after gathering the money he needed for school he came up $500 short.
“Having that ability to just sit back and focus on my education without necessarily needing to take up a job while simultaneously juggling my schedules, it would offer me a lot of relief.”
And Senate Bill 307 would do just that. The new bill signed into legislation by Governor Gavin Newsom to expand the middle-class scholarship to cover any unmet needs including things like housing, books, and food.
“If you actually look at the legislation in SB 307 it talks about the student shared cost being around $8000,” explained Kurt Williams, director of homelessness and foster youth services.
That $8,000, which is out-of-pocket expenses per year, may be something foster youth may struggle with more than other incoming students.
“But for a lot of our foster youth, they’re leaving with no support, resources, and things like that so they wouldn’t have that piece of the funding,” continued Williams.
Diana Perez, Hernandez’s case manager with Bakersfield Angels worked with Rudy while he attended Foothill and as he prepared to head to college and she says she’s seen his resilience firsthand.
“This is only part of his story.”
According to the National Foster Youth Institute, only three to four percent of foster youth attend a four-year university and Perez says she’s grateful Hernandez allowed her to support him on his journey to become one of the few foster students with a degree.
“His heart is set here in the foothill, and I know he’ll be able to help a lot of people with his story.”
Hernandez began classes at Cal State Long Beach eventually hoping to come back to Bakersfield as a math teacher and high school counselor at Foothill High.
“This hot weather may not be the best, but I want to give back to the community that gave back so much to me.”
Governor Newsom signed SB307 into the 2023-2024 budget, costing the state $25 million annually to cover the cost of college for foster youth.
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