Meet Our Partner: UC Davis Guardian Scholars

 Valeri Garcia grew up in a family that always stepped up when someone needed support. It’s fitting that she too stepped up when the opportunity arose to start and grow the UC Davis Guardian Scholars program for students with foster care experience, creating an environment and support system where the students could achieve their goals.

“My parents were always the house where people stayed when things were going on,” Valeri said. “I wanted to support a community of college students who were not being addressed, and I basically saw this program from the time it was just a piece of paper.”

 Valeri was working in a different department at UC Davis when she learned the new Guardian Scholars program was looking for a director. She joined in 2008 and has been in her position for more than 14 years assisting students with varied foster care experiences as they pursue their degrees at UC Davis.

 Guardian Scholars programs, also known as Next Up and Renaissance Scholars at some schools, are set up at universities and community colleges across the state to ensure students with foster care experience have the resources they need to attend and graduate from college. Each has its own eligibility markers, but the goal is the same: to make sure these students have the resources and support they need to graduate from college.

 According to a March 2022 article on the John Burton Advocates for Youth website, “While nearly 88 percent of foster youth indicate a desire to attend college, more than half report not receiving enough assistance with college planning."

 “It’s been a statewide effort to help campuses understand that students with experience in foster care also have unique campus experiences compared to the rest of the student body,” Valeri said. “Awareness is now much bigger. We have seen more state legislation and funding focused on foster youth who have at least thought about going to college. As a state, we are growing pathways to make it easier for students who have experienced foster care to attend college.”

 The UC Davis Guardian Scholars program has three pillars: transition and orientation to the university, graduation pathways and post-graduation planning. Valeri and her team identify services and programs to ensure Guardian Scholars have a community at the university even before they set foot on campus all the way through graduation. The team also has helped advocate for students at the university level. While it is mandated by the state that state schools and community colleges give foster youth priority registration, it was not mandated for UC schools. Valeri’s team worked with UC Davis to ensure its Guardian Scholars also receive priority registration.

 Valeri said she joined the program because of the opportunity to work with a population that previously had not been addressed on campus or been a focal point of services. She liked feeling part of a movement, a statewide effort.

 “I felt energized by the idea of creating a program to support these students, and I still feel that way,” Valeri said. “The connection with the students is so meaningful to me. I stay in contact with many of them after they graduate, and I am in awe of what they are accomplishing.”

 The UC Davis Guardian Scholars program relies on community partnerships to meet the many needs that the program cannot provide. Valeri met our board president, Jan Judson, before she had started Make It Happen for Yolo County. Jan was a supporter of the California Youth Connection Sacramento Chapter that is youth-run, youth-led and advocates for legislative change around foster care issues. When Jan co-founded Make It Happen, they began working together and helped create the California Youth Connection Yolo Chapter on the UC Davis campus. Make It Happen now serves 10-20 UC Davis Guardian Scholars each year.

 “Make it Happen has been so valuable and such a big add to our services,” Valeri said. “Sometimes our students feel overwhelmed about moving into their own apartments, but with Make It Happen, they feel like they have this amazing support system. Seventy to 80% of our students are financially independent, doing it on their own. There are times they ask if they have to give back the furniture that they’ve received from Make It Happen. When I tell them no it’s theirs to keep, there’s an ownership they take on. They have something of their own.”

 Valeri says many students tell her that they still have the furniture they received as new students. She recalls one student who was thrilled to have her very first dresser and still has it today.

 At Make It Happen, we are thrilled that this is the first year that the UC Davis Guardian Scholars program will receive funding from the state. Prior to that, the program mostly had been supported by donations and grants. Although the state funding amount has not yet been disclosed, Valeri is already making plans.

 “I’m hoping to expand our staff so we can go deeper into support and do more outreach and partnerships with off-campus resources like Make It Happen,” Valeri said. “We also hope to hire someone who can spend more time focusing on mental health, and we want to add more direct student funds and supports, such as scholarships and grants, to reduce loan debt and financial challenges.”