By Nicarlyle Hanchard / The Jambar
Pursuing higher education can pose many difficulties, and Youngstown State University’s Fostering Penguins Program aims to alleviate additional struggles that foster care-connected students can face.
The program was initiated this fall with a $2,500 grant and designation awarded to YSU by the Ohio Department of Higher Education and the Ohio Children’s Alliance, as part of the Ohio Reach initiative.
According to ysu.edu, the program’s vision is “Every foster-connected student deserves a positive and empowering college experience. By eliminating barriers and fostering a sense of connection and purpose, Fostering Penguins helps students not only stay the course but thrive at YSU and beyond.”
Joy Polkabla Byers, interim vice president of Student Affairs and Dean of Students, said the grant will assist the program in providing additional resources to foster-connected students.
“We received a grant from Ohio that was specifically looking at providing additional support for students [who] have gone through the fostering system, and knowing that when there are some additional resources made available to these students, they’re more likely to be academically successful and feel grounded and belonging on the university campus,” Polkabla Byers said.
In the program’s infancy, there are currently three active students enrolled. Polkabla Byers said she is looking at ways to expand the program.
“We’re just learning about different opportunities to partner across campuses, to partner in our community,” Polkabla Byers said. “Looking at how else can the community be supportive and connected to helping these students, as well as other students.”
As the program grows, she said it may look into enlisting the help of students who major in social work and/or others who want to extend a helping hand.
“So, we’re still exploring all the different possibilities and then expanding our network of champions across campus,” Polkabla Byers said. “So, I said we have three right now, but how great would it be to have a champion from every department that understands a little bit more about the specific needs of students [who] have gone through the fostering system.”
Polkabla Byers explained that the term “champions” refers to staff members who have knowledge of the program’s operations and are able to offer additional support and resources to students when necessary. As the program’s lead liaison, Pokabla Byers ensures the program operates according to the guidelines of the grant and connects students with their required resources.
Meetings are held from 3-4 p.m. the second Friday of each month in the Dean of Students’ conference room on the third floor of DeBartolo Hall.
For confidentiality reasons, Polkabla Byers said the meetings are currently limited to students enrolled in the program. Nonetheless, she said the ability to provide resources to students through the program makes her proud of the university.
“I’m proud of our university for being able to offer this,” she said. “Every program starts small and you have to build it up, so somebody may say ‘Well, is this worth it for three students?’ In my mind, it’s worth it for one student. They should have resources that can help them be successful and that’s what we’re here to do.”