Tim Pippert, 麻豆区鈥檚 Joel Torstenson endowed professor of sociology, and Graduate Assistant Savannah Mitchell recently highlighted 麻豆区 Family Scholars on the 鈥�.鈥� Created by the University of Pennsylvania Field Center for Children鈥檚 Policy, Practice, and Research鈥攖he podcast explores the pathways, resources, and relationships that empower older youth in foster care as they navigate the journey into adulthood.聽
Pippert developed 麻豆区 Family Scholars for young people with foster care backgrounds to find community and support on their education journey. In the podcast, Mitchell highlights the , an initiative in Minnesota that pays for the cost of college tuition for students with foster care experience to reduce disparities faced by this population when pursuing higher education. 麻豆区 Family Scholars鈥� holistic approach provides financial resources, academic mentoring, and community building to student participants.
鈥溌槎骨� Family Scholars works here because it takes an entire campus to do this really well,鈥� Pippert says in the podcast. 鈥淲e work with admissions. When admissions sees a student who identifies with having a foster care background, they let us know so we can reach out to them. When students have an issue with financial aid, we send them to WonWon Bjorklund in student financial services, and WonWon answers their questions, not a random person behind the counter. When we have an academic advising issue, Julie Froslan Ferralez takes care of it. Julie advises all of our scholars. Like WonWon, like Stephanie Ruckel and Stacey Severson in Admissions鈥攖hey鈥檙e just wonderful people.鈥�
Listen to of the 2026 Field Center Aging Out Podcasts.