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Angelique Day, research specialist in the School of Social Work. Photo by Andy Henion

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EAST LANSING, Mich. — Foster care youth will have the opportunity to discuss their educational challenges with Michigan policymakers at a unique summer camp hosted by Michigan State University.

The camp is the first of its kind to encourage foster care youth to finish high school and attend college. This year’s third annual camp will take place Aug. 4-7.

“There are a lot of challenges to prepare foster care youth for the transition from high school to college,” said Angelique Day, camp coordinator. Day, herself a former foster care youth, is a research specialist in MSU’s School of Social Work and a policy and outreach associate at Michigan’s Children, a nonprofit advocacy organization.

For the first time, camp participants will have the chance to speak to a panel of about 50 policymakers. Scheduled panelists include state Rep. Joan Bauer, Kelly Howard from the State Court Administrative Office and leaders from several state departments including Human Services, Education and Community Health.

The Aug. 6 event, called KidSpeak, is held in partnership with Michigan’s Children.

Gary Anderson, director of the School of Social Work, also will be on the panel along with Joan Howarth, dean of the MSU College of Law. The camp is a partnership between the two schools.

Jack Kresnak, president of Michigan’s Children, said foster care youth have advocates and lawyers speaking up for them and judges making decisions about them – but it’s not often that the youth themselves are heard.

“It’s a rare opportunity to actually hear from foster kids, or former foster kids, or kids aging out of the foster care system about their lives,” Kresnak said. “We need their voices to better inform these people making decisions about them or about the system.”

During the camp, students will learn about budgeting and applying to college and participate in mock job interviews with career professionals. They’ll also learn about on-campus housing and how to deal with roommate issues, and listen to stories from former foster care youth about how they were able to navigate college.

The camp is run by counselors who are MSU students and foster care alumni.

Camp counselor Linda Venema, a senior majoring in social work, said it’s helpful for the foster care students to see foster care alumni like herself who are successful in college.

“We can show them that you are where you are, and that’s fine,” Venema said, “but this is where you can be.”

Only about 50 percent of foster care youth graduate from high school, Day said, and of those, only 13 percent apply to college. Of that 13 percent, only 2 percent to 3 percent graduate from college.

Sarai Embaye, a senior majoring in human resources and business management, was also in foster care. She came to MSU with her then-15-month-old daughter and no support network. It took a year of navigating MSU’s resources before she began discovering its many resources and student groups.

“Knowing is the most important thing,” Embaye said. “You have to know how to take advantage of the programming.”

Day said some former foster care students come to college because they see it as a roof over their heads and food on the table. She helps these students understand that if they don’t focus on their classes, they can’t stay.

“These students need the basics,” Day said. “And once they have the basics, then they’re ready to learn.”

Legislative sponsors of the camp are Bauer and state Sen. Gretchen Whitmer. Supporters include MSU Chance at Childhood, State Court Administrative Office’s Child Welfare Services Division, Michigan Federation for Children and Families, Michigan Department of Energy, Labor and Economic Growth, the Mott Foundation, the Comcast Foundation, the Volunteer Center of Michigan and the Parkwest Foundation.

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Michigan State University has been advancing knowledge and transforming lives through innovative teaching, research and outreach for more than 150 years. MSU is known internationally as a major public university with global reach and extraordinary impact. Its 17 degree-granting colleges attract scholars worldwide who are interested in combining education with practical problem solving.