Career Kick-Start

What do you want to do when you grow up? Far too many foster youth can’t answer that question. The Career Kickstart Program helps foster youth discover their interests, learn about viable career options, and prepare themselves for a career with a future.

The YES Scholar initiative is highly successful at helping college bound foster youth to enter and stay in school to attain a two-year or four-year degree. The YES Emerging Scholar initiative helps foster youth who do not see college in their immediate future to graduate from high school and prepare for continuing education. However college is not the answer for everyone. Career Kickstart is designed to address the needs of all foster youth.

Career Kickstart matches youth with education mentors, who are Masters of Social Work interns, for personal attention more concentrated and focused than they can receive from their social workers, teachers, and independent living counselors. Education mentors meet regularly one-on-one with foster youth to help them find their motivation, identify jobs that excite them, and form realistic plans to reach their career goals.

Every foster youth in the Career Kickstart program

• Identifies two or three career areas of interest
• Attends field trips or site visits connected with their interests
• Receives academic counseling about the courses and experience needed in high school and beyond to pursue those careers

The vision: Career Kick-Start will become a comprehensive program providing one-on-one support to all high-school age foster youth in Santa Clara County.

For more information contact: Marie-Christine Busque