Nine foster teenagers who dedicated most of their summer to LEGIT—Leaders Establishing Great Ideas for Tomorrow—were awarded for their hard work at a ceremony in Santa Maria on June 19.
The Santa Barbara County Education Office’s Transitional Youth Services program organized the leadership camp, but the attending teenagers gave the camp its name and helped lead the activities. Bonnie Beedles, Transitional Youth Services’ program leader, said in a press release that students were inspired by their experiences this summer, and have already started making plans to apply their new leadership skills to advocacy efforts for foster youth.
Beedles also said programs like the summer camp can make a big impact on children’s lives because youth in foster care experience a high degree of home and school instability. The county has more than 600 babies, children, and youth in foster care.
Foster care placements can change frequently; couple that with the absence of consistent adult support and a students’ academic and life aspirations have a tendency to be lower, Beedles said in the release.
For more information, contact Beedles via phone at 964-4710, Ext. 4415, or e-mail at beedles@sbceo.org.
This article appears in Jul 25 – Aug 1, 2013.