Lucas County Juvenile Court gets $500,000 federal grant to fund initiative to improve foster care

5/22/2013

A federal grant will fund a new initiative in Lucas County to improve stability for children in foster care and attempt to improve academic performance.

The two-year, $500,000 grant to the Lucas County Juvenile Court is from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Administration for Children and Families. The court, Lucas County Children Services, Toledo Public Schools, and the Education Service Center of Lake Erie West will collaborate on the "Pathways to Success Initiative," which is funded by the grant.

The partners will try to allow children in foster care to remain at their original neighborhood school and will provide transportation for those students, in an attempt to reduce the school mobility rate for children in foster care.

They will also work to reduce the number of families that foster children move between, which should also improve stability for the students.

The initiative targets foster children between the ages of 10 and 17, but is not limited to those ages. Initiative leaders said Wednesday they hope to reduce out of school suspensions, increase graduation rates, reduce foster care disruptions, and decrease the number of foster children involved in the juvenile court system.