FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 28, 2008
Media Contact: George Cagala (760) 750-4012

President Jimmy Carter to Honor CSUSM’s Tutor Connection Program June 3

There are more than 6,200 children in foster care in San Diego County, and if statistics hold true, only 1.5 percent of them - less than a hundred - will ever finish college. If educators like John Halcon of California State University San Marcos have anything to do about it, however, the future of this neglected and underserved population is destined to improve.

Halcon, with Michelle Lustig of the SD County Office of Education, created a first-of-a-kind teacher education program called Tutor Connection that’s aimed at preparing future teachers to address the special needs of foster children.

“We discovered that most teacher ed students knew nothing about them,” said Halcon. “In fact, many were still perpetuating stereotypes such as they are all criminals because they came out of the court schooling system.”

Since starting the program in 2002, about 1,400 teachers have been trained.

For their effort, Halcon and Lustig will be honored by President and Mrs. Jimmy Carter Tuesday, June 3 in Atlanta, Georgia. As one of three finalists nationally, the Tutor Connection project will be awarded either first, second or third place and receive from $5,000 to $20,000 from the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter Partnership Foundation.

Other CSUSM steps to assist foster children:

CSUSM and San Diego County Health and Human Services Agency (HHSA) took a significant step towards increasing the academic success rate of foster children on March 26 when CSUSM President Karen Haynes and HHSA Director Jean Shepard signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that guarantees foster youth admission to CSUSM if they meet CSU admissions standards. The agreement is the first of its kind serving all foster youth county-wide.

To prepare for their transition into university life, CSUSM also established a program specifically to help foster youth – the ACE Scholars Services.

“Among our goals is to help them focus on their future, and to make sure they know they have choices,” said Jim Mickelson, ACE Scholars director.

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