United Friends of the Children has received a $100,000 grant from the S. Mark Taper Foundation. The money will pay for education and housing support for hundreds of foster youth in Los Angeles County. The nonprofit announced the grant on February 21, 2018.
United Friends works with more than 1,400 foster youth in the county every year. Besides education and housing services, its programs offer advocacy and steady, long-term relationships.
The need is large, since Los Angeles County has more than 30,000 young people in foster care. Fewer than half of them finish high school. Even fewer go further, as only 3 percent earn a college degree.
By contrast, participants in the United Friends education program do far better. They graduate from high school at a rate of 93 percent, while 73 percent of them graduate from college.
Dr. Kara Allen Soldati, President and CEO of United Friends of the Children, said the group is proud of its long record of helping county foster youth become self-sufficient. She added that partners such as the S. Mark Taper Foundation make it possible to keep producing good outcomes.
Adrienne Wittenberg, Executive Director of the S. Mark Taper Foundation, also spoke about the grant. She said the foundation is proud to back United Friends and its work for foster youth in the county.
United Friends of the Children is based in Los Angeles, so the new funding stays in the community it serves.
