University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown to Host Aug. 9-13 Retreat for Teens “Aging Out” of Foster Care

PITTSBURGH—Approximately 1,000 children across Pennsylvania “age out” of the foster care system each year, and many of these children face uncertain futures.

An Aug. 9-13 Independent Living Youth Retreat at the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown is designed to help these young people, ages 16 to 21, transition more smoothly to adulthood.

Sponsored by the Pitt School of Social Work’s Pennsylvania Child Welfare Training Program and the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare Office of Children, Youth and Families, the retreat will offer 150 participants from across the state a week of educational sessions, group discussions, and social activities.

“The retreat will provide foster care youth with a college experience in an effort to motivate them to pursue higher education, where they may reach their full potential,” said Helen Cahalane, principal investigator of the child welfare education and research programs in Pitt’s School of Social Work. “The retreat gives them a forum to acknowledge their accomplishments and plan their futures.”

The participants will live in residence halls and utilize campus facilities as they set goals, discover their options, and make connections with others. The title of this year’s retreat is “CHANGE,” which comprises confidence, hope, achievement, navigation, goals and endurance.

“This is an opportunity for foster care youth to celebrate who they are,” echoed Jacquan Jones, a foster care alumnus who now works as a youth ambassador for the Child Welfare Training Program.

Approximately 60 child welfare workers from across the state also will attend. The social activities include pool parties, sports tournaments, a dance, a fashion show, and a talent show.

A banquet will be held at 6 p.m. Aug. 12 in the Living Learning Center Heritage Hall on the Pitt-Johnstown campus, 450 Schoolhouse Rd., Johnstown. It will include a keynote address by George Duvall, a motivational speaker, consultant, and comedian who is the training specialist for Berea College’s GEAR UP Program, a federally funded partnership designed to encourage young people from low-income families to consider and prepare early for college. Duvall spent 15 years in foster care and youth facilities.

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