Steve Walsh remembers the time around seven years ago when a foster youth was dropped off on campus on the first day of the fall semester with two duffle bags of belongings, no established housing and no registered classes.
The Guardian Scholars Program (GSP) at California State University, Bakersfield helped him get into on-campus housing, obtain financial aid approval and register for classes.
“In a day, we got him everything he needed,” Walsh said. “He was very dedicated to his education and graduated in four years.”
To Walsh —the director of GSP — this demonstrates the impact and importance of the program, which provides support and resources for current and former foster youth as well as students experiencing homelessness to set them up for success.
It assists students with applying to the university, receiving financial aid and meal cards, getting special counseling as well as getting connected with on-campus housing, if needed.
“This is an obligation we have as a society and a university to take care of the most vulnerable group of people coming in,” Walsh said.
There are 30 students in the program on average each year, most of which are also Educational Opportunity Program (EOP) students. Foster youth must have spent at least one day in the system to be eligible for GSP.
“We consider that to be enough of an educational disadvantage to warrant services,” Walsh said.
GSP, now a CSU-wide program, was established at CSUB in 2010. It is currently funded through a state bill passed in 2022 that allocated $12 million to the CSU system to fund foster youth programs.
“It’s great that the state has stepped up in several ways to support this population,” Walsh said. “This, to me, is the best money the state of California can spend.”
Funding for homeless students comes from other sources, such as donations from private foundations.
Walsh said the program begins reaching out to potential GSP students while they’re still in high school to help them get an early start on applying for admission and financial aid and figuring out what their housing situation will be.
The university also collaborates with the TRIO program, which helps prepare high school students for graduation and attending college, to identify youth who should have been in foster care but weren’t.
“It’s better to be in foster care than it is to be just completely ignored,” he said. “We don’t want to discount that population. The trauma they’ve been through is similar.”
When the program first started, Walsh said there was only enough funding to house students during the summer. With the current funding from the state, GSP is now able to offer unbroken housing.
“We can’t close down and assume everyone is going to go home,” he said. “Year-round housing has been a big positive change for our students. Many of them don’t have access to stable housing when they’re not attending classes.”
While supporting GSP students’ educational journey is an important part of the program, it’s also about making college a fun experience for them and giving them a sense of community. GSP frequently offers activities to the students, such as game nights, socials, workshops as well as holiday celebrations.
Many of these events are held at the new GSP hub in the TRIO office, where students can study, take a break from classes, eat meals and watch movies and TV.
“Our students needed a home base, a quiet space where they can decompress and relieve some of the pressures of school,” Walsh said.
The idea for the hub came from Angel Cantrell, who is the educational counselor for the program.
“It’s almost like a home, in a way,” she said. “I found that our students needed a different environment.”
Cantrell meets with students at least twice a month to evaluate how they are doing in their classes. She joined CSUB last year after spending several years as a social worker in Bakersfield and seeing firsthand how traumatic the foster system can be for children.
“I’m so grateful that this program exists,” she said. “I’ve seen what they have to go through as a social worker, so the fact they’ve made it here is a huge accomplishment. Even if some of them don’t end up graduating, or maybe they need to take a break and come back, that’s okay. The goal is graduation, but I want to take pressure off them.”
Cantrell said she’s enjoyed her time in the program so far, especially getting to know the students and seeing them develop.
“I love helping these students,” she said. “They have all taken my heart. They’re like my family.”
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