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NEWS

Help Your Student Plan For Life After High School

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High school is a time of exploration, learning and growth. It is an opportunity for teens to think about life after graduation, and to prepare for their future career.

Preparing for a post-secondary career is a challenge for students living in foster care. They often drop out of school; those who do receive a high school diploma are less likely to go on to postsecondary education. Both of these outcomes limit their employment options.

Did you know:

*Only 58% of Indiana’s foster children will graduate from high school by age 19. (Jim Casey Youth Opportunities Initiative)

*Less than 50% of Indiana’s foster children will be employed at the age of 24. (Jim Casey Youth Opportunities Initiative)

Resources are available to help you provide career guidance for the teens in your care.

It is critical that foster children are supported in their educational goals, and are supported in making plans for life after graduation. Talk with the people supporting you and your foster children – including the Adult & Child Therapeutic Foster Care staff, and school guidance counselors. The Indiana Youth Institute has also provided some great guidance on how to help any teen prepare for post-secondary success. It’s an excellent resource for any adult involved in a middle or high school-age student’s life.

Download the Indiana Youth Institute’s “Quick Guide” today! 

More To Explore

Sarah Miller, PMHNP-BC

Sarah Miller works with the addictions team, general psychiatry for adolescents and adults, and the competency restoration team. She is board-certified as a Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner. Her specialties are working in addictions and with people who experience serious mental illness.

Miller graduated from Indiana University with a psychology degree and went back to school for nursing. She received her nursing degree from Indiana Wesleyan University and worked in a nursing home and also spent time working in a group home with adolescents. She received her master’s degree from Vanderbilt University.

She enjoys hanging out with her family and her two dogs, and going to sporting events.

Joanna Chambers, MD

Dr. Joanna Chambers is a psychiatrist who began seeing Adult & Child Health patients in November 2021. She graduated from Medical College of Georgia with her Doctorate of Medicine in 1996 and completed her residency in psychiatry at Yale University School of Medicine. In addition to bringing a wealth of experience, she currently serves as an associate professor at Indiana University School of Medicine where she teaches Clinical Psychiatry. She is certified in Addiction Medicine and has a special interest in treating pregnant and postpartum women. She is President of the American Academy of Psychoanalysis and Dynamic Psychiatry Organization as well as a sitting member of many medical association boards. Recently, she has won the Residents’ Award for Teaching Excellence in 2020 from Indiana University and has received “Best Doctors Award” in 2010, 2011, and 2014. Dr. Chambers is incredibly active in the medical, academic, and research realms of medicine. She is currently accepting new patients on Wednesdays.