ROCK HILL, SOUTH CAROLINA – A social work faculty member who has designed a Fostering Eagle Empowerment program to attract and support former foster youth on campus has been selected as Winthrop University’s 2024-25 Thompson Scholar.
Kori Bloomquist, an associate professor of social work and the academic advisor for the Child and Youth Well-being minor, said her conception has three major components to enhance student engagement and to support university recruitment and retention efforts. Research shows, she said, that foster youth experience real and substantial barriers to academic and professional success and achievement, in spite of their motivation, intelligence, and commitment. After sharing her ideas with others to bolster help, she noted there is growing support for such a network on campus and within the Department of Social Work.
Provost Sebastian van Delden said Bloomquist’s project will help enhance the college experience for students who have had early struggles in their lives. “We had a high number of very impressive and thoughtful applications this year for our distinguished Thompson award. Dr. Bloomquist’s proposal rose to the top quickly, being a unique and highly meritorious initiative that provides support from multiple angles for former foster youths in our campus community.”
In her proposal, she offers this outline:
*The Fostering Eagle Empowerment program would partner with and support a new university-recognized student organization. Its purpose will be solidarity among former foster youth and allies, student-led advocacy efforts on behalf of current and former foster youth, and student-led, faculty-supported awareness regarding the foster youth population.
*A second component would support retention efforts for students who are former foster youth. These targeted, campus-based services would include financial aid and Education and Training Voucher (ETV) (state-based funding for former foster youth) aid, specialized transition to college assistance, housing and food insecurity resources, academic supports, as well as collaboration with Department of Social Services caseworkers, as appropriate. It would serve as a “hub” for all things Fostering Eagle Empowerment.
*The third component would support recruitment efforts for prospective students who are current and former foster youth. As of December 2023, there were more than 1,600 older teens and young adults in South Carolina who have open foster care and/or Aftercare/Independent Living services, Bloomquist said.
Students Helping Shape the Proposed Organization
Becoming a Robert and Norma Thompson Scholar would permit Bloomquist the opportunity to plan and plant many of the seeds needed to develop and grow the program. “I am currently working with three incredible Winthrop students to initiate the student organization and efforts related to Fostering Eagle Empowerment – one student who is an adoptee and two who aged-out of the foster care system,” she said. “The Thompson Scholar award would help us to reach and recruit existing students who have lived child welfare experience and continue our research regarding best practices for supporting former foster youth.”
She has connected with 14 university-based programs similar to the proposed Fostering Eagle Empowerment program, all with professionals who are willing to support Winthrop’s efforts to develop such programing.
“Thompson Scholar funding would permit me to learn from professionals who are already doing this work – to ensure Fostering Eagle Empowerment planning and practices are research-informed and rooted in practice wisdom,” she said. Funding could also support Fostering Eagle Empowerment with marketing efforts, swag, event development, and on-going professional development for those involved.
Across the country, about 20,000 youth exit the foster care system each year and are often left to fend for themselves. They are more likely to experience a series of negative health and life challenges including homelessness, early parenthood, substance use disorders, and unemployment. Research suggests that former foster youth are more likely to have struggled in high school, be underprepared for college, and have difficulty navigating financial aid processes and transitions to college. They also are less likely than their non-foster peers to enroll in college and to graduate from college.
Bloomquist holds a bachelor’s and master’s degree in social work and a Ph.D., all from Indiana University. She has more than 10 years of direct practice experience in child welfare and additional practice experience in mental health, disability services, and gerontology. Her areas of scholarship include pre-adoptive placement disruption, adoption from foster care, state child welfare evaluation, Adverse Childhood Experiences, attitudes on poverty and social class, and social worker self-care and professional well-being.
About the Thompson Scholar Program
The Thompson Scholar program is generated through the Robert and Norma Thompson Endowment which was established during the university’s first capital campaign. Over the past two decades, it has provided a $5,000 award so faculty members can work on projects that help students and the community and strengthen the university’s academic, intellectual and co-curricular life.
Bob and Norma Thompson confirmed their excitement with the recent award. “We congratulate Dr. Bloomquist on her selection as our latest Thompson Scholar. What she has proposed is a bold initiative that will help an overlooked population of students succeed. We appreciate her commitment to Winthrop and its students.”
Bob Thompson, retired vice president of Springs Industries, formerly served on Winthrop’s Board of Trustees from 1992-05 and 2008-14, including a term as chair. His other civic commitments include serving as chair of the Winthrop Foundation and on the Board of Visitors. He received the College of Business Administration’s Pinnacle/Summit Award in 2011, which recognized him for his leadership and support of public and higher education. His wife, Norma Thompson, has dedicated her life to the community as a homemaker, former elementary school teacher and civic volunteer.
For more information, contact Judy Longshaw, news and media services manager, at 803/323-2236 or e-mail her at longshawj@winthrop.edu.
