We made it to 2021! Despite the many challenges of 2020, OCA is full of gratitude to the law firms and volunteers who stepped up to save the day when we did not have enough funds to provide holiday gifts for the children experiencing foster care as we have in the past. We put out a plea and you all responded three-fold. From having firms sponsor our virtual Holiday Jingle to individual cash and gift card donations to an entire firm buying holiday gifts for the children they represent, we were able to ensure that children experiencing foster care, and those youth who recently aged out of foster care, had something to be joyful about this holiday season. In fact, the community was so generous that we will have money in our Donations Fund to help children throughout the year, so if you have clients that need money for Senior portraits, sports team fees, music lessons, karate lessons, tutoring, etc. please reach out to me. I can say with confidence that we are in a good position to help them thanks to our amazing legal community! Please see the acknowledgement of our top donors below.
I hope everyone has had the opportunity to take a look at our 2021 training opportunities here. There are a lot of great learning opportunities this year and they will all be available via Zoom. We have a great training coming up on February 11th form 12-2pm regarding representation and advocacy for our LBGTQ+ Youth, which is being presented by the experts at Planned Parenthood. This is going to a very informative training and I hope you can attend. You can sign up here.
As always, please reach out to me via email (Kelly.Ensslin@delaware.gov) if you have any questions or want to set up a phone call to discuss your case.
Kelly
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Many attorneys and firms stepped up for our kids this year. OCA would again like to send a shout out to the firms who had the top donations in 2020:
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OCA was fortunate enough to be able to provide holiday gifts for more than 200 children and youth experiencing foster care this holiday season. Due to the pandemic a large majority of these gifts were purchased on-line and delivered directly to the child's placement so that we could maintain safety for everyone. We received lots of feedback from foster parents about how happy these gifts made the children this holiday season. Thank you again to all of you that contributed and/or bought gifts for your clients!
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Advocating For LBGTQ+ Youth
Presented by: Planned Parenthood
Sign up here to learn about best practices in advocating for your LBGTQ+ Youth and earn 2 free CLE credits.
February 11, 2021 12-2pm
(via Zoom)
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Beginning on March 1st and running through April 30th, youth who experienced foster care will be eligible to apply for scholarships for post-secondary education. This could be for a 2-year, 4-year or trade school. There are two funding opportunities available and it is possible to receive funding from both:
The Ivyane Davis Memorial Scholarship- this State-funded scholarship is available to Delaware youth who experienced foster care at any time prior to age 18. Funds must be used for education expenses only and young adults up to age 25 are eligible to apply.
The Chafee Education Training Voucher (ETV) Program- this Federally-funded program is available to youth who aged out of the foster care system for up to $5,000 per year. It can be used for education, or any expenses associated with obtaining an education, including books, housing, and transportation. Young adults up to age 23 are eligible.
If you have a client, or former client, that would benefit from these scholarship opportunities make sure they reach out to their Independent Living ("IL") Worker to complete the application. If they do not have an IL worker then please reach out to me directly and/or check out the OCA Website here.
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