Foster youth aging out of system nationwide get help from Southwest Montana nonprofit

BUTTE — A nationwide nonprofit based in southwest Montana aims to help children who are aging out of the foster care system. As they take their next step in life, that can mean applying for college, getting a bank account, or even getting their GED.

“A lot of people don’t even think about, like, the older foster youth or what happens to the foster youth after they leave the system,” says Lacey Bailey, founder and CEO of Foster Kids United.

Bailey created Foster Kids United, an online platform that uses AI to match mentors with foster youth, to guide the kids through crucial steps that will elevate their lives after they leave foster care.

“I want to go to school for psychology so I’m working to get my GED so then I will be able to apply for college and everything,” says Leiza McIntyre, 18.

Mcintyre says she moved a lot when she was in foster care and it impacted her grades, leaving her without enough credits to graduate. She is working through the GED program with Foster Kids United, and Bailey says this is exactly the kind of need her organization seeks to address.

“We see this with a lot of former foster youth, you know, not really being able to get a good job, and then homelessness is huge because when they turn 18 they have nowhere to go. They have no family, they have no help, and so they end up on the streets,” says Bailey.

She helps them work through the sometimes complicated steps and is all too familiar with the difficulties foster youth face after aging out of the system. Bailey was in foster care from ten years old until she aged out of the system at 18.

“I really just kind of struggled with, you know, housing and school and all that and I’m trying to create a community for these foster youth to feel welcome, part of a family,” says Bailey. “We have this same shared experience of it and even though it doesn’t define us as foster kids, it really does give us that common bond.”

Foster Kids United was recently awarded $1500 from the Gianforte Family Foundation to fund the participation of five Montana foster youth in the year-long program to obtain a GED. To find out more about the programs available or to apply for the year-long GED program visit Foster Kids United.