FosterEd Arizona

What FosterEd Arizona does

FosterEd Arizona is a non-profit initiative of the National Center for Youth Law (NCYL), headquartered in Oakland, California, that provides educational support services to foster youth across Arizona. Founded in 2014 as a pilot in Pima County and expanded statewide via HB 2665 (2016), the organization embeds full-time Education Liaisons within local child welfare and education agencies to deliver one-on-one goal-setting, education team coordination, and transition-point support (entering care, school changes, post-secondary transitions). Its core technology asset is EdTeamConnect (ETC), a web-based educational case management platform that aggregates child welfare and education data — including grades, test scores, enrollment history, and education decision-maker information — and supports student-centered education planning with goals spanning academics, social-emotional development, and community engagement. Supporting resources include the Arizona Foster Care Education Toolkit, co-published with Fostering Advocates Arizona in 2020.

The organization's business model is a public-private non-profit funding structure. Revenue is generated through foundation grants (notably $500,000 in 2018 and $250,000 in 2024 from The Bob & Renee Parsons Foundation, plus contributions from Arizona Community Foundation, Helios Education Foundation, and Casey Family Programs) and state appropriations established under HB 2665, which authorized a $1,000,000 FY 2018 appropriation plus dollar-for-dollar philanthropic matching up to $500,000. Services are provided at no cost to beneficiaries (foster youth). The GTM motion relies on direct institutional relationships with the Arizona Department of Child Safety, Arizona Department of Education, county juvenile courts, and school districts rather than direct-to-consumer marketing. As of June 2023, the program supported 1,963 foster youth and 1,501 Educational Champions across Pima, Maricopa, and Yavapai Counties, reaching an estimated 80% of Arizona foster youth since launch.

In June 2024, FosterEd Arizona announced permanent program closure effective June 2, 2025, with services transitioning to the Arizona Department of Child Safety. The August 2024 $250,000 Parsons Foundation grant funds this transition and development of training modules for state-employed education specialists. The broader FosterEd initiative continues to operate in California, New Mexico, and Indiana under NCYL.

Name

FosterEd Arizona

Legal name

FosterEd, a Compassionate Education Systems initiative of the National Center for Youth Law

Website

https://foster-ed.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2014

Operating status

Closed

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

FosterEd Arizona is a non-profit initiative of the National Center for Youth Law that embeds Education Liaisons within Arizona child welfare and education agencies to support foster youth through coaching, education team coordination, and transition planning. The program is closing in 2025 with services transferring to the Arizona Department of Child Safety.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Youth Education Services

NAICS

Child and Youth Services (62411), Other Individual and Family Services (624190), Educational Support Services (6117)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300), Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Youth Housing, Foster Care & Wraparound Support (Education-Linked) Nonprofits (BPAGADAO)

akta.pro secondary industries

Wraparound Student Support & Case Management Services (At-Risk K–12) (EDAJAEAJ), Family Advocacy, Parent Training & Support Services (EDAJAKAK), Family Resource Centers & Wraparound Support Services (EDACALAH)

Keywords

• Foster youth education
• Education case management
• Child welfare advocacy
• Education liaison services
• Trauma-informed support

Headquarters

HQ city

Oakland

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Foundation Grants: Primary revenue from foundation grants supporting program operations, expansion, and sustainability. Recent grant includes $250,000 from The Bob & Renee Parsons Foundation to support transition of services to Arizona Department of Child Safety by summer 2025.
2. State Funding: Public funding through state appropriation - HB 2665 established the Foster Youth Education Success Fund with $1,000,000 appropriation in FY 2018 plus dollar-for-dollar match of state funds with philanthropic funds up to $500,000.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

FosterEd Arizona is a non-profit initiative of the National Center for Youth Law that provides foster youth with an Education Champion and a coordinated Education Team. The program embeds Education Liaisons within local child welfare and education agencies to deliver trauma-informed, culturally sensitive, one-on-one case management including student-centered education planning, identification of natural supports, and cross-system coordination across key transition points such as entering care, school changes, and post-secondary transitions. Services are supported by EdTeamConnect (ETC), a proprietary web-based case management platform.

Product overview

FosterEd is a Compassionate Education Systems initiative of the National Center for Youth Law operating across California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Indiana. The core product offering is EdTeamConnect (ETC), a web-based educational case management platform used by Education Liaisons to support foster youth. EdTeamConnect connects multiple stakeholders, stores unique student education plans, and serves as a hub for student-centered advocacy. FosterEd also provides direct services including Student Centered Engagement (one-on-one student support), Education Champions Program (matching students with advocates), and Well-Coordinated Education Teams (cross-system collaboration). Supporting resources include the Arizona Foster Care Education Toolkit. The organization operates demonstration sites in multiple counties, with programs transitioning to state agency control (e.g., Arizona Department of Child Safety by summer 2025).

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• EdTeamConnect (ETC): A web-based educational case management platform developed by FosterEd for managing work supporting students and facilitating multidisciplinary teaming processes.

Products and services

• EdTeamConnect (ETC) Proprietary web-based educational case management platform that enables Education Liaisons to manage their work supporting students and facilitates the multidisciplinary teaming process. Provides real-time access to child welfare and education data including education records, course history, school enrollment history, grades, test scores, and student education decision maker information, along with student-centered education planning and connections tracking.
• Student Centered Engagement Direct service engaging with foster youth and their champions to co-create action plans centered around individual student strengths and desires for support. Includes one-on-one goal setting and follow-through, building student capacity to facilitate education team meetings, identifying natural supports, and joint problem-solving for educational challenges, with special emphasis during critical transitions.
• Education Champions Program Program that ensures foster youth have effective Education Champions — preferably caregivers — who are informed about their role, empowered to advocate on behalf of students, committed to meaningful relationships, and active in students' educational journeys. The largest share of champions are biological parents (28%) and relatives (26%).
• Well-Coordinated Education Teams Cross-system collaboration service that ensures adults in a foster youth's life work in concert. Education teams are informed, coordinated, active, positioned to respond to early warning signs, asset-based, and reliable, with participation from social workers, teachers, therapists, CASAs, and other professionals.
• Arizona Foster Care Education Toolkit Comprehensive guide covering laws, policies, best practices, and stories for students in foster care. Designed to assist adult allies working with children and youth in foster care with information, best practices, and tips and tools for engaging and supporting students in reaching their educational goals.

Quantifiable outcome

• 80% of foster youth in Arizona impacted by the program since 2014
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and major.

• Arizona Department of Child SafetycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPrimary state agency partner for transition of FosterEd Arizona services to Department of Child Safety by summer 2025. Receives education specialist referrals and coordinates services.
• Arizona Department of EducationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerState education agency partner supporting FosterEd Arizona's educational support services and policy initiatives.
• Pima County Juvenile Court CentercoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerKey judicial partner in Pima County pilot program implementing court procedures to help foster children succeed in school.
• Tucson Unified School DistrictcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMajor education partner in Pima County serving foster youth through FosterEd program and student referral intake processes.
• Arizona Children's AssociationmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerReferral partner for student referrals to FosterEd Arizona program through foster youth referral form.
• Fostering Advocates ArizonamajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnered with FosterEd Arizona to release the Arizona Foster Care Education Toolkit including information on laws, policies, best practices, and stories for students in foster care.
• Arizona Governor's OfficecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnered with FosterEd Arizona to pass HB 2665 establishing statewide Foster Youth Education Success Program and support program expansion.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• SchoolHouse Connection: National nonprofit focused on school success for children and youth experiencing homelessness and foster care. Operates a similar policy-plus-direct-service model and competes for the same federal and foundation funding pools as FosterEd.
• Treehouse (Washington): Washington-state nonprofit with a near-identical mission: closing the educational achievement gap for youth in foster care through one-on-one coaching, education planning, and resource coordination. Closest mission and operating model analog to FosterEd Arizona.
• Fostering Advocates Arizona: Arizona-based foster youth education advocacy organization that co-developed the Arizona Foster Care Education Toolkit with FosterEd. Overlapping mission and active operational partnership in the same state.

Broad incumbents

• Children's Defense Fund: National child welfare and education advocacy organization working on foster youth outcomes through policy, research, and program delivery. Shares the same policy-advocacy function FosterEd performed in Arizona.
• Casey Family Programs: Largest national foundation focused on foster care, providing both direct services and major grant funding. Casey has directly funded FosterEd Arizona and operates comparable child welfare programs at much larger scale.
• National Center for Youth Law (NCYL): Parent organization of FosterEd and a broader national legal and policy nonprofit serving system-involved youth. Operates the FosterEd initiative across multiple states and houses comparable youth-law programs.

Others

• Arizona's Children Association: Arizona child welfare nonprofit that serves as an active referral partner to FosterEd Arizona for student intake. Adjacent provider within the same foster youth service ecosystem.
• Helios Education Foundation: Arizona-focused education foundation and direct funder of FosterEd Arizona. Adjacent rather than competitive, but operates within the same education-outcome funding ecosystem and shares beneficiary populations.

Emerging players

• California Youth Connection: California-based foster youth advocacy organization that has historically partnered with the FosterEd California initiative. Focuses on youth voice and policy advocacy within the same target population as FosterEd Arizona.
• Foster Youth in Action: National foster youth advocacy and leadership development organization. Operates a comparable champion-and-advocacy model for system-involved youth at smaller scale than FosterEd.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about FosterEd Arizona