Helping Former Foster Youth Find a Home at Rutgers

When New Jersey teens age out of the child welfare and foster care system, they often lose access to food, housing, and transportation, as well as academic and professional connections. A Rutgers program supported by donors, including a recent $100,000 gift from two alumni, helps undergraduates who have experienced the child welfare system or homelessness. 

Growing up, Deanna Lescouflair lived in sparsely furnished Section 8 housing in Linden, New Jersey. At 14, she entered the child welfare system and began moving from one foster home to another. 

“The transitions were always challenging,” she says. “When they pick you up in that van, they don’t tell you where you're going. You just show up at the person’s door, and they get a file on you. While you’re sitting in the living room, they’re having that private discussion where they’re telling the person everything about you before you even get to say, ‘Hi, my name is....’”

Lescouflair, who began advocating for young people in foster homes when she was in high school, enrolled at Rutgers in fall 2023. With the support of the Rutgers School of Social Work’s Institute for Families (IFF) Fellows program, which serves Rutgers students in Camden and New Brunswick, Lescouflair is one of more than 20 students who receive mentorship and assistance they need to thrive. 

Lescouflair’s accomplishments before coming to Rutgers included helping to implement a peer mentoring program, assisting in passing the New Jersey Sibling Bill of Rights, and serving on the Department of Children and Families Youth Council. Today, in addition to being a full-time junior at Rutgers–New Brunswick studying philosophy and political science, she serves as a consultant and advocate for children in the state’s foster care system.

“Whenever I mention foster care, people are like, ‘An orphan?’ I tell them, ‘No, it’s not like an orphan,” she says, often needing to clarify the realities of foster care that she and others have experienced.

The stereotype is “Your family didn’t want you,” she says, noting that the community the program cultivates at Rutgers helps her and other IFF Fellows overcome these stereotypes and form a special bond.

“Those stigmas are hard for outside people to understand. But it’s different when you meet people who have had experiences like yours. We have that one common thing, and something to relate to.”

Champions for the Fellows

The program is funded completely through private donations, like the one alumni spouses Claire Fratello DC’88 and Chris Hakim RC’88 contributed last year. 
 
Fratello is all too familiar with Lescouflair’s experience and the plight of children and young adults in the foster care system. She volunteers as a court-appointed special advocate, or CASA—a trained volunteer who helps children who have experienced abuse or neglect and are involved in the child welfare system. 
   
Her involvement began in 2017 when she and Hakim moved their daughter to the University of California, Los Angeles, near their home in Westlake Village. Fratello saw a flyer asking for volunteers to sort out supplies for UCLA students who had been in the foster system. It had never dawned on her that when foster youth turn 18, they age out of the system, often without the support many of their peers take for granted.
 
 “A lot of them go to college with nothing—literally nothing—and no adult support,” Fratello says. “So, I volunteered that day, and I was moved by the students and how impressive they were despite the hardships they had faced.”  

She is currently working with a student on the college process and sees firsthand how the lack of family guidance and ongoing support is a significant obstacle and source of stress. 

Recently, when she and Hakim heard that expected funding for the Rutgers IFF program had ended, they decided to make a gift of $100,000 to ensure that the program continued for at least another year.
 
The couple recognized the vital role the program plays in enabling students to succeed. Fratello says they want to ensure that students are able “to concentrate on their studies and not have to worry about where they're going to live over Thanksgiving—that they have this sense of home.”

Theresa Comprelli McCutcheon, IFF executive director, says the program relies exclusively on private donations and explains how gifts of all sizes make an immediate impact on the success of IFF Fellows, academically and personally.

“Private donations are critical to the success of the Fellows program,” she says. “They provide essential support and life-changing opportunities to students who have experienced foster care, most of whom are navigating college without the safety net others may take for granted. These gifts help us bridge the gap, build resilience, and empower them to build brighter futures beyond their early experiences.”

Building Trust

Based on their life experiences, these students often share a common skepticism of adults, says Adam Staats, the Fellows’ associate program manager. Beyond providing life skills, basic necessities, career planning, and financial advocacy support, he and colleague Melissa Shermer, senior program coordinator, focus on building trust.

At Rutgers, I’ve had the opportunity to grow, and I’ve gotten the support to actually imagine a future for myself. That’s something I’m really grateful for.

Anthony Pannucci, IFF Fellow

“Financial assistance is helpful, obviously, but they also benefit greatly by building trusting relationships with adults,” Staats says. “That helps them become more successful students and increases their chances of graduating.”

Currently, 22 students participate in the IFF Fellows Program, which began in 2013 and has supported 111 undergraduates enrolled at Rutgers. Nationally, only about half of youth in foster care finish high school, and five percent graduate from college. At Rutgers, 69 percent of the IFF Fellows successfully complete their degrees.

Shermer says she and Staats “start from scratch” with each Fellow to build healthy relationships. The Fellows watch Staats and Shermer as they support other students. This offers them confidence and the trust necessary to meet their educational and career goals.

“The program benefits them while they’re here and long after they graduate,” Shermer says. 

A New Home

Rutgers sophomore Valentina White was raised by her grandmother, who passed away when she was 10. Moving frequently through the foster system, she was finally adopted by a couple in 2021, only to experience the relationship grow apart. In addition to telling her she’d never be able to attend college, White’s adoptive parents told her she would need to leave their home at the end of her senior year of high school in Wayne, New Jersey. 

One month ahead of her move-out date, White came home to find all her belongings in boxes, and she was on her own again, two days before her senior prom. 

A teacher encouraged White to contact the IFF Fellows Program and apply to Rutgers. This summer, she is rooming with Lescouflair and taking classes toward her degree in urban planning. Thanks to support and confidence she gained from Staats and Shermer, she’s thriving. 

“I’m thriving in ways where I don’t have to worry about being alone or feeling like I have to get through everything myself,” she says. “It’s a weight lifted off my shoulders to know someone will always guide me in the right direction. They make sure to find the correct answers to things, no matter what it takes.” 

White also has been invited to live with a lifelong friend’s family, who has offered her a home, love, and care.

‘The Opportunity to Grow’

Sophomore Anthony Pannucci was adopted by his grandparents in 2015 at age 10, along with his younger brother, who was 3. Over time, he became the primary caretaker for his family, arranging transportation, coordinating health care, and serving as a translator, all while attending high school in Bayonne, New Jersey. While still a child, he carried the responsibilities of an adult.

When college came around, it wasn’t just about choosing a school. It was a decision to step away from the people who depended on him and to finally focus on his own goals and growth.

“I realized that if I didn’t make that choice, I’d never have the chance to figure out who I am outside of taking care of everyone else,” says Pannucci, who is studying information technology at Rutgers–New Brunswick.

For him, that shift has made all the difference. Pannucci still checks in regularly with his family while staying in close contact with Staats and Shermer.

As a hobby, Anthony enjoys editing photos and graphics, recognizing that it helps bring new concepts and perspectives to life. He recently began a summer internship at Rutgers’ Innovation, Design, and Entrepreneurship Academy (IDEA) that allows him the opportunity to enjoy something for his own personal fulfillment. 

“I can finally focus on school, spend more time taking care of myself, and just enjoy being a student without the pressure of trying to manage everything at home,” he says. “At Rutgers, I’ve had the opportunity to grow, and I’ve gotten the support to actually imagine a future for myself. That’s something I’m really grateful for.”