Brian Thompson celebrates his high school graduation

From foster care to college campus
Brooks-Higgins, Candice. Hamilton Journal News, June 18, 2007.

Brian Thompson said he simply wanted something better for himself.

That's why, after spending five years in Butler County's foster care system, the 18-year-old has graduated in the top 30 of his class at Goshen High School in Clermont County and is headed to Wilmington College in the fall.

Brian Thompson will celebrate his graduation from Goshen High School with his foster mother, Regina Baucom, and several other foster children from Butler County Children Services who have graduated from high school this year.

"I wanted to be better than I guess what I've always been raised with," Thompson said. "It seems like foster care is a repeating thing. It's like kids who are in foster care are not being really successful and then their kids go into foster care. I just wanted to be different and have a better life for myself."

Graduating from high school makes Thompson a victor over the grim statistics facing the 35 foster youth on average who age out of Butler County's foster system each year.

Approximately 58 percent of former foster youth in the Midwest had a high school diploma at age 19, compared to 87 percent of nonfoster youth nationally, according to a 2005 University of Chicago study.

There are even tougher odds to beat to graduate from college. Of youth who aged out of foster care and are older than 25, less than 3 percent earned their college degrees, based on a 2005 survey of Northwest foster alumni by Casey Family Programs. That's far less than the 28 percent nationally who were college graduates in 2004, according the U.S. Census Bureau.

But, Thompson had help to get this far and his foster mother Regina Baucom said she and her husband, Dave, aren't going anywhere. Thompson's

16-year-old brother, Tony, still lives with the couple and their teenage foster daughter.

Baucom took Thompson on college visits and he had cash incentives for good grades: $5 for every A, down to a $10 loss for an F, Baucom said.

"He broke me all the time," Baucom laughed.

Everyday before Thompson left for school, his foster father, Dave, who spent his childhood in foster care, shared a Bible scripture with the family. His caseworker, Abby Sexton, also nagged him to fill out paper work and meet deadlines to be prepared for college.

"There were my constant annoying reminders," said Sexton, Thompson's caseworker for the past four years. "'Brian, did you do this? Brian, where's the paper? Brian, give me the paper.'"

Thompson will start his freshman year with two academic scholarships and likely enough financial aid to cover his full need, he said. Foster children are given special consideration when applying for federal student aid and Ohio's Education and Training Program pays them up to $5,000 for each year of college, Butler County Children Services Spokeswoman Denise Winkler said.

Thompson has come a long way from the angry boy who couldn't sleep the first night in the Baucoms' home. He played varsity football for three years in high school as a tight end and defensive end. Quiet though he may be, Thompson teaches lessons on Sundays at the Baucom's church, Flight of Life Baptist, and helps set up speakers and microphones at events for the Baucom's sound business.

"I don't know if I would have gone to college had I not gone to Gina's house," Thompson admitted. "When I first came in (to foster care), I didn't think about the future, really. Going to Gina's helped me realize there's better stuff. There's more to life than what I have."

Undecided about his major, Thompson said he plans to live on campus, where he hopes to meet new people.

But just in case he wants some familiarity, Baucom said, "(Wilmington is not very far) from home. So he can come home on the weekends to do his laundry."