“There’s no relying on mommy and daddy”: Foster and Formerly Incarcerated Students Share Their Stories With UC Regents

Resources such as the UC Santa Barbara Guardian Scholars Program (GSP) and Berkeley Underground Scholars exist throughout the UC system, offering academic and career advising as well as scholarships for foster and formerly incarcerated students, respectively.

But a lack of funding and outreach have limited their effectiveness, Borges and Hoang said.

“Life is hard. Finding a place to live is hard,” he said. “I slept on campus because I was too scared to go outside and look for housing as someone who’s a foster and formerly incarcerated.” -

Fourth-year sociology major McArthur Hoang, a fellow student from UC Berkeley