Foster Child Struggles, Finds Hope

HOUSTON - Paying for college doesn't come easy, especially in this economy. So would you believe there's a group of students going to college for free?

Those kids, unfortunately, in other ways had a very high price to pay.

So how are they getting their tuition completely taken care of? In Texas, every kid who "ages out" of foster care, who isn't adopted by age 18, can go to college for free.

Texas Southern University freshman Raphiel Baptiste is getting a complimentary college education. He went into the foster care system shortly after tragedy seemed to take over his life.

"I was 4 years old? Yes. It was my dad's closest friend. He was high, drunk, all that and I was raped. So my Dad came home and killed him" says Baptiste.

The 4-year-old has never known his mother, so he was sent to live with his grandmother.

"Started hanging out with the wrong crowd, doing wrong things, getting locked up, skipping school, failing" says Baptiste.

He was taken from his grandmother and sent to a foster home.

Baptiste says that turned out to be a blessing in disguise. He started getting therapy and it changed his life when he found out he could go to college for free. "

I started taking night school, taking extra day classes, doing extra credit. My senior year I made straight A's" says Baptiste.

The now 18-year-old dreams of becoming a therapist and of his dad someday coming home from prison. His father is still serving a 25-year sentence after beating to death the man who allegedly raped his son.

Child Protective Services Youth Specialist Gabriela Valladares is a huge advocate for having the state pay for college for kids who grew up in foster care.

"Going through the foster care system is not an easy ride, by far. To me it's a reward for all the things you deal with while you're in care" says Valladares.

She should know. She too "aged out" of the system after living in seven different foster homes.

She's one of the success stories.

However nearly 99 percent of foster kids who are never adopted, never graduate from college.

While most kids have their parents to drive them to college, to come home to at holidays and to call for cash, most foster kids turn 18 and "the system" is no longer their parent and no longer providing them a place to stay.

"You need somebody there that's really going to believe in you as much as you believe in yourself" says Valladares.

You can help change those statistics. If becoming a foster parent isn't for you, there are still plenty of other things you can do. There are a number of volunteer programs that only take up your time a few times a year.

The PAL (Preparation for Adult Living) Mentoring Program is one. It's for kids 16 -21 years old. You are required to give of your time about four times a year.

There's also the Guardianship Angels Program where you can take part in activities or just chat with kids one-on-one or in a group setting.

--Volunteer for Harris County CPS: http://www.hc-ps.org/volunteering.htm