What influences students to come to ? For some, it is athletics. For others, it is a social aspect or an academic program. But Patricia Leighliter, a junior human development and family science major who spent most of her life between Wooster and Akron, Ohio, chose Kent State for a deeply personal reason.
“I only applied to Kent State because they had the Purple Umbrella program,” Leighliter said.
When Leighliter was a senior in high school, she was also in foster care. Working with her social worker and locating resources, she sought a university prepared to meet her needs.
That’s when she learned about Kent State’s Purple Umbrella Network, a campus-based initiative, part of Kent State’s Foster Care Initiative, that has been on campus since 2021 and received the Ohio Reach Designation in 2023. The program serves Kent State students who have had foster care or out-of-home placement experience.
According to the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce, in the 2024-2025 school year, Ohio had 14,455 students in foster care.
Leighliter graduated in 2023 from Lake High School and RG Drage Technical Center before starting her new chapter at Kent State.
“I felt like I was being welcomed into a community,” Leighliter said.
This program, part of Kent State’s Office of University Outreach and Engagement, provides academic, emotional and social support while connecting young people like Leighliter to opportunities in higher education.
In a full circle moment, Leighliter has since become a student worker as a Youth Navigator for the Fostering Pathways for Bright Futures, another program in the Foster Care Initiative. There, she shares her experiences with students who come to campus from foster care or out-of-home placement experience and helps with programming.
Sustaining Support Amidst Legislative Changes
The Fostering Pathways for Bright Futures, which specifically supports students who are between 14 and 24 and impacted by foster care, out-of-home placement, gang violence or involvement with the juvenile justice system, launched at Kent State in January 2025 through a federal grant.
Both Purple Umbrella and Fostering Pathways worked in conjunction with the former First Star Academy. State legislative changes drove the closure of First Star, and Kent State transitioned those students to Fostering Pathways, ensuring students continued their progress without interruption.
“If it’s not broke, you don’t try to fix it,” Danielle Green-Welch, outreach program director, told Kent State Today. “There isn’t any [service within the program] being lost because I was very intentional. The First Star model is very successful, and it yields a favorable result for students.”
The new program allowed more than 20 First Star participants to transition into Fostering Pathways and to maintain access to the same high-quality programming while gaining new opportunities and expanded support.
"When the First Star program funding ended June 30, 2025," Green-Welch said, "we were able to transition those middle and high school students to Fostering Pathways because of foster care preference."
Fostering Pathways maintains the successful pillars that defined First Star, such as college access, leadership development and life-skills training, while also introducing a community-based service structure that matches the needs of youth and families in the area.
“The Dave Thomas Foundation grant allows us to continue to provide supportive resources and workshops for our caregivers that speak more to social-emotional [services] and helping students navigate building relationships and stable permanency for youth who’ve experienced trauma,” Green-Welch said.
The program allows students who need the most intensive engagement to come to campus monthly and stay on campus in the summer as they begin to see a future involving higher education.
“Most of our students have been with us for three to four years; we have community,” Green-Welch said.
Case managers and resource specialists who worked with the students in high school continue to work with them as they transition to becoming Golden Flashes, reinforcing Kent State’s commitment to support students with lived experience in foster care.
Maintaining Momentum
“Fortunately, Fostering Pathways for Bright Futures is a federally funded grant program that has not been directly impacted fiscally, allowing the program to continue as it was designed to do,” Sonya Y. Williams, executive director, University Outreach and Engagement, said.
The impact Fostering Pathways has can be seen through student success stories. One student, now entering their third year with a 3.7 GPA, first connected with the program after growing up in foster care. Once uncertain and overwhelmed, this student now serves as a mentor and role model.
“Being able to experience a program like this has even shaped my career trajectory. I want to work with people in the same way that Fostering Pathways does now, just getting people greater access to things and educating them,” Leighliter said.
Green-Welch continues to welcome departments, organizations and community members to join in this mission. Opportunities include mentoring, hosting workshops, supporting summer programs, or donating essential items to youth who visit campus.
“There’s a quote I use often, ‘No one can do everything, but everyone can do something,’” Green-Welch said. “Most young people just want a shot; they just need an opportunity and people to genuinely believe in them.”
Learn more about the Fostering Pathways for Bright Futures initiative.