Aug. 5, 2022
Grown Up U podcast partners with GetREAL independent living program for youth in Fort Smith
By Rebekah Hall
U of A System Division of Agriculture
Fast Facts:
- Cooperative Extension Service’s Grown Up U podcast offers research-based advice on important life skills
- Podcast to partner with GetREAL program, an independent living facility for youth aging out of foster care system in Fort Smith
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FORT SMITH, Ark. — For many young people, the transition to adulthood is a bumpy one. Navigating new responsibilities, relationships and time management can be a difficult balancing act. A new partnership between the Cooperative Extension Service’s Grown Up U: Facts for Success podcast and the GetREAL independent living program in Fort Smith will provide Arkansans aging out of the foster care system with advice to help develop important life skills.
Created and produced by extension Family and Consumer Science agents, the Grown Up U podcast launched in the fall of 2021 and will begin its third season in September 2022. The podcast has covered a wide variety of topics to help young adults navigate independence, including episodes on starting college, finding a new job, setting up utilities and many more. The podcast also provides resources for parents and educators, including quizzes, episode guides, transcripts and other materials available upon request.
“Our goal with this podcast is to reach young people wherever they are by providing relevant information that can help them avoid pitfalls and thrive on their own,” said Alison Crane, Garland County Family and Consumer Sciences agent for the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture. “Every Grown Up U episode is recorded with the thought of making it beneficial and in segments that are easy to absorb.”
Tristin Bolton, Crawford County Family and Consumer Sciences agent for the Division of Agriculture, is part of the team of extension agents who work on the Grown Up U podcast. Bolton is also a member of the Junior League of Fort Smith, an organization focused on serving youth who are aging through the foster care system. Since 2018, Bolton has volunteered to teach monthly life skills classes to youth ages 14-18 who are in the foster care system, including youth living at the GetREAL facility, part of the Fort Smith Children’s Emergency Shelter.
The GetREAL program is an independent living program for youth ages 18-21 who are aging out of the foster care system or have become homeless. Residents of the program can live in one-bedroom, furnished apartments in the program’s 24-unit complex, or in the “Freshman Hall,” which offers five dorm rooms for individuals who have aged out of foster care but are not yet ready to maintain their own apartment.
Individuals are required to be furthering their education – whether in school, volunteering, or working full-time – to participate in the program. Program participants are connected with life coaches and mentors, who help them develop a “self-sufficiency plan” that includes post-secondary education and vocational resources. Participants are also required to attend weekly life skills classes on a variety of subjects.
Bolton said that during her years volunteering with GetREAL, she has seen how the program has impacted the stability and quality of life of its participants.
“I’ve continued to follow these participants through their journey, so that’s been very rewarding,” she said. “A couple of them have recently turned 21, and they’re thriving adults at this point. They have jobs, and they’ve bought a house together. This sort of progress can take a long time, especially if you’re talking about kids and young adults who have experienced trauma.”
Bolton said she recently brought brochures for the Grown Up U podcast to the leaders of the GetREAL program, who she said were excited about the new resource. Jeremiah Hays, GetREAL program coordinator, said the podcast’s content is a great fit for the program’s curriculum needs.
“We are very excited to learn more about how we can best utilize Grown Up U’s podcast and programming,” Hays said. “We have been looking for quite some time for a program or curriculum that teaches and assesses the basic life skills that youth aging out of care need to become self-sufficient. We are over the moon that this may hit the sweet spot of what we have been looking for.”
Hays said the program plans to have new members listen to the podcast episodes, complete the corresponding quizzes, and then discuss their answers and the topic with their life coach.
“This will keep our staff from having to teach each course, allowing us to focus more on the specific needs of the young adult,” he said. “Grown Up U has saved us countless hours of research, time and money. This will help not just our agency but also other agencies in town.”
Bolton said she has shared the Grown Up U brochures with other providers in the community who are reaching young adults, including Transitional Youth Services Coordinators, who work for the Arkansas Department of Human Services to help support young adults transitioning out of foster care.
“I think the podcast has the potential to grow beyond where we are right now,” Bolton said. “We’ve planted the seed here, but it can just keep growing.”
Crane said the podcast is designed to help young people gain independence – especially those who may lack a strong support system.
“If you think about all of the things adults have to know and do on a daily basis, the list can be overwhelming at times. Everyone will have successes and failures as they move out on their own, but some mistakes can be costly,” Crane said. “My kids know they can ask questions and that we will help them face those new obstacles and challenges. Not every young person has a strong support system to help them navigate all the things they need to know as an adult. Our team hopes that Grown Up U will help young people gain independence with more successes than failures, and maybe remove some of the stress of ‘adulting.’”
Bolton said that during her years volunteering at GetREAL, she’s seen the impact that sharing life skills and other research-based extension programming has had on the program’s participants.
“It definitely means a lot to me to be able to positively impact someone,” she said. “I think that’s what extension is at its core: it works to impact people positively. And I hope that’s what we do through this partnership.”
To learn more about Grown Up U and listen to podcast episodes, visit the Grown Up U website.
To learn about extension programs in Arkansas, contact your local Cooperative Extension Service agent or visit www.uaex.uada.edu. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram at @AR_Extension. To learn more about Division of Agriculture research, visit the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station website: https://aaes.uada.edu. Follow on Twitter at @ArkAgResearch. To learn more about the Division of Agriculture, visit https://uada.edu/. Follow us on Twitter at @AgInArk.
About the Division of Agriculture
The University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture’s mission is to strengthen agriculture, communities, and families by connecting trusted research to the adoption of best practices. Through the Agricultural Experiment Station and the Cooperative Extension Service, the Division of Agriculture conducts research and extension work within the nation’s historic land grant education system.
The Division of Agriculture is one of 20 entities within the University of Arkansas System. It has offices in all 75 counties in Arkansas and faculty on five system campuses.
The University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture offers all its Extension and Research programs to all eligible persons without regard to race, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, religion, age, disability, marital or veteran status, genetic information, or any other legally protected status, and is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer.
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Media Contact:
Rebekah Hall
rkhall@uada.edu
@RKHall_
501-671-2061