Dignity Partner Series: Bright Futures Program Creates Pathways for Young Adults Leaving Foster Care

The Tennessee Department of Children's Services Bright Futures Program offers a pathway to independence for young adults leaving foster care.

Aging out of foster care can be an overwhelming transition for young adults between the ages of 18 and 21. Without consistent support, many former foster youth find themselves navigating adulthood alone, facing new responsibilities related to housing, education, employment, and financial stability. When these challenges go unmet, the risk of homelessness and other adverse outcomes increases.

Supporting Young Adults Exiting Foster Care

To help bridge the gap, the Tennessee Department of Children's Services created the Bright Futures program.  This voluntary program supports young adults exiting foster care by providing wraparound services, including access to post-secondary education, financial support, housing assistance, life skills classes, and leadership opportunities.

Additionally, the program helps participants build permanent connections with caring adults, including relatives, mentors, and community members.

Community Partnerships Make a Difference

Dana Eskridge serves as the Bright Futures Program Coordinator for the Tennessee Mid-State and Tennessee Valley Region. In her role, she partners with My Bag My Story and other partners like churches, sororities, and fraternities to provide program participants with “Journey Bags” that include a My Bag My Story backpack or duffel filled by the program team with wish list items to support young adults on their journeys to independence.

Journey Bags are personalized and can include useful products like toiletries and socks, to therapeutic and recreational items like journals, card games, and adult coloring books.

In Eskridge’s region, Bright Futures provides Journey Bags to 5-20 new program enrollees or graduates each month.

Additionally, My Bag My Story provides bags to foster youth in the Department of Children Services’ Youth in Transition programs, serving newborns through 17-year-olds.

For Eskridge, it was the quality and color variety of My Bag My Story bags that made her like them and want to provide them to young adults participating in Bright Futures.

“I love them,” she says. Before partnering with My Bag My Story, Eskridge bought a bag herself. She enjoys supporting the organization in her free time because she’s truly a fan of the products.

At My Bag My Story, we’re grateful for partners like Dana Eskridge and the Bright Futures program. We hope the Journey Bags created through this partnership continue to support and uplift young adults exiting foster care, helping them feel more confident and better prepared for independent living.