Generous gift from The Bob & Renee Parsons Foundation will allow for continued services and support transition from FosterEd program to Arizona’s Department of Child Safety

PHOENIX, Aug. 17, 2024 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ — Young people in Arizona’s foster care system will continue to receive critical educational services and support throughout the final year of the National Center for Youth Law’s FosterEd Arizona initiative, and well into the future, thanks to a generous $250,000 grant from The Bob & Renee Parsons Foundation.

The funding will allow the FosterEd Arizona team to continue directly serving students for a final year while completing a planned transition to ensure these vitally needed services, which have proven transformational for students across the state, continue under the state’s Department of Child Safety (DCS).

“Youth in Arizona’s foster system are the real recipients of this grant funding,” said Michelle François, senior director of the National Center for Youth Law’s Compassionate Education Systems Initiative. “This gift rounds out a six-year partnership with The Bob & Renee Parsons Foundation and ensures that these students aren’t left behind and that they continue to have access to many of the same or similar supports that have proven life-changing for so many young people over the past decade of our FosterEd Initiative. We are beyond grateful and appreciative of the Foundation’s support.”

FosterEd Arizona, which was launched in Pima County in 2014 as Arizona’s demonstration site, ensures that Arizona students in foster care are supported by an educational champion and an inter-agency education team. Through the program, the FosterEd team partners with each student in a trauma-informed and culturally sensitive way, providing consistent engagement and long-term support to help each student reach their educational goals.

Thanks to key investments from the State of Arizona and private partners like The Bob & Renee Parsons Foundation, the program expanded in 2018 to also include Maricopa and Yavapai counties, helping it reach 80% of students in foster care in the state.

“Foster youth face many challenges, both in and out of the classroom,” said Bob Parsons, co-founder of The Bob & Renee Parsons Foundation. “FosterEd Arizona’s work ensures that education remains a top priority, providing stability for the child and hope for their future.”

The Bob & Renee Parsons Foundation, which has granted $1.25 million to FosterEd Arizona over the past six years, has been vital in helping the program expand and improve. The funding has supported investments in research, evaluation, and the publication of five large-scale statewide reports. It has also provided training and technical assistance for professionals in schools, DCS offices and communities throughout the state.

“FosterEd Arizona is providing foster children with an Education Champion,” said Renee Parsons, co-founder of The Bob & Renee Parsons Foundation. “Those champions ensure that children who might otherwise fall through the cracks have the necessary support they need, while advocating on their behalf and encouraging them to succeed.”

FosterEd’s approach — which has proven successful in other states, like Indiana — is to develop programs in high-need areas, prove their viability and effectiveness for a period of eight to 10 years, and then pass that investment to state governments for long-term sustainability.

This latest round of grant funding from The Bob & Renee Parsons Foundation will ensure all youth are supported throughout the ongoing transition as FosterEd Arizona completes its transition to DCS by summer 2025. It will also assist in the development of training and technical assistance modules so that professionals across the state are well-equipped with the best practices and policies to support youth in foster care.

“Every student should feel valued and prepared to succeed,” said François, with the National Center for Youth Law. “This amazing commitment from such a supportive community partner will help ensure Arizona’s students in care get the support they need and deserve.”

About FosterEd Arizona

Through implementation of demonstration sites, bold policy agenda, collaborative learning networks and research, FosterEd Arizona is creating a future where every young person in foster care or under the jurisdiction of probation graduates from high school with a wide array of possibilities for their future.

About the National Center for Youth Law

The National Center for Youth Law centers youth through research, community collaboration, impact litigation, and policy advocacy that fundamentally transforms our nation’s approach to education, health, immigration, foster care, and youth justice. Our vision is a world in which every child thrives and has a full and fair opportunity to achieve the future they envision for themselves. For more information, visit www.youthlaw.org.

About The Bob & Renee Parsons Foundation

The Bob & Renee Parsons Foundation offers support to nonprofit organizations successfully working to empower, educate, nurture and nourish people during what is often the darkest time of their lives. Founded in 2012 by philanthropists and business leaders Bob and Renee Parsons to provide hope and life-changing assistance to the country’s most vulnerable populations, The Bob & Renee Parsons Foundation offers critical funding at critical times to those in need. The Foundation’s giving is driven by the core belief that all people – regardless of race, religion, roots, economic status, sexual orientation or gender identity – deserve access to quality healthcare, education and a safe place to call home. Follow @WeDealInHope on social media or visit TBRPF.org, to learn more about partner organizations and the important work being done in the community.

Media Contact

Willis Jacobson, National Center for Youth Law, 1 5104213805, [email protected], youthlaw.org

Lindsay Hansen, LDH Consulting, 1 4802056195, [email protected], ldhconsulting.net

SOURCE National Center for Youth Law

Lori G. Cohen, vice chair of global law firm Greenberg Traurig, LLP and co-chair of the firm’s global Litigation Practice and Trial Practice, was named to Benchmark Litigation’s elite 2024 “Top 10 Women in Litigation” list.

ATLANTA, Aug. 16, 2024 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ — Lori G. Cohen, vice chair of global law firm Greenberg Traurig, LLP and co-chair of the firm’s global Litigation Practice and Trial Practice, was named to Benchmark Litigation’s elite 2024 “Top 10 Women in Litigation” list. The women included on the list, which is part of the publication’s “Top 250 Women in Litigation” guide, were chosen for their litigation strategy acumen and based on the strength of historical and unwavering peer and client review, as well as proven achievements. This is Cohen’s seventh consecutive listing within the “Top 10 Women in Litigation” list.

Benchmark Litigation has also named her among its “Top 100 Trial Lawyers” (2018-2024); a “National Practice Area Star” for General Commercial, Health Care, and Product Liability (2020-2024); a “Litigation Star” (2020-2024); and “Product Liability Attorney of the Year” (2019, 2022).

Nationally recognized for her extraordinary trial record of 58 defense verdicts, Cohen leads a global practice that focuses on complex litigation of all types, including products liability and pharmaceutical, medical device, and health care litigation. She has served as national, regional, and trial counsel for numerous medical device and pharmaceutical manufacturers, handling all types of litigation, including class actions, multidistrict litigation, and trials nationally. Cohen and her team routinely take complex cases to trial and win, including some of the most complex mass torts in history. Well known for her ability to win high-stakes trials, Cohen is often called upon to “parachute in” at the last minute before trial, especially in challenging cases and jurisdictions.

Cohen is listed in The Legal 500 “Hall of Fame” for product liability litigation involving pharmaceutical and medical devices and has been recognized six times on its “Leading Trial Lawyers” list. She is one of a very small group of attorneys selected nationally for inclusion in Chambers USA’s National Pharmaceutical Industry Products Liability Table (2010-2024) and in its Star Individuals list for Litigation: Trial Lawyers (2022-2024). Cohen is also recognized by The Best Lawyers in America, Chambers Global, Outstanding Lawyers in America, The International Who’s Who of Business Lawyers, The International Who’s Who of Life Science Lawyers, The International Who’s Who of Products Liability Defense Lawyers, Georgia Trend’s “Legal Elite,” and Georgia Super Lawyers magazine, including “Top 10 Georgia Super Lawyers” (2013-2023), “Top 100 Georgia Super Lawyers” (2009-2024) and “Top 50 Female Georgia Super Lawyers” (2006-2024).

About Greenberg Traurig’s Litigation Practice: Greenberg Traurig’s Litigation Practice includes a team of more than 800 attorneys. The firm’s trial lawyers regularly appear in state and federal courts throughout the country, as well as in appellate courts and before international arbitration panels. They work closely with in-house counsel to develop a strategy that best fits a litigation cost and proficiency model appropriate to the client’s unique needs and goals.

About Greenberg Traurig: Greenberg Traurig, LLP has more than 2750 attorneys in 47 locations in the United States, Europe and the Middle East, Latin America, and Asia. The firm is a 2022 BTI “Highly Recommended Law Firm” for superior client service and is consistently among the top firms on the Am Law Global 100 and NLJ 500. Greenberg Traurig is Mansfield Rule 6.0 Certified Plus by The Diversity Lab. The firm is recognized for powering its U.S. offices with 100% renewable energy as certified by the Center for Resource Solutions Green-e® Energy program and is a member of the U.S. EPA’s Green Power Partnership Program. The firm is known for its philanthropic giving, innovation, diversity, and pro bono. Web: http://www.gtlaw.com.

Media Contact

Steven Hamburgo, Greenberg Traurig, +1 305.579.0500, [email protected], gtlaw.com

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SOURCE Greenberg Traurig