Terms of Use

Introduction & Important Notices

Welcome, and thank you for your interest in Foster Careers ("Foster Careers," "we," or "us") and our website at https://www.fostercareers.org, along with our related websites, hosted applications, and other services provided by us (collectively, the "Service"). These Terms of Use are a legally binding contract between you and Foster Careers regarding your use of the Service.

If you are a party to an existing agreement with Foster Careers having the same subject matter as these Terms, then the terms of such existing agreement will continue to govern your access and use of the Service for so long as such agreement remains in effect.

1. Foster Careers Service Overview

Foster Careers provides technology-enabled workforce-development, career-readiness, mentoring, training, educational, internship, apprenticeship, employment-placement, and related support services designed to help current and former foster youth achieve long-term economic independence and career success. Foster Careers works with employers, educational institutions, apprenticeship and training providers, workforce-development organizations, social service providers, mentors, volunteers, and other placement partners to connect participants with career opportunities, supportive services, and resources. Through its programs, services, and technology platforms, Foster Careers seeks to help participants develop skills, access training and employment pathways, overcome barriers to employment, and pursue sustainable careers.

Foster Careers does not guarantee acceptance into any program, receipt of services, placement with any employer, internship provider, apprenticeship sponsor, educational institution, or other placement partner, or any particular educational, employment, financial, or career outcome. Decisions regarding admissions, hiring, placement, employment, compensation, training opportunities, certifications, and continued participation are made solely by the applicable third party.

Although Foster Careers may facilitate connections between participants and placement partners, Foster Careers does not control and is not responsible for the acts, omissions, services, opportunities, hiring decisions, admissions decisions, employment practices, workplace conditions, compensation decisions, policies, or conduct of any Placement Partner.

2. Eligibility

You must be at least 16 years old to use the Service. If you are under the age of 18, you represent that you have reviewed these Terms with a parent or legal guardian and that your parent or legal guardian has consented to your use of the Service where required by applicable law. By agreeing to these Terms, you represent and warrant to us that: (a) you are at least 16 years old; (b) you have not previously been suspended or removed from the Service; and (c) your registration and your use of the Service is in compliance with any and all applicable laws and regulations. If you are an entity, organization, or company, the individual accepting these Terms on your behalf represents and warrants that they have authority to bind you to these Terms and you agree to be bound by these Terms.

3. Accounts and Registration

To access some of the features of the Service, you must register for an account. When you register for an account, you may be required to provide us with some information about yourself, such as your name, email address, or other contact information. You agree that the information you provide to us is accurate, complete, and not misleading, and that you will keep it accurate and up to date at all times. When you register, you will be asked to create a password. You are solely responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your account and password, and you accept responsibility for all activities that occur under your account. If you believe that your account is no longer secure, then you should immediately notify us at info@fostercareers.org.

4. Licenses

4.1 Limited License

Subject to your complete and ongoing compliance with these Terms, Foster Careers grants you, solely for your personal, non-commercial use, a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable, non-sublicensable, revocable license to access and use the Service.

4.2 License Restrictions

Except and solely to the extent such a restriction is impermissible under applicable law, you may not: (a) reproduce, distribute, publicly display, publicly perform, or create derivative works of the Service; (b) make modifications to the Service; or (c) interfere with or circumvent any feature of the Service, including any security or access control mechanism. If you are prohibited under applicable law from using the Service, then you may not use it.

4.3 Feedback

We respect and appreciate the thoughts and comments from our users. If you choose to provide input and suggestions regarding existing functionalities, problems with or proposed modifications or improvements to the Service ("Feedback"), then you hereby grant Foster Careers an unrestricted, perpetual, irrevocable, non-exclusive, fully-paid, royalty-free right and license to exploit the Feedback in any manner and for any purpose, including to improve the Service and create other products and services. We will have no obligation to provide you with attribution for any Feedback you provide to us.

5. Ownership; Proprietary Rights

The Service is owned and operated by Foster Careers. The visual interfaces, graphics, design, compilation, information, data, computer code (including source code or object code), products, software, services, and all other elements of the Service provided by Foster Careers ("Materials") are protected by intellectual property and other laws. All Materials included in the Service are the property of Foster Careers or its third-party licensors. Except as expressly authorized by Foster Careers, you may not make use of the Materials. There are no implied licenses in these Terms and Foster Careers reserves all rights to the Materials not granted expressly in these Terms.

6. Third-Party Terms

6.1 Third-Party Services and Linked Websites

Foster Careers may provide tools through the Service that enable you to export information, including User Content, to third-party services. By using one of these tools, you hereby authorize Foster Careers to transfer that information to the applicable third-party service. Third-party services are not under Foster Careers' control, and, to the fullest extent permitted by law, Foster Careers is not responsible for any third-party service's use of your exported information. The Service may also contain links to third-party websites. Linked websites are not under Foster Careers' control, and Foster Careers is not responsible for their content. Please be sure to review the terms of use and privacy policy of any third-party services before you share any User Content or information with such third-party services. Once sharing occurs, Foster Careers will have no control over the information that has been shared.

6.2 Donations

Foster Careers may provide you with an opportunity to donate to Foster Careers on the Service through a third party. If you choose to donate to Foster Careers through such third party, then your donation is governed by such third party's terms, conditions, and privacy policy.

6.3 Third-Party Software

The Service may include or incorporate third-party software components that are generally available free of charge under licenses granting recipients broad rights to copy, modify, and distribute those components ("Third-Party Components"). Although the Service is provided to you subject to these Terms, nothing in these Terms prevents, restricts, or is intended to prevent or restrict you from obtaining Third-Party Components under the applicable third-party licenses or to limit your use of Third-Party Components under those third-party licenses.

7. User Content

7.1 User Content Generally

Certain features of the Service may permit users to submit, upload, publish, broadcast, or otherwise transmit ("Submit") content to the Service, including messages, reviews, data, text, photos, and any other works of authorship, other works, or other information ("User Content"). You retain any copyright and other proprietary rights that you may hold in the User Content that you Submit to the Service, subject to the licenses granted in these Terms.

7.2 Limited License Grant to Foster Careers

By submitting content through the Services, you grant Foster Careers a non-exclusive, royalty-free license to access, use, reproduce, store, and process such content solely as necessary to operate the Services, administer programs, support participants, evaluate program effectiveness, fulfill our mission, comply with legal obligations, and improve our programs and services. Foster Careers may use aggregated, anonymized, or de-identified information for reporting, research, grant compliance, outcome evaluation, and program improvement purposes. Foster Careers will not publicly disclose personally identifiable participant information except as described in our Privacy Policy, with your consent, or as required by law.

Any use of participant photographs, videos, testimonials, or success stories for marketing or promotional purposes may be subject to additional consent or media release requirements. As part of the Services, users may voluntarily submit resumes, employment records, educational records, certifications, housing records, criminal history or criminal justice information, information relating to interactions with law enforcement, health-related information, and other personal or sensitive information. By submitting such information through the Services, you acknowledge and agree that Foster Careers may access, review, store, process, and share such information with authorized personnel, service providers, placement partners, educational institutions, training providers, employers, government agencies, and other third parties as reasonably necessary to provide services, administer programs, facilitate opportunities, comply with legal obligations, and otherwise as described in the Privacy Policy. You are solely responsible for determining what information you choose to submit through the Services.

7.3 Usage Data

You grant Foster Careers a non-exclusive, worldwide, sublicensable right to process deidentified data created, generated, derived, or otherwise processed from User Content or use of the Service, such as technical logs, data, queries and instructions you submit, and learnings about your use of the Service (collectively, "Usage Data") for internal business purposes, including to: (a) monitor the performance and stability of the Service; (b) prevent or address technical issues with the Service; (c) improve the Service, its other products and services, and to develop new products and services; and (d) for all other lawful business practices, such as analytics, benchmarking, and reports.

7.4 Specific Rules for Photographs and Images

If you Submit a photograph or image to the Service that includes one or more persons, you hereby grant such persons and their administrators, guardians, heirs, and trustees, if any, an irrevocable, perpetual, royalty free, fully paid-up, worldwide license to reproduce, distribute, and publicly display that photograph for personal use and through any online platform or service, including the Service, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, but not to promote any third-party product, good, or service. The license contained in this Section does not permit the subject of any photo or their administrators, guardians, heirs, or trustees to sell that image or photograph, whether on a standalone basis or as embodied in any product.

7.5 You Must Have Rights to the User Content You Submit

You must not Submit User Content if you are not the owner of or are not fully authorized to grant rights in all of the elements of that User Content. Foster Careers disclaims any and all liability in connection with User Content. You are solely responsible for your User Content and the consequences of providing User Content via the Service. By providing User Content via the Service, you affirm, represent, and warrant to us that:

1. you are the creator and owner of the User Content, or have the necessary licenses, rights, consents, and permissions to authorize Foster Careers to process your User Content as necessary to exercise the licenses granted by you in this Section, in the manner contemplated by Foster Careers, the Service, and these Terms;
2. your User Content, and the Submission or other use of your User Content as contemplated by these Terms, does not and will not: (i) infringe, violate, misappropriate, or otherwise breach any third-party right, including any copyright, trademark, patent, trade secret, moral right, privacy right, right of publicity, or any other intellectual property, contract, or proprietary right; (ii) slander, defame, libel, or invade the right of privacy, publicity or other property rights of any other person; or (iii) cause Foster Careers to violate any law or regulation or require us to obtain any further licenses from or pay any royalties, fees, compensation or other amounts or provide any attribution to any third parties; and
3. your User Content could not be deemed by a reasonable person to be objectionable, profane, indecent, pornographic, harassing, threatening, embarrassing, hateful, or otherwise inappropriate.

7.6 User Content Disclaimer

We are under no obligation to edit or control User Content that you or other users Submit and will not be in any way responsible or liable for User Content. Foster Careers may, however, at any time and without prior notice, screen, remove, edit, or block any User Content that in our sole judgment violates these Terms, is alleged to violate the rights of third parties, or is otherwise objectionable. You understand that, when using the Service, you may be exposed to User Content from a variety of sources and acknowledge that User Content may be inaccurate, offensive, indecent, or objectionable. You agree to waive, and do waive, any legal or equitable right or remedy you have or may have against Foster Careers with respect to User Content. For clarity, Foster Careers does not permit infringing activities on or via the Service.

7.7 Monitoring Content

Foster Careers does not control and does not have any obligation to monitor: (a) User Content; (b) any content made available by third parties; or (c) the use of the Service by its users. You acknowledge and agree that Foster Careers reserves the right to, and may from time to time, monitor any and all information transmitted or received through the Service for operational and other purposes. If at any time Foster Careers chooses to monitor the content, then Foster Careers still assumes no responsibility or liability for content or any loss or damage incurred as a result of the use of content. During monitoring, information may be examined, recorded, copied, and used in accordance with our Privacy Policy. Foster Careers may block, filter, mute, remove, or disable access to any User Content uploaded to or transmitted through the Service without any liability to the user who Submitted such User Content to the Service or to any other users of the Service.

8. Communications

8.1 Text Messaging & Phone Calls

These messages or phone calls may also include operational messages or information about your use of the Service. Standard data and message rates may apply whenever you send or receive such calls or messages, as specified by your carrier.

8.2 Opt Out

You may continue to receive calls and text messages for a short period while we process your request, including a message confirming the receipt of your opt-out request.

8.3 Email

We may send you emails concerning our products and services, as well as those of third parties. You may opt out of promotional emails by following the unsubscribe instructions in the promotional email itself.

9. Prohibited Conduct

By using the Service, you agree NOT to:

• use the Service for any illegal purpose or in violation of any local, state, national, or international law;
• harass, threaten, demean, embarrass, bully, or otherwise harm any other user of the Service;
• violate, encourage others to violate, or provide instructions on how to violate, any right of a third party, including by infringing or misappropriating any third-party intellectual property right;
• access, search, or otherwise use any portion of the Service through the use of any engine, software, tool, agent, device, or mechanism (including spiders, robots, crawlers, and data mining tools) other than the software or search agents provided by Foster Careers;
• interfere with security-related features of the Service, including by: (i) disabling or circumventing features that prevent or limit use, printing or copying of any content; or (ii) reverse engineering or otherwise attempting to discover the source code of any portion of the Service except to the extent that the activity is expressly permitted by applicable law;
• interfere with the operation of the Service or any user's enjoyment of the Service, including by: (i) uploading or otherwise disseminating any virus, adware, spyware, worm, or other malicious code; (ii) making any unsolicited offer or advertisement to another user of the Service; (iii) collecting personal information about another user or third party without consent; or (iv) interfering with or disrupting any network, equipment, or server connected to or used to provide the Service;
• perform any fraudulent activity including impersonating any person or entity, claiming a false affiliation or identity, accessing any other Service account without permission, or falsifying your age or date of birth;
• sell or otherwise transfer the access granted under these Terms or any Materials or any right or ability to view, access, or use any Materials; or
• attempt to do any of the above acts or assist or permit any person in engaging in any of the above acts.

10. Intellectual Property Rights Protection

10.1 Respect of Third Party Rights

Foster Careers respects the intellectual property rights of others, takes the protection of intellectual property rights very seriously, and asks users of the Service to do the same. Infringing activity will not be tolerated on or through the Service.

10.2 DMCA Notification

We comply with the provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act applicable to Internet service providers (17 U.S.C. § 512, as amended). If you have an intellectual property rights-related complaint about any material on the Service, you may contact our designated agent ("Designated Agent") at:

10.3 Procedure for Reporting Claimed Infringement

If you believe that any content made available on or through the Service has been used or exploited in a manner that infringes an intellectual property right you own or control, then please promptly send a written "Notification of Claimed Infringement" to the Designated Agent identified above containing the following information:

1. an electronic or physical signature of the person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of the copyright or other right being infringed;
2. a description of the copyrighted work or other intellectual property right that you claim has been infringed;
3. a description of the material that you claim is infringing and where it is located on the Service;
4. your address, telephone number, and email address;
5. a statement by you that you have a good faith belief that the use of the materials on the Service of which you are complaining is not authorized by the copyright or other intellectual property right owner, its agent, or the law; and
6. a statement by you that the above information in your notice is accurate and that, under penalty of perjury, you are the copyright or other intellectual property right owner or authorized to act on the copyright or intellectual property owner's behalf.

Your Notification of Claimed Infringement may be shared by Foster Careers with the user alleged to have infringed a right you own or control as well as with the operators of publicly available databases that track notifications of claimed infringement, and you consent to Foster Careers making such disclosures. You should consult with your own lawyer or see 17 U.S.C. § 512 to confirm your obligations to provide a valid notice of claimed infringement.

10.4 Repeat Infringers

Foster Careers' policy is to: (a) remove or disable access to material that Foster Careers believes in good faith, upon notice from an intellectual property rights owner or authorized agent, is infringing the intellectual property rights of a third party by being made available through the Service; and (b) in appropriate circumstances, to terminate the accounts of and block access to the Service by any user who repeatedly or egregiously infringes other people's copyright or other intellectual property rights. Foster Careers may terminate the accounts of users that are determined by Foster Careers to be repeat infringers. Foster Careers reserves the right, however, to suspend or terminate accounts of users in our sole discretion.

10.5 Counter Notification

If you receive a notification from Foster Careers that material made available by you on or through the Service has been the subject of a Notification of Claimed Infringement, then you will have the right to provide Foster Careers with what is called a "Counter Notification." To be effective, a Counter Notification must be in writing, provided to Foster Careers' Designated Agent through one of the methods identified in Section 10.2, and include substantially the following information:

1. your physical or electronic signature;
2. identification of the material that has been removed or to which access has been disabled and the location at which the material appeared before it was removed or access to it was disabled;
3. a statement under penalty of perjury that you have a good faith belief that the material was removed or disabled as a result of mistake or misidentification of the material to be removed or disabled; and
4. your name, address, and telephone number, and a statement that you consent to the jurisdiction of Federal District Court for the judicial district in which the address is located, or if you are residing outside of the United States, then for any judicial district in which Foster Careers may be found, and that you will accept service of process from the person who provided notification under Section 10.2 above or an agent of that person.

A party submitting a Counter Notification should consult a lawyer or see 17 U.S.C. § 512 to confirm the party's obligations to provide a valid counter notification under the Copyright Act.

10.6 Reposting of Content Subject to a Counter Notification

If you submit a Counter Notification to Foster Careers in response to a Notification of Claimed Infringement, then Foster Careers will promptly provide the person who provided the Notification of Claimed Infringement with a copy of your Counter Notification and inform that person that Foster Careers will replace the removed User Content or cease disabling access to it in 10 business days, and Foster Careers will replace the removed User Content and cease disabling access to it not less than 10, nor more than 14, business days following receipt of the Counter Notification, unless Foster Careers' Designated Agent receives notice from the party that submitted the Notification of Claimed Infringement that such person has filed an action seeking a court order to restrain the user from engaging in infringing activity relating to the material on Foster Careers' system or network.

10.7 False Notifications of Claimed Infringement or Counter Notifications

The Copyright Act provides at 17 U.S.C. § 512(f) that any person who knowingly materially misrepresents that material or activity is infringing, or that material or activity was removed or disabled by mistake or misidentification, will be liable for any damages, including costs and attorneys' fees, incurred by the alleged infringer, by any copyright owner or copyright owner's authorized licensee, or by a service provider, who is injured by such misrepresentation, as the result of Foster Careers relying upon such misrepresentation in removing or disabling access to the material or activity claimed to be infringing, or in replacing the removed material or ceasing to disable access to it. Foster Careers reserves the right to seek damages from any party that submits a Notification of Claimed Infringement or Counter Notification in violation of the law.

11. Modification of Terms

We may, from time to time, change these Terms. Please check these Terms periodically for changes. Revisions will be effective immediately except that, for existing users, material revisions will be effective 30 days after posting or notice to you of the revisions unless otherwise stated. We may require that you accept modified Terms in order to continue to use the Service. If you do not agree to the modified Terms, then you should remove your User Content and discontinue your use of the Service. Except as expressly permitted in this Section 11, these Terms may be amended only by a written agreement signed by authorized representatives of the parties to these Terms.

12. Term, Termination, and Modification of the Service

12.1 Term

These Terms are effective beginning when you accept the Terms or first access or use the Service, and ending when terminated as described in Section 12.2.

12.2 Termination

If you violate any provision of these Terms, then your authorization to access the Service and these Terms automatically terminate. In addition, Foster Careers may, at its sole discretion, terminate these Terms or your account on the Service, or suspend or terminate your access to the Service, at any time for any reason or no reason, with or without notice, and without any liability to you arising from such termination. You may terminate your account and these Terms at any time by contacting privacy@fostercareers.org.

12.3 Effect of Termination

Upon termination of these Terms: (a) your license rights will terminate and you must immediately cease all use of the Service; (b) you will no longer be authorized to access your account or the Service; (c) you must pay Foster Careers any unpaid amount that was due prior to termination; and (d) all payment obligations accrued prior to termination and Sections 4.3, 5, 12.3, 13, 14, 15, 16, and 17 will survive. You are solely responsible for retaining copies of any User Content you Submit to the Service since upon termination of your account, you may lose access rights to any User Content you Submitted to the Service. If your account has been terminated for a breach of these Terms, then you are prohibited from creating a new account on the Service using a different name, email address or other forms of account verification.

12.4 Modification of the Service

Foster Careers reserves the right to modify or discontinue all or any portion of the Service at any time (including by limiting or discontinuing certain features of the Service), temporarily or permanently, without notice to you. Foster Careers will have no liability for any change to the Service, including any paid-for functionalities of the Service, or any suspension or termination of your access to or use of the Service. You should retain copies of any User Content you Submit to the Service so that you have permanent copies in the event the Service is modified in such a way that you lose access to User Content you Submitted to the Service.

13. Indemnity

To the fullest extent permitted by law, you are responsible for your use of the Service, and you will defend and indemnify Foster Careers, its affiliates and their respective shareholders, directors, managers, members, officers, employees, consultants, service providers, and agents (together, the "Foster Careers Entities") from and against every claim brought by a third party, and any related liability, damage, loss, and expense, including attorneys' fees and costs, arising out of or connected with: (1) your unauthorized use of, or misuse of, the Service; (2) your violation of any portion of these Terms, any representation, warranty, or agreement referenced in these Terms, or any applicable law or regulation; (3) your violation of any third-party right, including any intellectual property right or publicity, confidentiality, other property, or privacy right; or (4) any dispute or issue between you and any third party. We reserve the right, at our own expense, to assume the exclusive defense and control of any matter otherwise subject to indemnification by you (without limiting your indemnification obligations with respect to that matter), and in that case, you agree to cooperate with our defense of those claims.

14. Disclaimers; No Warranties by Foster Careers

14.3 The limitations, exclusions and disclaimers in this Section 14 apply to the fullest extent permitted by law. Foster Careers does not disclaim any warranty or other right that Foster Careers is prohibited from disclaiming under applicable law.

15. Limitation of Liability

15.3 Each provision of these Terms that provides for a limitation of liability, disclaimer of warranties, or exclusion of damages is intended to and does allocate the risks between the parties under these Terms. This allocation is an essential element of the basis of the bargain between the parties. Each of these provisions is severable and independent of all other provisions of these Terms. The limitations in this Section 15 will apply even if any limited remedy fails of its essential purpose.

16. Dispute Resolution and Arbitration

16.1 Generally

Except as described in Sections 16.2 and 16.3, you and Foster Careers agree that every dispute arising in connection with these Terms, the Service, or communications from us will be resolved through binding arbitration. Arbitration uses a neutral arbitrator instead of a judge or jury, is less formal than a court proceeding, may allow for more limited discovery than in court, and is subject to very limited review by courts. This agreement to arbitrate disputes includes all claims whether based in contract, tort, statute, fraud, misrepresentation, or any other legal theory, and regardless of whether a claim arises during or after the termination of these Terms. Any dispute relating to the interpretation, applicability, or enforceability of this binding arbitration agreement will be resolved by the arbitrator.

16.2 Exceptions

Although we are agreeing to arbitrate most disputes between us, nothing in these Terms will be deemed to waive, preclude, or otherwise limit the right of either party to: (a) bring an individual action in small claims court; (b) pursue an enforcement action through the applicable federal, state, or local agency if that action is available; (c) seek injunctive relief in a court of law in aid of arbitration; or (d) to file suit in a court of law to address an intellectual property infringement claim.

16.3 Opt-Out

If you do not wish to resolve disputes by binding arbitration, you may opt out of the provisions of this Section 16 within 30 days after the date that you agree to these Terms by sending a letter to Foster Careers, Attention: Legal Department – Arbitration Opt-Out, 2967 Oak Run Pkwy Bldg 400, New Braunfels, TX 78132–5454, that specifies: your full legal name, the email address associated with your account on the Service, and a statement that you wish to opt out of arbitration ("Opt-Out Notice"). Once Foster Careers receives your Opt-Out Notice, this Section 16 will be void and any action arising out of these Terms will be resolved as set forth in Section 17.2. The remaining provisions of these Terms will not be affected by your Opt-Out Notice.

16.4 Arbitrator

This arbitration agreement, and any arbitration between us, is subject to the Federal Arbitration Act and will be administered by the JAMS under the rules applicable to consumer disputes ("JAMS Rules") as modified by these Terms. The JAMS Rules and filing forms are available online at www.jamsadr.com, by calling the JAMS at +1-800-352-5267, or by contacting Foster Careers.

16.5 Commencing Arbitration

Before initiating arbitration, a party must first send a written notice of the dispute to the other party by certified U.S. Mail or by Federal Express (signature required) or, only if that other party has not provided a current physical address, then by electronic mail ("Notice of Arbitration"). Foster Careers' address for Notice is: Foster Careers, 2967 Oak Run Pkwy Bldg 400, New Braunfels, TX 78132–5454. The Notice of Arbitration must: (a) identify the name or account number of the party making the claim; (b) describe the nature and basis of the claim or dispute; and (c) set forth the specific relief sought ("Demand"). The parties will make good faith efforts to resolve the claim directly, but if the parties do not reach an agreement to do so within 30 days after the Notice of Arbitration is received, you or Foster Careers may commence an arbitration proceeding. If you commence arbitration in accordance with these Terms, Foster Careers will reimburse you for your payment of the filing fee, unless your claim is for more than USD $10,000 or if Foster Careers has received 25 or more similar demands for arbitration, in which case the payment of any fees will be decided by the JAMS Rules.

16.6 Arbitration Proceedings

Any arbitration hearing will take place in the county and state of your residence unless we agree otherwise or, if the claim is for USD $10,000 or less (and does not seek injunctive relief), you may choose whether the arbitration will be conducted: (a) solely on the basis of documents submitted to the arbitrator; (b) through a telephonic or video hearing; or (c) by an in-person hearing as established by the JAMS Rules in the county (or parish) of your residence. During the arbitration, the amount of any settlement offer made by you or Foster Careers must not be disclosed to the arbitrator until after the arbitrator makes a final decision and award, if any. Regardless of the manner in which the arbitration is conducted, the arbitrator must issue a reasoned written decision sufficient to explain the essential findings and conclusions on which the decision and award, if any, are based.

16.7 Arbitration Relief

Except as provided in Section 16.8, the arbitrator can award any relief that would be available if the claims had been brought in a court of competent jurisdiction. If the arbitrator awards you an amount higher than the last written settlement amount offered by Foster Careers before an arbitrator was selected, Foster Careers will pay to you the higher of: (a) the amount awarded by the arbitrator and (b) USD $10,000. The arbitrator's award shall be final and binding on all parties, except (1) for judicial review expressly permitted by law or (2) if the arbitrator's award includes an award of injunctive relief against a party, in which case that party shall have the right to seek judicial review of the injunctive relief in a court of competent jurisdiction that shall not be bound by the arbitrator's application or conclusions of law. Judgment on the award may be entered in any court having jurisdiction.

16.8 No Class Actions

16.9 Modifications to This Arbitration Provision

If Foster Careers makes any substantive change to this arbitration provision, you may reject the change by sending us written notice within 30 days of the change to Foster Careers' address for Notice of Arbitration, in which case your account with Foster Careers will be immediately terminated and this arbitration provision, as in effect immediately prior to the changes you rejected, will survive.

16.10 Enforceability

If Section 16.8 or the entirety of this Section 16 is found to be unenforceable, or if Foster Careers receives an Opt-Out Notice from you, then the entirety of this Section 16 will be null and void and, in that case, the exclusive jurisdiction and venue described in Section 17.2 will govern any action arising out of or related to these Terms.

17. Miscellaneous

17.1 General Terms

These Terms, including the Privacy Policy and any other agreements expressly incorporated by reference into these Terms, are the entire and exclusive understanding and agreement between you and Foster Careers regarding your use of the Service. You may not assign or transfer these Terms or your rights under these Terms, in whole or in part, by operation of law or otherwise, without our prior written consent. We may assign these Terms and all rights granted under these Terms, including with respect to your User Content, at any time without notice or consent. The failure to require performance of any provision will not affect our right to require performance at any other time after that, nor will a waiver by us of any breach or default of these Terms, or any provision of these Terms, be a waiver of any subsequent breach or default or a waiver of the provision itself. If any part of these Terms is held to be invalid or unenforceable, then the unenforceable part will be given effect to the greatest extent possible, and the remaining parts will remain in full force and effect.

17.2 Governing Law

These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Texas without regard to conflict of law principles. You and Foster Careers submit to the personal and exclusive jurisdiction of the state courts and federal courts located within Comal County, Texas for resolution of any lawsuit or court proceeding permitted under these Terms. We operate the Service from our offices in Texas, and we make no representation that Materials included in the Service are appropriate or available for use in other locations.

17.3 Privacy Policy

Please read the Foster Careers Privacy Policy carefully for information relating to our collection, use, storage, and disclosure of your personal information. The Foster Careers Privacy Policy is incorporated by this reference into, and made a part of, these Terms.

17.4 Additional Terms

Your use of the Service is subject to all additional terms, policies, rules, or guidelines applicable to the Service or certain features of the Service that we may post on or link to from the Service ("Additional Terms"). All Additional Terms are incorporated by this reference into, and made a part of, these Terms.

17.5 Consent to Electronic Communications

By using the Service, you consent to receiving certain electronic communications from us as further described in our Privacy Policy. Please read our Privacy Policy to learn more about our electronic communications practices. You agree that any notices, agreements, disclosures, or other communications that we send to you electronically will satisfy any legal communication requirements, including that those communications be in writing.

17.6 Contact Information

The Service is offered by Foster Careers. You may contact us by sending correspondence to the address below or by emailing us at the applicable email address listed on the Contact Us page.

17.7 Notice to California Residents

If you are a California resident, then under California Civil Code Section 1789.3, you may report complaints regarding the Service or obtain further information regarding use of the Service by contacting the Complaint Assistance Unit of the Division of Consumer Services of the California Department of Consumer Affairs at: 1625 North Market Boulevard, Suite N-112, Sacramento, California 95834, Telephone: (800) 952-5210 or (916) 445-1254.

17.8 No Support

We are under no obligation to provide support for the Service. In instances where we may offer support, the support will be subject to published policies.

17.9 International Use

The Service is intended for visitors located within the United States. We make no representation that the Service is appropriate or available for use outside of the United States. Access to the Service from countries or territories or by individuals where such access is illegal is prohibited.