Fostering Hearts Florida is developing a new pilot program to help children in the foster care system get a better education. The nonprofit is partnering with Joshua House in Lutz to roll out the concept at the end of the summer.
The program's goal is to educate the children. This will allow them to stay in their safe space and focus on learning, as well as give them one-on-one attention.
Dede Grundel, the executive director at Joshua House, explained many children have heightened anxiety when leaving the group foster home and heading to public school.
“Sometimes, with complex traumas, you’re dealing with a lot of anxiety and issues with social interactions,” Grundel said.
She said that makes it harder to be in a big classroom every day. Grundel added the public school system is not built to support these children who are recovering from abuse or neglect.
Katy Rey from Fostering Hearts Florida said they came up with the pilot program when they noticed low graduation rates among foster children.
“Right now, under 50% of foster kids are graduating high school," Rey said.
She said they want to give these kids the best shot at a bright future through education.
“Otherwise, these foster children are being forced to catch up in a system that isn’t built to support or advocate for them,” Rey said.
The program will offer online schooling through Florida Virtual School, but a teacher will be on-site to personalize lesson plans.
The teacher will also give each child one-on-one attention while they learn. This allows children to stay on site of the foster care home, which they see as a safe place.
“It also gives us the component that we need, which is a much more structured classroom time with somebody who can work with children on multiple disciplinary levels,” Grundel said.
She said this program will give children the attention they need to catch up to their grade level and build back their confidence.
“They are going to be more equipped to survive and thrive in the world," Rey said.
The pilot program will start in August at Joshua House.
Fostering Hearts Florida hopes to extend the concept to other foster care centers throughout the Tampa Bay area.
