On May 26th, Rhode Island College will host a national effort to create educational equality for all students including those experiencing foster care. The Town Hall style meeting will run from 5:30pm‐8pm at Alger Hall on the RIC campus. The panel includes leaders from education, child welfare and politics, as well as current or former foster youth who will speak to the educational needs of children in foster care and discuss where Rhode Island is in terms of providing educational stability and achievement for foster children.
In studies from around the country, students in foster care score woefully lower on all academic measures than their peers. Despite this, research has consistently shown that when the particular educational needs of foster youth are addressed through thoughtful policy and practice the resulting improvements in educational achievement for these students can be dramatic. As national attention is driven to educational reform and the likely overhaul of No Child Left Behind, right now is an ideal opportunity to widen the discourse to include those children in foster care.
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Moderated by Daniel Heimpel from Fostering Media Connections (FMC), speakers include DCYF Interim Director Kevin Aucoin; Director of Strategic Partnerships at RI‐Campaign for Achievement Now (CAN) Anna Cano‐Morales; RIDE Director, Office of Student, Community & Academic Supports, David Sienko; Interim Director of the Rhode Island Child Welfare Institute Tonya Glantz; Executive Director of RI Foster Parents Association Lisa Guillette, educators and former foster youth.
“These town‐hall meetings are intended to drive home the message that leveling the playing field for all students starts with creating educational equality for children experiencing foster care.” said Mr. Heimpel of Fostering Media Connections, “This cannot be a child welfare dominated event, rather a chance to bring the education community and others into the conversation.”
This event is being hosted by the Rhode Island College School of Social Work, the Child Welfare Institute and the Rhode Island Foster Parents Association as part of FMC’s national “On the Road to Educational Equality Tour”. This will be the tour’s third stop immediately following a successful stop at Harvard Law School.
For more information, contact Tonya Glantz, director of RIC’s Child Welfare Institute at (401) 456‐4626; tglantz@ric.edu or Lisa Guillette, executive director, R.I. Foster Parents Association (401) 438‐3900 x104; lisa.guillette@rifpa.org.
About RIFPA
The mission of the RI Foster Parents Association is to provide education and other forms of support to families that provide substitute care and to the community at large, in order to further the cause of children who cannot live with their parents.
About FMC
Fostering Media Connections harnesses the power of journalism and media to drive public and political will behind policy and practice that improve the well being of children experiencing foster care.
