Children experiencing foster care face one of the largest educational inequities among any group of students in Massachusetts — and these early reading disparities can have lifelong effects. Furthermore, too often, tutoring and education support programs inadvertently exclude children experiencing foster care.

Our RISE program was featured on the Melissa & Lori Love Literacy Podcast! Listen to Episode 138: A RISE-ing Cause for Hope on Melissa & Lori’s website, on Apple Podcasts, or on Spotify.

How HopeWell Advances Education Equity For Children Experiencing Foster Care
In 2022, we launched our innovative RISE program (Readiness, Inquiry, Scholarship, Education) to meet the distinct needs of children in grades K-3 who are experiencing foster care. The program works to close opportunity gaps by providing the building blocks they need to grow strong reading and writing skills — including personalized, one-on-one literacy tutoring and caregiver support.

• RISE is home-based, so it moves with students, even if they change foster care placements or schools.
• RISE supports any caregivers who are involved in a child’s life, such as foster parents, biological parents, and kinship caregivers. It ensures families are equipped with the knowledge and tools necessary to advocate for their child’s needs and to promote learning at home and at school.
• Tutors assess each child’s strengths and gaps, and use a custom-designed curriculum to provide personalized tutoring for each child.
• Tutors embed social-emotional supports into each lesson.
• RISE Tutors and Education Specialists work to coordinate services and promote information-sharing among families, schools, and the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families(DCF).

For more information about RISE, contact Peter Newman, Education Director, at 617-318-5161 or email us at info@hopewellinc.org.