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Boston Globe

‘I will not fail in life': Unique program helps foster kids stay in school

Get The Gavel A weekly SCOTUS explainer newsletter by columnist Kimberly Atkins Stohr. Enter Email Sign Up Nova told me COMPASS gives her 'a home base' — a safe place to work, get advice, or take a time-out. Advertisement Only 58 percent of Massachusetts foster children The COMPASS program was adapted from a successful model established 20 years ago by the bryt program, which offers short-term academic support for children returning to school after psychiatric hospitalization. That program is now in 200 Massachusetts schools and 65 schools in other states. Advertisement In 2024, the Brookline Center 'We felt the students that are in foster or congregate care are deserving of the same level of clinical, academic, and stability support in a school setting,' Glenn said. The goal is to provide the stability in school that foster children often lack in life, with staff who can coordinate with all the adults in a child's life. The COMPASS office has walls and a whiteboard featuring a feelings chart, a rainbow flag, and suggestions of constructive ways to think about life. Rita Eliseo, who provides academic support, presides over a few desks and chairs in an adjacent nook. There are nine students currently in the program, with services tailored to each student's needs. Nova, for example, entered the program behind grade level. Kaitlin Scorzella, a social worker and COMPASS's clinical coordinator, helped her enroll in Framingham's online credit recovery classes. She learns biology and history online at her own pace, while attending in-person classes for ceramics, gym, English, and geometry. She does her online classes and homework in the COMPASS office, where she can focus. If she can't finish an assignment at school, Scorzella prints it out for her. When Nova had a medical absence, Scorzella negotiated with her teacher to exempt her from a midterm. If Nova needs a break from class, she comes to the COMPASS office, and staff will inform her teacher and get her work. It's a place, Nova says, 'to clear my mind.' Advertisement Judy Hyatt, a social worker and lawyer who works with DCF-involved kids, said foster children enter school with so many disadvantages — they've experienced trauma, may have moved frequently, and may be in a living situation with little academic support. Many are not emotionally or mentally able to succeed academically without extra support, which an average teacher isn't trained or paid to give. COMPASS is too new to measure its impact, but early results are promising. Scorzella said the nine students currently in the program had, cumulatively, 224 unexcused absences before joining. They've had just six unexcused absences since, though the data are skewed because two students are new to the program. The number of conduct referrals dropped from 69 among all the students to 11. The pilot program is funded through the end of next year, and continuing to collect data will be important to determine if the program actually helps students stay in school. If so, it's a model ripe for replication in other communities with large populations of DCF-involved students. With COMPASS's help, Nova, after failing her first two terms, is on track to pass her third. She loves reading novels by author Colleen Quinn and writing poetry. Scorzella recently submitted Nova's poems to a National High School Poetry Contest. One poem won an award and will be published. Titled 'Circus Animals,' the poem is a reflection on Nova's life in a group home. It begins: 'Throw me in this cage when I act up Advertisement Spray me with your threats and insults Put me in this place because I am considered Wild Fix me up and train me to be perfect and I will not fail in life.' Shira Schoenberg can be reached at