Haven Kids Rock, the acclaimed musical arts program at Haven Academy, just released a new music video. The video, which features the song ‘Scars,’ stars co-founder Nefertiti Jones and numerous Haven Kids Rock participants.
For over 150 years, The New York Foundling has worked in partnership with our neighbors to ensure that everyone can meet their full potential when facing challenging situations. This hasn’t changed, and our staff continue to provide life-changing and meaningful support in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. This series shares how The Foundling’s many programs are responding to the needs of their community.
Four years ago, a partnership was created by The New York Foundling which brought together New York City’s Administration of Children’s Services (ACS) and the City University of New York (CUNY) with the goal to help more young people in foster care attend college and earn a college degree. This partnership is more commonly known as The Dormitory Project. The program provides a wide range of supports – academic, social, financial, and professional – to ensure students graduate from college. Students are supported by College Success Coaches, who live alongside them on CUNY campuses across New York City and are deeply attuned and trained to respond to the challenges and stressors that young people in foster care face. The Dormitory Project also includes academic support led by a team of tutors who ensure that each student is prepared to do well in their classes, develop effective study habits, choose a major, and identify a long-term academic plan.
Since the outbreak of COVID-19, The Foundling’s dedicated staff have worked tirelessly to help students adjust to remote learning and support those who are facing further hurdles and obstacles so they have an equal shot at educational success.
Before COVID-19, the achievement gap between students in foster care and their peers was already significant. Now, says Joni Rivera, who oversees The Foundling’s Dormitory Project, “students and staff face challenges exacerbated by COVID-19.” Staff spent the first month of the outbreak trying to get students access to technology, adjust to a remote learning format, and stay on track with their courses. But it’s been tough.
“Not only are they switching over to remote learning, they also had to worry about finding a place to live mid-semester and move,” says Joni, “It had an impact on their learning.”
In March, when CUNY campuses shut down, The Foundling’s staff helped its Dormitory Project students find new places to live for the short term—this ranged from family and friends, to foster families, and if that wasn’t possible, limited housing at Queens College remained available.
“CUNY has been incredibly supportive through the pandemic,” says Elizabeth Tremblay, who currently acts as the director of The Dormitory Project, and is an Associate Vice president for The Foundling’s School Based Mental Health Services. “When we couldn’t find alternative summer housing for about 40 students, CUNY graciously agreed to keep one of their dormitories open and house them there. CUNY is also letting our students store some of their belongings in secure places on campus, especially since many have moved into housing arrangements where there isn’t a lot of extra space.”
All tutoring sessions and meetings with College Success Coaches are now done online. Students connect with them on a weekly basis for career counseling, educational advocacy training, and help navigating personal and peer conflicts. Students are also hearing from their tutors on a daily basis, which is an increase from the weekly sessions that took place before COVID-19. Typical tutoring sessions last one to two hours, depending on the students’ needs.
However, the transition from in-person meetings and learning to remote formats was harder for some students than others. “Some students were stressed and frustrated,” says Joni, “It was just difficult in the beginning.”
However, tutors were able to reel in struggling students and get them back on track. “Overall, we saw an increase in student engagement and participation,” Joni continues, “and real progress with students advocating for themselves. That is, students talking to their professors about problems they were having, asking for extensions, and make-up work.”
As a result, the program reported a lot of A’s and B’s on student final exams and – in very exciting news – thirteen students graduated this spring: ten with associates degrees, and three with a four-year degree. These results “really shine a light on how important it is for older youth in foster care to have someone in their lives who will advocate for their education,” Joni says.
CUNY is now offering credit/no credit courses, and program staff are helping students decide which to choose, as well as register for summer and fall classes. Online learning will continue through the summer and possibly also the fall.
“The work we do has a profound effect, especially during these difficult times,” Joni adds, “A huge push from our staff brought students who fell off the map back around. If it weren’t for them, these struggling students might have dropped out. So, we’re really giving these kids a fighting chance.”
“But our students are resilient, too,” Elizabeth says, “COVID-19 has highlighted that with support and the right people around them, older youth in foster care can acclimate to change and achieve successful outcomes in education no matter what their circumstances.”
To learn more about how The New York Foundling is responding to the COVID-19 pandemic in New York, visit our emergency response page. Stay tuned for more stories from the frontlines as we continue to support our neighbors on paths to stability and strength.
Read past posts in the ‘Our Work Continues’ blog series:
Haven Kids Rock, a musical arts program at Haven Academy, our K-8 charter school, typically performs their annual musical, Unstoppable, in the spring. While their event was canceled this year, the students didn’t let social distancing stop them from expressing their feelings and experiences through song and dance.
The program created Unstoppable, Virtual Tales From The Schoolyard, a digital production featuring new music video clips and highlights from the past year. The event streamed live on YouTube earlier this month – watch it above.
Unstoppable, which is based on the real-life stories of Haven Academy students, covers topics such as bouncing between foster care homes, looming deportation, living in homeless shelters, and gun violence. The resilient stars of Unstoppable wear their scars as badges of honor and strength through song and performance.
With COVID-related school shut downs, students are missing out on a third of their traditional school year – and children in the child welfare system may need additional tutoring to avoid falling behind. To illuminate this issue, Fox 5 NY spoke to our CEO and President, Bill Baccaglini, as well as a Foundling foster parent who is currently balancing online schooling for 5 kids.
Remote learning is taking a toll on students as they navigate a new way of staying connected to their teachers, friends, classmates, and lesson plans from home. Jessica Nauiokas, Head of School at Haven Academy, discusses how our Haven scholars are receiving guidance from staff on navigating these difficult times, including virtual mental health counseling, speech therapy sessions, and more.
New York City Public Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza said recently that “learning will continue” as schools remain closed due to COVID-19… However, some politicians and education advocates say the learning never started.
Our President and CEO, Bill Baccaglini, discussed his concerns with New York Amsterdam News. He fears that the children in foster care will miss out on one-third of a school year’s education.
“I have kids in foster care who are going to be high school juniors in foster care, unlike kids on the Upper East Side and Upper West Side whose parents are going to make sure that they have what they need before they go back to school in the fall. Who’s going to help my kids catch up?” he says.
Read more on New York Amsterdam News (pdf)
A school located in one of the poorest Congressional districts in the nation has made a smooth transition to virtual learning. Since shuttering its doors on March 13, Mott Haven Academy Charter School has managed to successfully provide quality remote learning education to its students amidst the COVID-19 crisis.
“I’ve been so impressed with the creativity for our students and the creativity of Haven’s teaching team,” said Mott Haven’s Head of School and Founder Jessica Nauiokas.
While closing schools is necessary to prevent the spread of COVID-19, our President and CEO Bill Baccaglini is concerned that remote learning will cause students – particularly those in the child welfare system – to fall behind.
“Even on the best day, this remote virtual learning is not what being in a classroom is,” our President and CEO Bill Baccaglini told Spectrum News. He advocates one-on-one summer tutoring to help students close the gap. “Make the investment now, because if you don’t make the investment now in these young people, these are the young people who are going to find themselves in adult systems that they just may never get out of,” says Baccaglini.
Bill Baccaglini, our President and CEO, appeared on CBS New York to discuss his concerns – and propose potential solutions – on the impact that COVID-related school closures will have on students in foster care. “If we don’t invest now and we allow them out without a high school degree, and no college degree, these are young people who are more likely than other kids to wind up in an adult system which they may never get out of,” he said.
In the 12 years since Mott Haven Academy opened its doors in the South Bronx, our school has been guided by a spirit of deep empathy and defined by the never-give-up attitude of our staff and students.
That caring and resilience have been especially evident in the weeks since we closed on March 13.
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