Program areas at Friends of Wednesday's Child
Fwc's success in school program is a program designed to help improve the educational outcomes for youth in foster care. The program is a long-term approach where students are assigned an educational specialist (es) to work with them to stay on track to high school graduation. In addition to working with an es, students receive a wide range of educational support services that aim to increase high school graduation rates. Education services include: school support, goal setting, 1:1 tutoring, extracurricular activities, summer learning opportunities, and student progress monitoring.
The enrichment supports program helps provide students in foster care the same opportunities as their non-foster peers. Research shows that, when youth participate in school and extracurricular activities, they do better in school and in life. The enrichment supports program helps pay for a variety of activities to help youth stay engaged in activities such as sports, music, dance, art, summer camp, and even driver's education which helps to set them up for success when they transition to life on their own.
Fwc's academic supports program helps fulfill unmet academic needs of students in foster care in cps region 3. Through academic supports, caregivers and social workers can request financial assistance for academic services such as tutoring, summer school, and credit replacement courses. In addition to these supports, Friends of Wednesday's Child assists with senior expenses and we also award higher education scholarships to students pursuing post-secondary education.
Birthday memories program helps youth have a positive experience on their birthday. Youth receive personalized birthday and gift cards to help celebrate their special day. Training supports program provides training on the education needs of children in foster care for Child protective services, social workers, caregivers, and school districts. The training focus is on how professionals/adults in the life of the Child can best provide for the unique educational needs of children in foster care.