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Program Launched for Young Women Aging-out of Foster Care
Wednesday, March 7, 2007

First program in MA to help young foster women prepare for college and adulthood

 

Chestnut Hill, Mass. — The Home for Little Wanderers has teamed up with Pine Manor College to create The Academy for College and Life Program. The Academy will provide ten young women ages 18-21, who are aging out of the foster care system with the opportunity to live on the all-women Pine Manor campus. The Academy will ensure the girls will receive college preparatory instruction as well as clinical, social, vocational and daily living support to prepare them for adulthood. This one-year pilot program was launched on March 1st, 2007.

This is the first college-bound program in Massachusetts, specifically for young women formerly in foster care and was developed in response to national research that indicates educational outcomes for youth in the child welfare system are troubling:

  • Only 20% of foster youth who have competed secondary education enrolled in higher education compared to 60% of their peers.
  • Only 13% of youth who grow up in foster care graduate from college with a four-year degree , compared with 24.4% in the general population.
  • 70% of teens in the foster care system have a desire to attend college. but many are ill-prepared to face that challenge.

“We are proud to have generated this innovative program,” said Joyce Lee Taylor, Vice President, Operations, The Home for Little Wanderers. “The will not only help these girls to prepare for college but will strengthen their lifelong and community connections, helping to prepare them to enter the world of adulthood.”

“We are very proud to have created this new program with The Home. It is a model that can be replicated across the State and across the nation to address the problem of young people who are aging out of foster care and in need of support to take their next step to college and adulthood” said Dr. Gloria Nemerowicz, President Pine Manor College. “We are thrilled to open our campus to this group of young women and be part of their preparation for lives of inclusive leadership and social responsibility.”

Students will be part of the overall residential life at Pine Manor, participating in extracurricular activities and exploring college options in the area and beyond.

Referrals for The Academic Support for College and Life Program may be sent to:

The ASCL Academy
The Home for Little Wanderers
271 Huntington Avenue
Boston, MA 02130

About Pine Manor College

Pine Manor College is a private, affordable four-year liberal arts college dedicated to preparing women for roles of inclusive leadership and social responsibility in their workplaces, families and communities. Its cutting-edge Education for Inclusive Leadership & Social Responsibility (ILSR) program is guided by a definition of inclusive, community-based leadership, which involves the interaction of group members at all levels to motivate, coordinate and sustain efforts to pursue socially responsible common good purposes. Pine Manor College, which is located in Chestnut Hill, Mass., a Boston suburb, is accredited by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges. For further information, please visit http://www.pmc.edu/.