Over the past year, more than 8,000 foster care children in Oregon have endured constantly adapting to new situations, from where they live to how they learn. This means struggling to learn in front of a computer for hours on end to now, after a year of online learning, adjusting to going back to school while wearing a mask, social distancing, and learning in a classroom.
Portland’s oldest child welfare organization, Boys and Girls Aid is working to ensure that the challenges and obstacles of learning during the pandemic do not keep foster children and youth from having all the tools and resources they need to be successful students.
KBOO’s Claire Rischiotto spoke with Boys and Girls Aid's Sue Keller, who is the program director of The Neighborhood, a program that supports foster care youth and their specific needs such as remote learning.
- KBOO