Frank M. and Gertrude R. Doyle Foundation

The Board of Directors and the Executive Director for the Sierra Association of Foster Families are grateful for the generous grant funding by The Frank M. and Gertrude R. Doyle Foundation.

The funding allows SAFF to offer In-Home/After School Academic Tutoring in English, Math, Writing, Spelling, History, Science, Government and Spanish to hundreds of children and teens in the Washoe County foster care system who are attending Washoe County schools.

The two components of the educational program are 1) for the youth residing in foster care homes with substitute parents and 2) for the youth in the foster care system transitioning to live with their birth parent(s) under court supervision.

During the last school year, SAFF offered tutoring to 275 children and teens. This year, thanks to the Frank M. and Gertrude R. Doyle Foundation, we will help a large number of youth achieve educational stability and success.

Why is the academic tutoring progam of such importance?

Statistics show that children in foster care are typically 2-4 grade levels behind in academic skills, teens in foster care are the largest population for dropping out of high school, and 70% of adults in state and federal prisons were once children and teens in foster care and they do not have a high school diploma.

This unique and viable program helps the disadvantaged youth with academic progress-stability and discourages-prevents early school terminations that eventually lead to homelessness, crime, violence, and incarcerations in juvenile jails and adult prisons.

SAFF’s In-Home/After School Academic Tutoring program is being recognized by family courts, social services agencies, and school districts as an important program offering both long-term and short-terms benefits to the lives of children and teens in the foster care system. For these achievements, we offer our sincerest gratitude to Mr. and Mrs. Doyle, Molly Glen, and the Board of Trustees of the Frank M. and Gertrude R. Doyle Foundation.

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