LEADS to a Bright Future

Learn, Educate, Achieve, Dream, Succeed

Christopher* entered the LEADS program in 2017, the program's pilot year. He was a freshman in high school who had been in foster care since he was a child. While Christopher began high school as an A and B student, his grades began to slip after his first school transfer. By the fall of 2019, he was enrolled in his fifth high school and was still classified as a freshman based on his core credits. After a fight at school led to his expulsion and enrollment in alternative school, his placement was disrupted due to his foster parent's inability to provide transportation. It was February of 2020 and Christopher was failing most of his classes.

Christopher moved to a transitional living program outside of Atlanta and enrolled in virtual school, which helped him concentrate and avoid conflict with his peers and other distractions. With the support of virtual tutors and a laptop from MAAC, he earned 6 full-year core credits in about three months -- his most successful semester since he started high school. That fall, Christopher moved back to the Atlanta area and continued to benefit from virtual school, tutors, and the advocacy of Communities in Schools of Atlanta. He made one last school change (his eighth high school) and set his sights on a spring 2021 graduation date. Christopher's school counselor remarked that his support team was one of the largest she had ever seen.

The placement in Atlanta was a temporary one; however, MAAC and DFCS successfully advocated for him to remain at his current school, where block scheduling offered him the opportunity to obtain all of his remaining credits in the spring. Christopher began to make plans for his graduation ceremony.  Then, about six weeks before his graduation date, he came upon one last hurdle: The school system had determined that a duplicated credit no longer exempted him from completing his final math course. He had just over one month to complete an abbreviated version of the course -- and he did, checking in weekly with his MAAC worker.

In one last show of teamwork, Christopher stayed at his sister's home while MAAC and his child placement agency (CPA) alternated driving him to school so he could attend his graduation rehearsals, where attendance was strictly enforced in order to walk in the ceremony. In May of 2021, Christopher walked across the stage and received his high school diploma in front of his sister, girlfriend, CPA worker, school counselor, Communities in Schools support, and MAAC worker.

Christopher is just one example of how the MAAC LEADS program is changing lives and futures. LEADS helps young people in foster care across Fulton and DeKalb County achieve their educational goals and successfully reach high school graduation or attain their GED -- setting them up for a lifetime of success and independent adulthood.

*name changed to preserve confidentiality

The LEADS team goes #BEYONDforYouth by: 

• Doing whatever it takes to get their 300+ youth across the finish line to graduation, including: Connecting them to MAAC-funded tutors, helping them plan for post-secondary, and advocating for students during IEP meetings and school tribunals. MAAC makes sure youth get what they need, not just "what they can get." 
• Connecting them to normal teen experiences that are linked to school success, such as: going to prom, paying class dues, participating in college tours, going on class trips -- the life experiences their peers who aren't in foster care get to access. 
• Helping youth pursue their passions so they can envision their future: extracurriculars, computer programming, art, language immersions, sports, cosmetology, dance, and theatrical programs. 
• Brainstorming creative uses of funds for self-care during COVID: art supplies, beauty items, sports equipment, guitars, board games, jump ropes.

The LEADS team is committing to supporting educational equity for youth in foster care by making sure that they have access to the same opportunities as their peers. 

By making a donation to MAAC for Giving Tuesday, you can help LEADS go beyond by providing extra services and supports such as:

• Laptops
• Virtual and in-person tutoring
• Mentors
• Wraparound support via community partners (Communities in Schools, Sprout, CHRIS 180)
• Wifi hotspots
• Payment of school fees, including extracurriculars, prom, and cap and gown
• GED testing vouchers