Families and Youth

By successfully involving families with their child’s treatment and education at DYS, we believe our youth will be more likely to make progress in attaining their future goals. CES supports youth and families by providing a clear idea of what to expect from the program experience, opportunities to engage with youth and program staff and educators, and information and updates on each student’s progress toward their goals.

Home E Children/Youth/Families E DYS E Families and Youth

How can families be involved in their student’s experience?

Each year, there are new opportunities for family engagement. Below are some examples of these:

Open Houses and Parent-Teacher Conferences

Programs throughout the state work with education staff to host events that showcase the comprehensive education programming underway in DYS. They provide opportunities for families to meet teachers, review the academic and career development of their child and, whenever possible, hear directly from the youth about their college and career development. These have included youth performances, a model United Nations event, showcases of youth projects and presentation, and family dinners.

Academic Growth Reports

The Future Ready Academic Growth Report, DYS’ version of a more meaningful and differentiated report card, is used across all regions. The report is issued quarterly with data information tailored to provide personalized feedback on youth progress across the multiple concentrations of study (High School Diploma or equivalent, College, and Career). This growth report is reviewed at treatment meetings and highlights academic progress and development of future ready skills deemed essential for success in work, school, and in life. The treatment meetings are attended by caseworkers, clinicians, program staff, family members, and other caring adults.

College and Career Fairs

College and Career Fairs are historically held in the Spring and facilitated by the Education and Career Counselors (ECCs). Youth and caring adults also participate in the MassHire online virtual job fairs. Community and pass eligible youth have also attended career fairs and tours at local community colleges, community organizations, and vocational schools.

Graduation Ceremonies

Historically, all five regions host an end of year graduation ceremony for our youth and their families to celebrate those who have successfully attained their High School Diploma or its equivalent (HiSET®).

The Educational Experience

Academic Growth

We have also increased access to a greater number of applied learning opportunities to make learning more engaging and relevant to the career interests of youth. These exploratory enrichment learning opportunities include experiences in carpentry, horticulture, coding, arts, poetry, 3-D printing, video and music production, green industries, small-engine repair, virtual driver’s education, and other areas of interest. These exploratory activities are critically important as youth grow to allow them to find healthy interests and outlets. Through the different avenues of exploration and expression, DYS educational programming enables youth to discover their hidden talents, creative and intellectual assets, and cultivate their strengths.

Applied Learning

We have also increased access to a greater number of applied learning opportunities to make learning more engaging and relevant to the career interests of youth. These exploratory enrichment learning opportunities include experiences in carpentry, horticulture, coding, arts, poetry, 3-D printing, video and music production, telecommunications, home audio communications, copper wiring, small-engine repair, silk screening, culinary arts, virtual driver’s education, and other areas of interest. These exploratory activities are critically important as youth grow to allow them to find healthy interests and outlets. Through the different avenues of exploration and expression, DYS educational programming enables youth to discover their hidden talents, creative and intellectual assets, and cultivate their strengths.

Planning for Transition

Each youth committed to DYS is assigned an Education and Career Counselors (ECC) to work with the youth’s home school district. The strong collaborative relationships that ECCs foster with the home schools increases the odds of a youth’s successful re-entry. The ECC is responsible for preparing a Graduation Grid based on the youth’s education records and a credit audit. The ECC is also integral to the development of youths’ online and individually curated e-Portfolio, which every committed youth develops in treatment programs. Not only does the e-Portfolio contain a youth’s College and Career Plan, the youth’s goals and the youth’s work and art, the e-Portfolio allows each youth’s voice to guide their educational experience in DYS and can serve as a valuable tool to show potential employers or post-secondary educators. The e-Portfolio also advances an important goal of the MA Department of Education for all youth to develop a college and career plan, referred to as their MyCAP (My Career and Academic Plan).