The Treehouse CARES Project pays for tutoring, school-related items, and extracurricular activities, helping to eliminate financial barriers to success in school. Benefits are available to children and youth in foster care and young adults in Extended Foster Care (EFC). Treehouse offers a list of free and paid tutoring services on their website and webinar tips for finding tutors. Caregivers and youth can find a tutor or activity that matches their needs and submit a referral to Treehouse to provide funding.
Caseworkers can also submit funding requests on a youth’s behalf or by contacting their education specialist/advocate. Below are a few more details:
- DCYF can now issue payments directly to vendors, caregivers, and EFC youth, enabling more families to work with private tutors and reduce registration/testing delays.
- There is no longer a 12-session limit for tutoring. Youth can request as much or as little tutoring as needed.
- DCYF referrals for non-EFC youth are no longer required for the CARES Project.
- Tribal caseworkers still need to submit referrals for youth under Tribal Court Jurisdiction.
Visit the Treehouse website for an extended list of what the CARES Project can pay for and to access the request form. Funding is available on a first-come, first-served basis until exhausted or by Dec. 31, 2021, whichever comes sooner.