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Program gives skills to foster children.

Article Excerpt
Byline: Anne Williams The Register-Guard

At 5 years old, some of these children already have experienced a lifetime's worth of chaos.

As wards of the state, their fledgling worldview may include domestic violence, sexual abuse, drug addiction, hunger, alcoholism, homelessness, neglect, bereavement or any combination of the above. At the very least, they have been uprooted - in some cases multiple times.

And now they're getting ready for kindergarten - a big leap for many children, even those who arrive at the schoolhouse door with every possible advantage.

But researchers at Eugene's Oregon Social Learning Center might have developed a program that gives foster children a better chance at success in school - and perhaps beyond.

Now in its third year, the Kids in Transition to School Foster Care Project gives foster children a boost in what research scientist Katherine Pears, the project's principal investigator, calls "the three biggies": early literacy, social skills and self-management.

And it comes at the time they need it most. Beginning in early July, children attend two-hour, twice-weekly play groups at the center's downtown Eugene center; once school starts, they attend once a week through October.

"This...

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