At Bergen CASA, we’re fortunate to work with extraordinary people like Jeanne McVerry, a standout teacher and former foster youth whose experience has reshaped our approach to educational advocacy. Jeanne’s students consistently exceed state averages, but what truly drives her is ensuring children in care don’t fall behind academically, especially in literacy.
As a CASA Advocate, Jeanne saw how reading struggles affect every subject after third grade, when children must “read to learn.” Determined to help, she created Bergen CASA’s Literacy Screeners, simple questionnaires Advocates can complete with caregivers to spot early literacy and developmental concerns. Jeanne personally reviews each screener and flags issues like dyslexia, empowering Advocates to pursue timely interventions — even in infancy.
We’re now training all Advocates to use these tools and plan to make them available on our website. We also recently connected with Cognitutor, a tutoring company specializing in foster youth, whose evidence-based phonics program provides measurable improvement. With grant funding, we hope to pair Cognitutor with children identified through the screeners.
This work can be life-changing. We’ve seen similar circumstances lead to very different outcomes when one child succeeds in school and another struggles with literacy. Jeanne’s own story reminds us that educational support builds opportunity, confidence, and hope.
Thanks to Jeanne’s vision, Bergen CASA Advocates are better equipped than ever to help foster youth thrive.
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