Expanding Youth Tutoring Services in Massachusetts

The Petey Greene Program is excited to be expanding its partnership with the Massachusetts Department of Youth Services (DYS) to reach all the youth-serving facilities operating in the state. The PGP currently provides volunteer tutors in 17 DYS facilities. Under the new contract, we will ultimately reach youth in all 36 DYS facilities in the state, serving over 200 youth between the ages of 12 and 21. 

“I know what it’s like to be caught up in the system at a young age. These young people are at a turning point in their lives: they may be suffering from trauma or may be disconnected from family, but we can support them by providing access to education and the caring human connection every young person needs.”

For Lynne Sullivan, the PGP’s Regional Manager in Massachusetts and Rhode Island, the work is deeply personal. “I know what it's like to be caught up in the system at a young age. These young people are at a turning point in their lives: they may be suffering from trauma or may be disconnected from family, but we can support them by providing access to education and the caring human connection every young person needs.” 

Lynne has worked tirelessly to build the partnership between the PGP and the Collaborative for Educational Services, which provides educational programming in all DYS facilities, and she and her team are expanding the PGP’s recruitment efforts at colleges and universities across the state. Historically, most PGP volunteers in Massachusetts have been drawn from institutions in the eastern part of the state, typically Tufts, Harvard, Clark, and Boston Universities. In order to bring tutors to DYS facilities located all across the state, the MA and RI team is expanding the PGP’s presence to colleges we haven’t partnered with before, including Holyoke Community College in the central region, Merrimack College in the north, and Bridgewater State College in the south. 

“We couldn’t be more pleased with our Petey Greene Program partnership. The tutors have been very well-received by youth and adults alike and are highly effective at what they do.”

“We couldn’t be more pleased with our Petey Greene Program partnership. The tutors have been very well-received by youth and adults alike and are highly effective at what they do," says Woody Clift, Director of the DYS Education Initiative at the Collaborative for Educational Services. "We look forward to further expanding this service to any and all youth, be they in high school or graduates taking post secondary classes," Woody continued. "Youth seem to really appreciate the individualized support, and having tutors available means that teachers are more able to personalize educational programming in a class of multi-grade level learners with complex academic and social-emotional backgrounds.”

Many of the young people who find themselves in the juvenile justice system have experienced the incarceration of a parent and are at risk for becoming incarcerated as adults themselves. That’s why Lynne is so passionate about working with youth. “I want to keep these kids out of prison, and education and human contact are essential to make that happen. Having someone who believes in you who's not a part of the system—who is part of the outside world—having them come in and say ‘I believe in you, you can do this’ can make all the difference in a young person’s life. I have been blessed to have people there for my daughter when I was incarcerated, and today I am there for my godson. We all need someone to care to break the generational patterns. It makes a world of difference in a young person’s life.” 

“We all need someone to care to break the generational patterns. It makes a world of difference in a young person’s life.”