They are not simply six-week classes. Children stay in the Pathways program for years, taking classes and attending performances. There's a kind of group interaction that goes on when children are together that long. The long-term exposure to arts and cultural events is part of what makes Pathways special, said Sidney Goldberg, administrator of the program and a former caseworker. Most of the time, child welfare has focused on problems in a child's life and how to fix them.
Pathways takes a different approach.
It focuses on meeting the normal developmental needs that all children have. And we've learned that the arts serve as a great avenue for teaching children that they are capable of achieving much more than they ever thought possible. They will then be in a position to devleop meaning and direction in their lives. Approximately 300 foster children attend classes, performances and exhibitions supported by Pathways to Development throughout the year. As of this fall, Goldberg hopes the program will reach 1,000 of Cook County's estimated 35,000 children living in foster homes and other kinds of substitute care.