Resources on K-12 Education

• Conversation with an Educator
  Lynne Steyer Noble is Associate Professor of Education at Columbia College in South Carolina and is both a biological and adoptive parent. She has fostered many children, has trained foster and adoptive parents and caseworkers for the South Carolina Department of Social Services, and has made adoptive placements through her private adoption agency. She is truly the epitome of the term “resource parent.” In her role as an educator, but with her experience as a parent, she talked with Casey Family Programs National Center for Resource Family Support about children in foster care in the school setting.

• Educating Children in Foster Care
  This report from the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) provides some background about the academic performance of children in foster care and describes what researchers have identified as major systemic obstacles to these children's academic success. It also examines what the Child and Family Services Reviews are saying about state performance in this area and describes some promising state initiatives to address foster children's educational needs.

• Educating Children in Foster Care: State Legislation 2004 - 2007
  This report from NCSL, a companion to the one above, reviews state legislation enacted between 2004 and 2007 to improve the educational experiences and opportunities of children and youth in foster care. It also provides information on laws and policies regarding early learning and foster care which were not included in the first report.

• Educating Children in Foster Care: McKinney-Vento and No Child Left Behind Acts
  This report contains recommendations from Casey Family Programs and the National Education Association regarding ways to improve the educational outcomes of children and youth in out-of-home care.

• Educational Alternatives for Vulnerable Youth: Student Needs, Program Types, and Research Directions
  Non-college-bound youth and those who have not done well in traditional public schools have largely been left behind by the high-stakes assessment movement and its high academic standards. This report examines the need for alternative education for such vulnerable youth and describes the numbers and characteristics of young people who disconnect from mainstream developmental pathways. It suggests the beginnings of a typology that defines and organizes the varieties of educational alternatives. Youth leaving foster care are one of the vulnerable populations included in the discussion.

• The Educational Experiences of Children in Out-of-Home Care
  This report presents findings from a mixed-method study assessing the educational performance and experiences of youth in out-of-home care. Data from Chapin Hall's Integrated Database on Child and Family Services in Illinois were used to track the educational performance, school mobility, and participation in special education of CPS students in foster care. In addition, qualitative interviews with caseworkers, foster parents, and school staff throughout Illinois provided valuable insights into the context and processes underlying the educational experiences of students in care.

• Educational Outcomes for Children and Youth in Foster and Out-of-Home Care
  Facts and statistics from the National Working Group on Foster Care and Education

• Lessons Learned: Education Stability Conference
  This report from the proceedings of a conference on improving education stability and outcomes for foster children and youth held in October 2006 by the Education Law Center and Juvenile Law Center summarizes discussions and recommendations. It highlights the difficulties foster youth face when they change placements and must change schools and the need for education stability; analyzes components of a successful State model for education stability are then analyzed; considers strategies for facilitating seamless transitions between schools and different ways of funding transportation, encouraging cooperation between child welfare and education systems, and collecting data on youth in foster care.

• Mythbusting: Breaking Down Confidentiality and Decision-Making Barriers to Meet the Education Needs of Children in Foster Care
  This publication from the American Bar Association, Center on Children and the Law answers common questions by individuals involved with the child welfare system, including judges, children's attorneys, parents, foster parents, youth, caseworkers, and court appointed special advocates (CASAs). It provides context and explains why there is a need to address the education needs of children in foster care, debunks myths about confidentiality and decision-making, explains the federal laws that affect confidentiality of education records and decision making, and suggests strategies to overcome confidentiality and decision-making hurdles when addressing the needs of children in foster care.

• School Support for Foster Families
  This digest discusses factors that influence the ability of foster children to achieve academically and offers some strategies that schools can employ to improve their educational success and emotional well-being.

• What Keeps Children in Foster Care from Succeeding in School? Views of Early Adolescents and the Adults in Their Lives
  This study, published by the Vera Institute of Justice in July 2002, draws on interviews with foster children and adults to better understand how being in foster care affects a child's education on a day-to-day basis, and how the adults around these children can help them perform more successfully in school.

• Q&A: Credit Transfer and School Completion
  This resource from the Legal Center for Foster Care and Education is a “Question & Answer Factsheet” addressing issues related to credit transfer and school completion by youth in out-of-home care. The document includes examples from around the country of how credit calculation and grade requirements for highly mobile students have been addressed, as well as recommendations for what states can do to address the challenges that prevent youth in care from transferring credit or graduating.

• Q&A: Surrogate Parent Programs
  This resource from the Legal Center for Foster Care and Education is a “Question & Answer Factsheet” addressing issues including when and how a surrogate parent is appointed, the key components of an effective surrogate parent program, and questions related to state level surrogate parent programs.

• Q&A: Mobility Issues and Special Education for Children in Out-of-Home Care
  This resource from the Legal Center for Foster Care and Education is a “Question & Answer Factsheet” addressing mobility issues and special education for children in out-of-home care, including issues such as special education evaluation, records, transportation, and advocacy.

• Q&A: Collecting Data to Improve Educational Outcomes for Children in Out-of-Home Care
  This resource from the Legal Center for Foster Care and Education is a “Question & Answer Factsheet” discussing the importance of collecting data on the educational performance of children in care, statistical data that the education system collects regarding children in out-of-home care, statistical data the child welfare system collects, the types of data education and child welfare systems should collect, what you can do to encourage your jurisdiction to collect data on educational outcomes for children in out-of-home care, and examples of data collection efforts that have improved student outcomes.

• Q&A: Information Sharing to Improve Educational Outcomes for Children in Out-of-Home Care
  This resource from the Legal Center for Foster Care and Education is a “Question & Answer Factsheet” related to information sharing to improve educational outcomes for children in out-of-home care; it covers topics such as confidentiality laws, examples of methods agencies have used to share data without triggering parental consent requirements, circumstances under which personally identifiable information can be shared with other agencies, and examples of information sharing and collaborative efforts that have improved educational outcomes.

Guides on Post-Secondary Education

• Foster Youth: Tips for Completing the FAFSA
  Each year the National Association of Financial Aid Administrators updates a Tips for Foster Youth Worksheet on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).This 2008 guide is for financial aid administrators in helping youth in foster care complete the FAFSA. It addresses difficulties that youth in foster care and wards of the court may experience when filling out the FAFSA. This site contains many other helpful resources on student financial aid.

• It's My Life: Postsecondary Education and Training
  A resource guide from Casey Family Programs for child welfare professionals to help young people from foster care prepare academically, financially, and emotionally for postsecondary education and training success.

• College Access, Financial Aid, and College Success for Undergraduates from Foster Care
  This report from the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators first describes the nature of the foster care system and how the overall experience of youth in foster care harms their ability to access higher education. Next, the report uses two data sources from the National Center for Education Statistics to compare the demographic characteristics, socioeconomic status, financial aid packages, college enrollment status, and persistence and degree attainment rates among undergraduate students who are from foster care with those who are not. Finally, the report concludes by providing recommendations for policymakers and practitioners to make higher education accessible to more youth in foster care and to improve the rate at which this group persists and subsequently completes their degree programs.

• College Cost Reduction and Access Act (P.L. 110-84)
  This legislation includes the Fostering Adoption to Further Student Achievement Act amendment, making it possible for teens in foster care to be adopted without losing access to college financial aid. The definition of "independent student" has been expanded to young people in foster care at any time after age 13.

• Educating Youth In Care: The First Year of Education and Training Vouchers
  In 2001, the Promoting Safe and Stable Families Provisions added a sixth purpose to the existing Foster Care Independence Act (FCIA) that called for the availability of Education and Training Vouchers. These Vouchers were funded in Fiscal Year 2004 for the first time and offered students money to continue their education. This program has impacted the way states provide post-secondary education services to adolescents in many ways. The National Child Welfare Resource Center for Youth Development has analyzed how states have implemented the program and have evaluated what areas seem to be working for states and areas that should be focused on for additional study.

• Educational Opportunity for Youth in Care
  Just like other youth finishing high school, teens aging out of foster care are looking to the future and setting goals. Many want the opportunity to obtain higher education, but face serious obstacles without the support of their families. The Child Welfare League of America reviews what some states are doing to support foster and adopted youth in earning their college degrees.

• Higher Education Opportunities for Foster Youth: A Primer for Policy Makers
  This Institute for Higher Education Policy report argues that foster youth are the most disadvantaged group when it comes to opportunities for higher learning. Out of the 150,000 who have graduated from high school and are college qualified, only some 30,000 are attending postsecondary education. The report recommends several key policy changes to address such obstacles as low educational expectations, frequent disruptions and changes in school placements, underdeveloped independent living skills, and lack of access to mental health care and treatment.

• Supporting Success: Improving Higher Education Outcomes for Students from Foster Care
  Few students from foster care ever gain access to higher education programs, let alone graduate from college. Only 7 to 13 percent of students from foster care enroll in higher education. About 2 percent obtain bachelor’s degrees, in contrast to about 26 percent of adults in the general population. Young people from foster care often report that few people in their lives ever expected them to attend and succeed in college. They seldom receive the guidance and stable supports needed to prepare for higher education. Too often, unemployment, underemployment, and homelessness face young adults after they age out of the system. Colleges, policymakers, and advocates have begun to address this issue with calls for policy advances, practice innovations, and influential advocacy. Casey Family Programs’ framework—Supporting Success: Improving Higher Education Outcomes for Students from Foster Care—provides program development tools for administrators, student support services staff, advisors, and advocates. It helps education professionals define a plan for improving their institution’s support for students from foster care. Postsecondary institutions may also find the customizable Program Planning and Improvement Guide useful for assessing current supports and identifying opportunities for growth. A Microsoft Word file, the guide is intended to be a working document. It may also generate reflections and questions to guide the planning effort.

• Q&A: Tuition Waivers for Post-Secondary Education
  This resource from the Legal Center for Foster Care and Education is a “Question & Answer Factsheet” covering topics related to tuitions waivers for post-secondary education, including why some states offer tuition waivers to foster youth, schools at which tuition waivers can be used, and expenses that tuition waivers cover.

State Reports and Resources
Visit the National Child Welfare Resource Center on Legal and Judicial Issues for a full page devoted to educational issues of vulnerable children, including those in foster care and homeless, searchable by state.

• California
  
  • Education for Foster Children: Removing Barriers to Academic Success
    In California, approximately 10 out of every 1,000 children are in foster care and approximately 72% of these children are school age. As foster children enter emergency shelter care and then move back to their own homes or into longer-term foster care situations, the primary job of the social worker is to protect children's immediate safety and ensure their emotional well-being. Concern for meeting foster children's educational needs is clearly within the social services domain of child well-being, yet it is the school system that ultimately is responsible for ensuring that all children receive appropriate education.

  • Ready to Succeed: Changing Systems to Give California's Foster Children the Opportunity They Deserve to be Ready for and Succeed in School
    This report from the California Education Collaborative for Children in Foster Care describes the Collaborative’s charge and products, briefly summarizes some of the relevant research that the group considered in developing its recommendations, and identifies specific recommendations in three areas: school readiness, school success, and data sharing.

  • Foster Youth Education
    Mental Health Advocacy Services provides a number of useful documents, including a study of school stability, a handbook for parents and caregivers, recommendations for improving education for youth in foster care, a guide to the educational liaison model, and barriers to improving educational outcomes.

  • Study of Policies, Procedures, and Practices Affecting the Education of Children Residing in Group Homes
    This study examined policies, procedures, and practices affecting the education of children residing in licensed children's institutions (group homes) throughout California. The information in this handbook will help them better understand the education system and how schools operate; be better informed to make important decisions about their child’s or youth’s education; and better able to play a larger role in their schooling.

• Colorado
  Advocating for the Educational Needs of Children in Out-of-Home Care: Training Curriculum for Child Welfare
  The Cutler Institute for Child and Family Policy has developed this training curriculum and caseworker manual for the State of Colorado Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS. These materials are designed to provide child welfare caseworkers and their supervisors with an understanding of the relevant educational policies, processes, assessments and plans; methods for monitoring outcomes and services; and tools to enable them to advocate for the educational needs of children in the child welfare system. The curriculum covers educational needs from birth through age 21 and is currently being adapted for use by educators and foster parents. The Appendix contains a toolkit of checklists such as tips for participating in an IEP meeting and what foster parents can do to promote educational success at home.

• Illinois
  Behavior Problems and Educational Disruptions Among Children in Out-of-Home Care in Chicago
  This study from Chapin Hall explores the intersection of placement in foster care and the emotional disturbance (ED) classification. It suggests that it is critical that both the education and child welfare systems work to identify problems early in a child's educational career and that interventions must address not just the problematic behaviors, but also the core problems underlying children's behavioral issues.

• Iowa
  Education Success for Children in Child Welfare
  Basic information and practice tips for caseworkers.

• Maine
  The Maine School Transfer Policy and Practice for Children in Care provides child welfare caseworkers with guidelines and strategies that support positive educational outcomes for children in the custody of the state of Maine. It includes strategies that guide the enrollment in and transfer between schools that ensure a smooth transition to a new school that is sensitive to the individual needs of each child.

• Minnesota:
  
  • High School Graduation and Child Welfare: A Description of the Education Status of Older Minnesota Adolescents in the Academic Year After Substantiated Child Maltreatment Findings
    This report provides information on the educational outcomes of older adolescents who have had contact with the child welfare system in Minnesota, over 30 months, prior to the 2002-2003 academic year. Very few of these youth were in out-of-home placement, and it is likely that many of them no longer had active county case workers when their educational status was reviewed. The report also provides descriptive data on the study group that show similarities between them and national educational outcome trends observed for longterm foster care youth -- a different, but related population.

  • Child Welfare, High School Graduation, and Economic Outcomes: Follow-Up on the Economic Outcomes of Young Adults Who Had Substantiated Maltreatment Findings Prior to Their Senior Year of High School
    This study is a follow-up to a previous report on the high school graduation outcomes of adolescents involved in the child protection system in Minnesota. This new analysis explores the economic outcomes of the cohort of former high school seniors, examining their wages and public assistance use two years after they left high school.

• New Mexico: Best Practices - Education Advocacy
  This bulletin outlines best practices and describes the roles of caseworkers, judges, attorneys, court staff, and CASA volunteers.

• New York
  Advocates for Children works on behalf of children who are at greatest risk for school-based discrimination and/or academic failure, including children in foster care children. Their website contains a number of resources including:
  • brochures such as "Special Education Advocacy Tips for Child Welfare Professionals" and "Foster Care: Students! Know your educational rights while in foster care in NYC" and
  • reports such as "Project Achieve: A Model Project Providing Education Advocacy for Children in the Child Welfare System"

• Pennsylvania
  The Education Law Center and the Pennsylvania School Reform Network offer a number of reports and resources concerning educational issues affecting children in foster care and juvenile justice placements, including:
  • Educating Children "At Risk:" A Handbook for Caseworkers, Probation Officers and Family
  • Lost in the Shuffle Revisited: The Education Law Center's Report on the Education of Children in Foster Care in Pennsylvania
  • Common Myths About the Education of Children in Foster Care
  • Special Education & Children with Disabilities Aged 3-21 Living in Out-of-Home Care

• Texas: Report Card on the Education of Foster Children
  This policy brief from the Center for Public Policy Priorities looks at the education of foster children. Although it is focuses on Texas, it contains both policy and practice recommendations for improving educational outcomes for children in foster care.

• Washington
  
  • Educational Attainment of Foster Youth: Achievement and Graduation Outcomes for Children in State Care
    This study from the Washington State Institute for Public Policy finds that at both the elementary and secondary levels, the educational attainment of foster students in Washington falls significantly behind other students. Furthermore, foster students are likely to experience additional risk factors related to poor school outcomes. As directed by the Legislature, this study also suggests alternatives for sharing information about the educational experiences of foster students.

  • Social Worker's Practice Guide to Education for Children and Youth in Foster Care
    This guide is intended to be a resource for Children's Administration social workers to increase their collaboration with schools and to increase education stability and achievement for children and youth in out-of-home care.

  • Students in Foster Care: What School Staff Need to Know
    This short brochure provides basic information about children in foster care, school stability, and how schools and school staff can help.

• West Virginia
  Reaching Every Child: Addressing Educational Attainment of Out-of-Home Care Children in West Virginia
  West Virginia's Out-of-Home Education Task Force was formed to develop a future oriented, problem-solving approach with key leadership from the multiple agencies and providers involved in providing residential and educational services to children in placements away from their families. The overall purpose of the Task Force was to ensure that the best educational and transitional programs and services are being deployed in an effective and efficient manner by identifying issues, analyzing them and offering possible solutions. This document, agreed to by all Task Force members, specifies the purpose and expected outcomes of its work.