Enrollment: Overcoming Enrollment Hurdles For Kids in Care

Enrolling in school can be particularly challenging for youth in foster care or other child welfare placements. Delays in enrollment can result in missed school time for kids, causing them to fall behind their peers. As the new school year begins, it's important to know the rules for enrolling children and where to turn for help.

Learn the rules for enrolling a child in school and the steps you can take if you run into a problem
Sample letter to enroll a foster child.
Read the Pennsylvania Department of Education's Basic Education Circular (BEC) on the enrollment rights of students. The BEC specifies that foster youth have a right to attend the public schools in the districts where they reside. In addition, the BEC strongly encourages school districts to develop policies or agreements to enable foster youth to remain in the same school even after they move to a new school district in order to limit disruptions to their education.

Special Education: Exceptional Children with Special Needs

Between 30 and 40 percent of children in foster care have special education needs as compared to 11 percent of the general population. These children need informed and active educational decisionmakers to ensure that they receive the special education services they need and the law mandates. They need advocates to ensure that special education programs follow each child from school to school. However, these vulnerable children are often lost in the special education system. Learn what you can do to protect them.

Guide for Caseworkers Helping a Child in Care with Special Education Needs
Guide to Special Education Decision-Making for Children in Out-of-Home Care
Guide for Foster Parents Caring for Children with Special Education Needs
Guide for Attorneys Helping a Child in Care with Special Education Needs
Guide for Pennsylvania Judges Helping a Child in Care with Special Education Needs
Training Materials on the New Federal Special Education Law and How It Affects Children in Out-of-Home Care Across the Country
Training Materials on Early Intervention Rules for Children in Out-of-Home Care in Pennsylvania

Did you know that the average foster youth changes schools at least three times? Sixty five percent experience more than seven school changes. With every change in school a child falls three to six months behind their classmates.

We promote educational stability for children in foster care by seeking to ensure that youth can remain in the same school even when they move from one placement to another; that they are promptly enrolled in school and that if a school change is needed, it is seamless. On the national level, the federal McKinney-Vento Act guarantees these safeguards for children who are homeless. We are working to extend these important protections to children in out-of-home care through changes in federal and state law.

Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) Basic Education Circular on McKinney-Vento (This PDE policy advisory defines the categories of foster youth who are eligible for McKinney-Vento benefits, including the right to remain in one's original school after moving to a new school district.)
Office of Children, Youth and Families (OCYF) Bulletin on Educational Stability and Continuity (This OCYF policy advisory clarifies policies that promote the educational stability and continuity of foster youth, including the right of certain categories of foster youth to McKinney-Vento benefits, the requirement that schools records be included in child welfare case records, and the right of foster youth with disabilities to educational decision makers.)
Lessons Learned (ELC And JLC Publication Addressing The Importance Of Providing Educational Stability For Youth In Foster Care)
Fact Sheet: Educational Outcomes for Children and Youth in Foster and Out-of-Home Care
The State of Our State: How The Educational Needs of Foster Care Children Are Lost in the Shuffle (Executive Summary)
The State of Our State: How The Educational Needs of Foster Care Children Are Lost in the Shuffle (Full Report)
Common Myths About the Education Rights of Children in Foster Care

About 30% of the children placed in foster care annually are younger than age five. Children in the child welfare system are more likely to have been exposed to a variety of negative experiences including abuse and neglect, family violence, drug and alcohol abuse and lead paint. These experiences and conditions often lead to developmental delays, disabilities and health problems. Studies have shown that early intervention can make a world of difference for these at-risk children.

Education Law Center and the Juvenile Law Center submitted comments to the federal government to make sure that very young children with developmental delays in foster care get the early intervention services they need. These comments focus on making sure that children in the child welfare system who need this help are identified and served. You can review these comments here:

JLC and ELC's comments

Solving the Data Puzzle

The Legal Center for Foster Care and Education—a collaboration between the American Bar Association, Juvenile Law Center, and Education Law Center-recently published a guide that provides recommendations for how child welfare and education agencies can better collect and share data about the educational needs of youth in foster care. The publication includes a manual, which provides details on the relevant legal and policy considerations, as well as examples from jurisdictions around the country successfully sharing data. It also includes tools to guide each agency in using existing laws and data collection structures to benefit youth in care, while protecting the confidentiality of youth and their families.

Download Solving the Data Puzzle

National Blueprint for Change

The Blueprint identifies eight goals to improve educational outcomes for children in care and outlines benchmarks for meeting those goals. The Blueprint provides specific national and state examples of successful state and local laws, polices and programs from across the country. The second edition of the Blueprint is available as a free download.

Check out the website

National Working Group on Foster Care and Education Information Packet

The information packet describes the mission of the National Working Group on Foster Care and Education, and lists the group's member organizations. In addition, the packet summarizes federal and state laws that impact the education of foster children, and provides links to resources on foster care and education. Download the information packet.

Report Card on the Education of Foster Children

The Center for Public Policy Priorities in Austin, Texas recently released its "Report Card on the Education of Foster Children" which was funded in part by Casey Family Programs. The publication discusses the school related challenges faced by foster youth, and provides a series of innovative recommendations for how the state of Texas can improve the educational outcomes of foster youth. Most of the recommendations are transferable to other states.

Download the publication

Pennsylvania Stakeholder Trainings

We have begun to deveop training modules to educate caseworkers, parents, judges, child advocates, and educators about the legal rules and the best strategies to improve the educational success of children in out-of-home care in Pennsylvania. To learn more, see the materials below:

Whole Child, Whole Education: Blueprint for Success for Pennsylvania's Children in Care
Training Materials for Social Service Administrators
Training Materials for Foster Parents
Training Materials for Caseworkers
Training Materials for Child Advocates
General Training Materials on the education laws that affect school-aged children in out-of-home care in Pennsylvania

FOSTERING CONNECTIONS TO SUCCESS ACT: P.L. 110-351

On October 7, 2008, President Bush signed the Fostering Connections to Success Act into law. The Act aims to improve, among other things, the educational stability of foster children. The Act, for example, promotes the educational stability of foster children by requiring states to provide assurances in their Title IV-E state plans that every school-age child in foster care is enrolled as a full-time student or has completed secondary school. In addition, the Act requires state child welfare agencies to coordinate with local education agencies to ensure that foster children remain in the same school they attended when they were placed in foster care—even if they were placed in a foster home in a different school district—if remaining in the same school is in their best interest. The Act also increases the amount of federal funding available to cover the cost of transporting foster children to their original school. When remaining in the same school is not in the best interest of a foster child, the Act requires state child welfare agencies to coordinate with local education agencies to ensure that the child is immediately enrolled in a new school, and that the child's school records are promptly transferred.

For further information on these and other educational benefits afforded by the Fostering Connections Act, see the Fostering Connections Fact Sheet published by the Legal Center for Foster Care and Education, a joint initiative of the ABA, JLC, ELC, and Casey Family Programs.

EARLY CHILDHOOD — HEAD START REAUTHORIZED

On December 12, 2007, President Bush signed the Head Start reauthorization bill into law. The bill eliminates the National Reporting System that required certain testing of Head Start children and increases resources for Early Head Start, the program for infants and toddlers. It also allows Head Start to serve more families that are just above the poverty line and helps more programs operate full-day and year round. The bill also maintains federal-to-local funding rather than shifting oversight of Head Start to states. However, Head Start, like other programs still faces potential funding cuts in budget negotiations.

EDUCATING THE FUTURE: YOUTH AGING OUT OF CARE

On September 27, 2007, President Bush signed the College Cost Reduction and Access Act (H.R. 2669), which includes the Fostering Adoption to Further Student Achievement Act amendment introduced by Senators Norm Coleman (R-MN) and Mary Landrieu (D-LA). This legislation makes it possible for teens in foster care to be adopted without losing access to college financial aid. Under the new law, youth who are adopted after their 13th birthday will not have to include their parents' income when determining their eligibility for financial aid.


COLLEGE-BOUND: TUITION WAIVERS FOR YOUTH IN CARE

Well over one thousand of the 22,000 foster youth in Pennsylvania age out of foster care each year. Only 50% of foster youth graduate from high school compared to 70% of their peers. While more than 60% of high school graduates enter college each year, only 20% of foster youth enroll in college and very few graduate.

In February 2009, Representative Dave Hickernell reintroduced the Fostering Independence through Education Act in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, House Bill 667. The Fostering Independence through Education Act (FIEA) aims to help foster youth pursue and complete post-secondary education or training, and encourages the adoption of children from the foster care system. The Act requires state-owned, state-related, and state-aided colleges and trade schools to waive the tuition and fees of current foster youth, foster youth who have "aged out" of care, and youth who have been adopted from the foster care system. Without parents they can depend on for support and guidance, few foster youth are able to pursue a higher education. On average, only 20% of foster youth enroll in college, and a mere 1 to 3% earn bachelor's degrees. If passed, the Fostering Independence through Education Act would greatly reduce the financial barriers to higher education for foster youth in Pennsylvania. Because youth adopted from the foster care system are also eligible for the benefits of FEIA, the Act would increase the number families that are willing to adopt older foster youth.

Q & A on the Fostering Independence through Education Act


RE-CONNECTING YOUTH WITH EDUCATION: PENNSYLVANIA YOUTH IN TRANSITION GRANTS

On July 24, 2007, Governor Edward G. Rendell announced an investment of $1.2 million to improve access to education for youth who left high school before graduating or are becoming too old for foster care. The Pennsylvania Youth in Transition Project is a cooperative effort being developed by the departments of Labor & Industry, Education and Public Welfare, as well as the Pennsylvania Workforce Investment Board and other workforce development organizations. The money will be used by state and local partners to create community-based approaches that address young people's needs through counseling and training focused on high school completion, postsecondary preparation and career success. See information on eligibility requirements.