The needs of the 368,530 young people in our nation’s child welfare systemare many. A recent report from the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance highlighted the many ways that residential treatment facilities—which provide inpatient services to young people experiencing mental and behavioral health crises—are harming young people, including through abuse, unsafe conditions, and inferior education. Unfortunately, children in the foster system in residential treatment settings are not the only ones facing educational challenges—children in the foster system overall have educational outcomes that are simply unacceptable for any student, much less a student in the government’s care. Our states must do more to support all students in the foster system in all ways, including educationally.
In my recent report, “In Their Own Words: What Students in New York’s Foster System Need to Succeed,” I interviewed 75 individuals with lived experience in the state’s foster system including current and former foster youth, parents, and foster/adoptive parents. From those conversations and the interviewees’ recommendations for change, I outlined ways that New York’s Office of Children and Family Services can provide supports to students in the foster system. But these recommendations aren’t limited to New York: child welfare agencies nationwide can embrace similar approaches to ensure that the young people in their systems succeed. Below are five policy changes that state agencies can implement to do just that.
1. Prioritize youth voice in the school stability decision-making process.
The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) emphasizes the importance of school stability for students in the foster system. Maintaining a stable school placement in the midst of otherwise significant life upheaval is critical to student success. A 2022 report from New York City’s Center for Data Innovation through Data Intelligence found a decreased likelihood of graduation for students in the foster system who attended two or more schools in a given school year.
When a child enters the foster system or changes foster placements, the child welfare agency, in consultation with schools and other key partners, is required to make a best interest determination to decide whether the child should remain in their original school. This determination is multifactorial with the child’s (and their parents’) preferences being part of the decision making process. In my research, current and former foster youth discussed instances where they felt they didn’t have input in the decision to remain in their original schools or where they were not allowed to remain in their original schools because of distance from their foster placement to the school.
State child welfare agencies need to develop policies and procedures that ensure youth voice is sought, given weight, and considered during every best interest determination. A recent memorandum from the Children’s Bureau encourages agencies making best interest determinations to have, “[a]ctive participation by the child/youth and family in the decision.” Active participation can include requiring caseworkers to meet with youth to discuss their school experience and preferences prior to any best interest determination meetings or decisions at a time and in a location where youth feel comfortable to share honestly and freely. Young people have a lot to say about where they want to attend school, where they’ve formed bonds and relationships, and where they feel safe and secure.
2. Mandate meaningful partnership and communication with parents about school.
My research revealed that parents often feel excluded from their child’s education once their children enter the foster system. One parent noted that “[t]he agency sometimes does whatever they want, whatever they choose, you don’t have [a] say so.” In the vast majority of cases, parents of children in the foster system retain their legal right to make education decisions for their child. Unless their rights have been otherwise limited by a court order, parents should be informed of their child’s educational progress as well as their academic, social, emotional, and behavioral needs. Limiting a parent’s awareness and input in their child’s education not only results in losing a key source of information and understanding about a child’s needs, it also makes reunification all the more difficult when a parent doesn’t have a full understanding of their child’s progress and experiences when they ultimately return home.
State child welfare agencies should create policies that mandate meaningful partnership and communication with parents about school. Schools, caseworkers, and foster parents alike should be required to share information with parents about their child’s educational progress, including report cards, information about parent–teacher conferences, school meetings or celebrations, along with any concerns. State agencies should also develop and provide trainings to their local agencies and foster parents about parent educational rights and collaborating with parents around education. Additionally, state child welfare agencies can offer trainings and resources on parents’ educational rights to their state and local education agencies to encourage schools to work collaboratively with parents.
3. Require education-specific training for all casework staff and foster parents.
Children spend about 180 days or nearly 50 percent of any given year in school. Since so much of a school-age child’s time is spent in school, it is imperative that child welfare agency staff and foster parents are equipped to support the educational needs of the children in their care. In addition to working collaboratively with parents, state child welfare agencies should provide training and resources to their staff about the education system, the supports and resources available within schools, and how to advocate for the children they serve. Additionally, foster parents should also be equipped with the same information and trained how to work collaboratively with parents to support their children academically.
4. Encourage development and implementation of personalized education plans for every young person.
In my research and accompanying video, participants noted how important it was for their unique goals and aspirations to be seen and supported. Not all young people want to follow a traditional path of college then career; some young people wished they could explore career paths or talents with the support of their foster care agencies. A student-led personalized education plan can provide a space and opportunity for youth—in partnership with their parents, school, agency, and foster parents—to identify their academic and vocational goals, supports needed to achieve those goals, a timeframe for reaching the goals, and the responsible adult that will help them work toward that goal. By encouraging caseworkers to create this plan in partnership with every young person (in age-appropriate ways), it creates an opportunity for the young person to lead the way in identifying what they need and establishes a team of support to get to their desired outcome. For example, for younger school-age students, caseworkers can speak with them about how school is going, what their likes and dislikes are, and whether they need any help—more detailed information from younger students may come from teachers, parents, or foster parents. For older students, caseworkers can glean a lot about a student’s needs by asking them what their goals are and the resources they need to achieve them.
5. Develop robust data-sharing agreements with state education agencies to monitor and improve educational outcomes for foster youth.
For the first time ever, ESSA required states to collect and share graduation rates and state achievement test scores for students in the foster system. Sharing of this data revealed challenges nationwide—although some states have better outcomes than others, generally, students in the foster system still lag significantly behind their non-foster-system peers. While the federal data collection and sharing requirement is limited to graduation rates and achievement test scores, that does not prohibit states from sharing additional data to better understand the educational outcomes and experiences of students in the foster system.
In a 2022 report, I highlighted several states with data-sharing agreements and public data sharing that go beyond the ESSA requirements. These states collect and share data on attendance, chronic absenteeism, suspensions, promotion and retention, and more. In fact, a recent memorandum from the Children’s Bureau encourages bidirectional data sharing on education data points such as attendance, discipline, and academic performance to support educational planning for young people in the foster system.
The Way Forward
While we’ve made advancements in supporting students in the foster system with the passage of laws such as ESSA and other interventions, the data reveals a harsh reality—there are still far too many children left behind. The state agencies responsible for these children must ensure that any child who encounters the foster system does not have the additional barrier and challenge of an unsupportive educational experience. Elevating education to a primary focus, alongside safety and permanency, is crucial and it’s time that state child welfare agencies invest in education. We can do better and we must.
Tags: students, foster care system
5 Ways State Child Welfare Agencies Can Support Students in the Foster System
The needs of the 368,530 young people in our nation’s child welfare system1are many. A recent report from the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance highlighted the many ways that residential treatment facilities—which provide inpatient services to young people experiencing mental and behavioral health crises—are harming young people, including through abuse, unsafe conditions, and inferior education. Unfortunately, children in the foster system in residential treatment settings are not the only ones facing educational challenges—children in the foster system overall have educational outcomes that are simply unacceptable for any student, much less a student in the government’s care. Our states must do more to support all students in the foster system in all ways, including educationally.
In my recent report, “In Their Own Words: What Students in New York’s Foster System Need to Succeed,” I interviewed 75 individuals with lived experience in the state’s foster system including current and former foster youth, parents, and foster/adoptive parents. From those conversations and the interviewees’ recommendations for change, I outlined ways that New York’s Office of Children and Family Services can provide supports to students in the foster system. But these recommendations aren’t limited to New York: child welfare agencies nationwide can embrace similar approaches to ensure that the young people in their systems succeed. Below are five policy changes that state agencies can implement to do just that.
1. Prioritize youth voice in the school stability decision-making process.
The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) emphasizes the importance of school stability for students in the foster system. Maintaining a stable school placement in the midst of otherwise significant life upheaval is critical to student success. A 2022 report from New York City’s Center for Data Innovation through Data Intelligence found a decreased likelihood of graduation for students in the foster system who attended two or more schools in a given school year.
When a child enters the foster system or changes foster placements, the child welfare agency, in consultation with schools and other key partners, is required to make a best interest determination to decide whether the child should remain in their original school. This determination is multifactorial with the child’s (and their parents’) preferences being part of the decision making process. In my research, current and former foster youth discussed instances where they felt they didn’t have input in the decision to remain in their original schools or where they were not allowed to remain in their original schools because of distance from their foster placement to the school.
State child welfare agencies need to develop policies and procedures that ensure youth voice is sought, given weight, and considered during every best interest determination. A recent memorandum from the Children’s Bureau encourages agencies making best interest determinations to have, “[a]ctive participation by the child/youth and family in the decision.” Active participation can include requiring caseworkers to meet with youth to discuss their school experience and preferences prior to any best interest determination meetings or decisions at a time and in a location where youth feel comfortable to share honestly and freely. Young people have a lot to say about where they want to attend school, where they’ve formed bonds and relationships, and where they feel safe and secure.
2. Mandate meaningful partnership and communication with parents about school.
My research revealed that parents often feel excluded from their child’s education once their children enter the foster system. One parent noted that “[t]he agency sometimes does whatever they want, whatever they choose, you don’t have [a] say so.” In the vast majority of cases, parents of children in the foster system retain their legal right to make education decisions for their child. Unless their rights have been otherwise limited by a court order, parents should be informed of their child’s educational progress as well as their academic, social, emotional, and behavioral needs. Limiting a parent’s awareness and input in their child’s education not only results in losing a key source of information and understanding about a child’s needs, it also makes reunification all the more difficult when a parent doesn’t have a full understanding of their child’s progress and experiences when they ultimately return home.
State child welfare agencies should create policies that mandate meaningful partnership and communication with parents about school. Schools, caseworkers, and foster parents alike should be required to share information with parents about their child’s educational progress, including report cards, information about parent–teacher conferences, school meetings or celebrations, along with any concerns. State agencies should also develop and provide trainings to their local agencies and foster parents about parent educational rights and collaborating with parents around education. Additionally, state child welfare agencies can offer trainings and resources on parents’ educational rights to their state and local education agencies to encourage schools to work collaboratively with parents.
3. Require education-specific training for all casework staff and foster parents.
Children spend about 180 days or nearly 50 percent of any given year in school. Since so much of a school-age child’s time is spent in school, it is imperative that child welfare agency staff and foster parents are equipped to support the educational needs of the children in their care. In addition to working collaboratively with parents, state child welfare agencies should provide training and resources to their staff about the education system, the supports and resources available within schools, and how to advocate for the children they serve. Additionally, foster parents should also be equipped with the same information and trained how to work collaboratively with parents to support their children academically.
4. Encourage development and implementation of personalized education plans for every young person.
In my research and accompanying video, participants noted how important it was for their unique goals and aspirations to be seen and supported. Not all young people want to follow a traditional path of college then career; some young people wished they could explore career paths or talents with the support of their foster care agencies. A student-led personalized education plan can provide a space and opportunity for youth—in partnership with their parents, school, agency, and foster parents—to identify their academic and vocational goals, supports needed to achieve those goals, a timeframe for reaching the goals, and the responsible adult that will help them work toward that goal. By encouraging caseworkers to create this plan in partnership with every young person (in age-appropriate ways), it creates an opportunity for the young person to lead the way in identifying what they need and establishes a team of support to get to their desired outcome. For example, for younger school-age students, caseworkers can speak with them about how school is going, what their likes and dislikes are, and whether they need any help—more detailed information from younger students may come from teachers, parents, or foster parents. For older students, caseworkers can glean a lot about a student’s needs by asking them what their goals are and the resources they need to achieve them.
5. Develop robust data-sharing agreements with state education agencies to monitor and improve educational outcomes for foster youth.
For the first time ever, ESSA required states to collect and share graduation rates and state achievement test scores for students in the foster system. Sharing of this data revealed challenges nationwide—although some states have better outcomes than others, generally, students in the foster system still lag significantly behind their non-foster-system peers. While the federal data collection and sharing requirement is limited to graduation rates and achievement test scores, that does not prohibit states from sharing additional data to better understand the educational outcomes and experiences of students in the foster system.
In a 2022 report, I highlighted several states with data-sharing agreements and public data sharing that go beyond the ESSA requirements. These states collect and share data on attendance, chronic absenteeism, suspensions, promotion and retention, and more. In fact, a recent memorandum from the Children’s Bureau encourages bidirectional data sharing on education data points such as attendance, discipline, and academic performance to support educational planning for young people in the foster system.
The Way Forward
While we’ve made advancements in supporting students in the foster system with the passage of laws such as ESSA and other interventions, the data reveals a harsh reality—there are still far too many children left behind. The state agencies responsible for these children must ensure that any child who encounters the foster system does not have the additional barrier and challenge of an unsupportive educational experience. Elevating education to a primary focus, alongside safety and permanency, is crucial and it’s time that state child welfare agencies invest in education. We can do better and we must.
Notes
Tags: students, foster care system