There are approximately 250,000 students in the foster system in our nation’s schools. These students are among the groups of students with the most need. They experience higher and/or disproportionate rates of chronic absenteeism, school discipline, and rates of special education. These students also have lower graduation rates and state test scores than their non-foster-system peers. For example, in California, the state with the most children in the foster system, students have the lowest graduation rate—61 percent—of all student subgroups. Depressingly, the graduation rates for students in the foster system are even lower in many other states, such as New York, where their graduation rate is just 51 percent. State education agencies must ban together with child welfare agencies to support these students and ensure that both systems are operating collaboratively and supportively to see these data change.
In my recent report, “In Their Own Words: What Students in New York’s Foster System Need to Succeed,” I outlined ways that New York’s State Education Department should support students in the foster system. These recommendations aren’t limited to New York; state education agencies nationwide can embrace similar approaches to make sure that the student’s in their systems succeed. Below are five policy changes that state agencies can implement to do just that.
1. Provide guidance and trauma-informed trainings to school districts and staff about the foster system experience.
Children spend most of their waking hours in school, during which time experiences that happen outside of school can easily surface. This is particularly true for students in the foster system who have been uprooted from their communities and families and face ongoing changes and challenges while in the foster system. Many young people in the foster system experience trauma prior to and while in the foster system.
Because children in the foster system experience trauma and need support during the school day, it is imperative that school staff who interact with students in the foster system understand how students may be affected by these experiences on a given school day. In my research, the theme of compassionate and caring adults surfaced in multiple areas. When it came to schools, supportive relationships with teachers, counselors, or other school staff went a long way and helped to provide a sense of normalcy at a time when so much in their lives was atypical. Students will feel seen and supported when school staff better understand their experiences and can meet them where they are.
2. Develop policies and trainings that support meaningful and positive partnership with parents of students in the foster system.
Many parent participants in my research noted challenges engaging in their child’s education once they were in the foster system. Parents noted that they were treated differently or excluded from school meetings. In general, in my research, and in my former practice as an education attorney, parents of children in the foster system are disregarded or needlessly shut out of the educational aspects of their child’s life by many schools. This may happen as a result of a misunderstanding of parental educational rights when a child enters the foster system. Schools may assume that because a parent no longer has custody of their children that they are also excluded from education decision making. However, in most cases, a parent retains their rights to make educational decisions—including special education decisions—when their child enters the foster system unless there’s a court order that indicates otherwise.
It is imperative that schools work with parents to keep them informed of their children’s academic progress, needs, and achievements. State education agencies should develop policies and provide training to local education agencies to ensure meaningful and positive partnership with parents. This can include everything from maintaining parent contact information on file when a student enters the foster system, to allowing parents continued access to school portals and parent-facing websites, to ensuring that parents are notified and invited to relevant school meetings and celebrations.
3. Collaborate with local districts to develop, pilot, and implement school programs or clubs to support students in the foster system.
With the median length of time young people spend in the foster system being 15.5 months—a period that can span at least an entire grade level, or portions of two grade levels—schools have an invaluable role to play in supporting these students. Young people with foster system experience will have contact with their schools for a significantly longer period of time than they will child welfare agencies. Students have to navigate the school and foster systems during their foster placements and after they are discharged from the foster system—a challenging proposition, as the impact of separation from family and any trauma experienced prior to or during foster system involvement can be long lasting.
In addition to developing practices that ensure schools are stable, reliable, and consistent places of supports and services for students with experience in the foster system, state agencies can collaborate with local education agencies to encourage development of school programs or clubs that support these students. Programs such as All Stars in Riverside County, California, or Fostering Opportunities in Jefferson County, Colorado, provide wraparound supports to students with current and former experience in the foster system. These programs provide community, peer support, education advocacy, and opportunities for students to thrive in the midst of challenging life circumstances.
4. Collaborate with child welfare agencies on development and implementation of personalized education plans for every young person.
(This recommendation complements a recommendation to state child welfare agencies.)
In my research and accompanying video, participants noted how important it was for their unique goals and aspirations to be seen and supported. Participants didn’t want to necessarily follow a traditional path of college then career, some young people wished they could explore career paths or talents with the support of their agencies. A student-led personalized education plan could 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 towards that goal. State education agencies should collaborate with child welfare agencies as they take the lead on creating these plans in partnership with every young person (in age-appropriate ways), teachers, counselors, or other relevant school staff to provide an opportunity for young people to lead the way in identifying what they need and establishing 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 child welfare agencies to monitor and improve educational outcomes for foster youth.
(This recommendation complements a recommendation to state child welfare agencies.)
For the first time ever, the Every Student Succeeds Act (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 students have better outcomes in some states than others, generally, students in the foster system still lag 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. Recent guidance from the U.S. Department of Education encourages collaboration and data sharing beyond the ESSA requirements between state education agencies and their child welfare counterparts to better understand the experiences of students in the foster system. State agencies do not have to wait for laws to increase data sharing and understanding—in fact, many have already started that work.
The Way Forward
While there have been advancements in supporting students in the foster system with the passage of laws like 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 education agencies invest in supporting students in the foster system. We can do better and we must.
Tags: students, foster care system
5 Ways State Education Agencies Can Support Students in the Foster System
There are approximately 250,000 students in the foster system in our nation’s schools. These students are among the groups of students with the most need. They experience higher and/or disproportionate rates of chronic absenteeism, school discipline, and rates of special education. These students also have lower graduation rates and state test scores than their non-foster-system peers. For example, in California, the state with the most children in the foster system, students have the lowest graduation rate—61 percent—of all student subgroups. Depressingly, the graduation rates for students in the foster system are even lower in many other states, such as New York, where their graduation rate is just 51 percent. State education agencies must ban together with child welfare agencies to support these students and ensure that both systems are operating collaboratively and supportively to see these data change.
In my recent report, “In Their Own Words: What Students in New York’s Foster System Need to Succeed,” I outlined ways that New York’s State Education Department should support students in the foster system. These recommendations aren’t limited to New York; state education agencies nationwide can embrace similar approaches to make sure that the student’s in their systems succeed. Below are five policy changes that state agencies can implement to do just that.
1. Provide guidance and trauma-informed trainings to school districts and staff about the foster system experience.
Children spend most of their waking hours in school, during which time experiences that happen outside of school can easily surface. This is particularly true for students in the foster system who have been uprooted from their communities and families and face ongoing changes and challenges while in the foster system. Many young people in the foster system experience trauma prior to and while in the foster system.
Because children in the foster system experience trauma and need support during the school day, it is imperative that school staff who interact with students in the foster system understand how students may be affected by these experiences on a given school day. In my research, the theme of compassionate and caring adults surfaced in multiple areas. When it came to schools, supportive relationships with teachers, counselors, or other school staff went a long way and helped to provide a sense of normalcy at a time when so much in their lives was atypical. Students will feel seen and supported when school staff better understand their experiences and can meet them where they are.
2. Develop policies and trainings that support meaningful and positive partnership with parents of students in the foster system.
Many parent participants in my research noted challenges engaging in their child’s education once they were in the foster system. Parents noted that they were treated differently or excluded from school meetings. In general, in my research, and in my former practice as an education attorney, parents of children in the foster system are disregarded or needlessly shut out of the educational aspects of their child’s life by many schools. This may happen as a result of a misunderstanding of parental educational rights when a child enters the foster system. Schools may assume that because a parent no longer has custody of their children that they are also excluded from education decision making. However, in most cases, a parent retains their rights to make educational decisions—including special education decisions—when their child enters the foster system unless there’s a court order that indicates otherwise.
It is imperative that schools work with parents to keep them informed of their children’s academic progress, needs, and achievements. State education agencies should develop policies and provide training to local education agencies to ensure meaningful and positive partnership with parents. This can include everything from maintaining parent contact information on file when a student enters the foster system, to allowing parents continued access to school portals and parent-facing websites, to ensuring that parents are notified and invited to relevant school meetings and celebrations.
3. Collaborate with local districts to develop, pilot, and implement school programs or clubs to support students in the foster system.
With the median length of time young people spend in the foster system being 15.5 months—a period that can span at least an entire grade level, or portions of two grade levels—schools have an invaluable role to play in supporting these students. Young people with foster system experience will have contact with their schools for a significantly longer period of time than they will child welfare agencies. Students have to navigate the school and foster systems during their foster placements and after they are discharged from the foster system—a challenging proposition, as the impact of separation from family and any trauma experienced prior to or during foster system involvement can be long lasting.
In addition to developing practices that ensure schools are stable, reliable, and consistent places of supports and services for students with experience in the foster system, state agencies can collaborate with local education agencies to encourage development of school programs or clubs that support these students. Programs such as All Stars in Riverside County, California, or Fostering Opportunities in Jefferson County, Colorado, provide wraparound supports to students with current and former experience in the foster system. These programs provide community, peer support, education advocacy, and opportunities for students to thrive in the midst of challenging life circumstances.
4. Collaborate with child welfare agencies on development and implementation of personalized education plans for every young person.
(This recommendation complements a recommendation to state child welfare agencies.)
In my research and accompanying video, participants noted how important it was for their unique goals and aspirations to be seen and supported. Participants didn’t want to necessarily follow a traditional path of college then career, some young people wished they could explore career paths or talents with the support of their agencies. A student-led personalized education plan could 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 towards that goal. State education agencies should collaborate with child welfare agencies as they take the lead on creating these plans in partnership with every young person (in age-appropriate ways), teachers, counselors, or other relevant school staff to provide an opportunity for young people to lead the way in identifying what they need and establishing 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 child welfare agencies to monitor and improve educational outcomes for foster youth.
(This recommendation complements a recommendation to state child welfare agencies.)
For the first time ever, the Every Student Succeeds Act (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 students have better outcomes in some states than others, generally, students in the foster system still lag 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. Recent guidance from the U.S. Department of Education encourages collaboration and data sharing beyond the ESSA requirements between state education agencies and their child welfare counterparts to better understand the experiences of students in the foster system. State agencies do not have to wait for laws to increase data sharing and understanding—in fact, many have already started that work.
The Way Forward
While there have been advancements in supporting students in the foster system with the passage of laws like 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 education agencies invest in supporting students in the foster system. We can do better and we must.
Tags: students, foster care system