School Stability
Initiative Policy Goal
To help young people in foster care have a stable education, we should ensure that they remain in the school that they are enrolled in at time of removal and placement changes; if a school change is in their best interest, provide immediate enrollment in, and records transfer to, a new school.
Issue Definition
Young people must obtain a stable education while in foster care to successfully transition from care with the education needed to retain steady employment. However, only 60 percent of youth aging out of foster care will finish high school by age 19[1] compared to 89 percent nationally of 18-24 year olds.[2] A lack of school stability is a major educational challenge contributing to this bleak outcome.
Opportunity Passport™ Participants' Placement Changes
Most of the 2,032 Opportunity Passport™ participants in ten sites across the country indicated that they experience placement changes at or above the national average. Participants, ages 14 - 24, reported* that:
- over half of them had 1-3 placements while in or out of home care; and
- approximately one-third had 4-10 placements.
School changes for young people in out-of-home care are driven by changes in residence. Those who enter care, exit care, or change placements experience higher rates of school mobility.[3] School mobility rates are highest for children and youth entering care for the first time[4]. Young people are at risk for changing schools whenever they change foster care placements. The possibility of switching schools multiple times is increased given that on average, children and youth in out-of- home care experience three foster care placement changes per year.[5] In fact, research has shown that over a third of young adults reported having had five or more school changes.[6] School moves are further complicated by enrollment delays while waiting for necessary paperwork to be transferred, resulting in lost education time and disruption of supportive services.
The negative impact of the number of school changes on students' educational trajectory is apparent when considering that each time students change schools, they lose four to six months of academic progress.[7] Consequently, school mobility is associated with an increased risk of failing a grade.[8]
Status
In October of 2008, The Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act (P.L. 110-351) was passed. This law, known as Fostering Connections, affords significant federal improvements to foster care and includes key education provisions to ensure those in foster care maintain a stable education. Effective implementation by states is critical to improve educational attainment of transitioning youth.
Fostering Connections provides opportunities and resources to ensure the educational stability of young people in foster care. It accomplishes this by requiring state child welfare agencies to coordinate with local education agencies to make certain that children remain in the school that they are enrolled in at the time of a foster placement, unless it is determined that continuing in their current school is not in the best interests of the child. If a school change is in their best interest, the child must immediately be enrolled in a new school and all of the child's education records must be promptly transferred. The law also increases the amount of federal funding to cover transportation costs for these children to remain in the same school.
In addition, Fostering Connections requires states to assure that every school-age child receiving a foster care, adoption assistance or subsidized guardianship payment is a full-time student or has completed secondary school.
As states begin to implement this new law, stakeholders interested in promoting the educational stability of children in foster care can leverage this opportunity to learn about the current status of implementing new or proposed policy changes, practice improvements and barriers to progress. It is useful to know who is involved in implementation, how the work is being done (e.g. task forces may have been created to guide implementation); the roles key agencies or organizations are playing-namely child welfare, education, juvenile or family courts, mental health, and community organizations-and to discover opportunities to support their efforts.
Related Resources
Fostering Connections Resource Center
The Resource Center was created with support from Jim Casey Youth Opportunities Initiative along with other foundations and organizations committed to improving lives of vulnerable children and families. It provides nonpartisan, timely, and reliable information to support state and local decision-makers as they move forward with implementing the Fostering Connections Act. The Resource Center is a one-stop-shop for a range of data, online tools, and technical support on all aspects of the Fostering Connections Act. It also provides access to national networks of state-based and local stakeholders organized according to the six major topic areas of the law - education, adoption, kinship, older youth, tribal child welfare, and health. www.fosteringconnections.org
American Bar Association's Legal Center for Foster Care and Education
The Center serves as a national technical assistance resource and information clearinghouse on legal and policy matters affecting the education of children in the foster care system. It provides expertise, training and technical assistance; and facilitates networking to advance promising practices. www.abanet.org/child/education/
Administration for Children and Families
This federal agency funds states to provide child welfare and other programs relating to children and families.
- The Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008 (P.L. 110-351) policies.http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cb/laws_policies/index.htm
- Implementation of the Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008 Working Document - Updated as of 11/4/09http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cb/laws_policies/implementation_foster.htm
References
[1] Courtney, M.E., Piliavin, I., Grogan-Kaylor, A., & Nesmith, A. (2001). Foster youth transitions to adulthood: Outcomes 12 to 18 months after leaving out-of-home care. Child Welfare, 80(6), 685-717
[2] United States Department of Education. http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2009/2009064.pdf. Retrieved March 10, 2010.
[3] Courtney, M.E., Roderick, M., Smithgall, C., Gladden, R.M., Nagaoka, J.(2004). The Educational Status of Foster Children. Issue Brief. Chicago, IL: Chapin Hall Center for Children at the University of Chicago.
[4] Smithgall, C., Gladden, R.M., Howard, E., Goerge, R., Courtney, M. (2004). Educational experiences of children in out-of-home care. Chicago, IL: Chapin Hall Center for Children at the University of Chicago.
[5] Kids are Waiting, Fix Foster Care Now. State by State Facts. http://kidsarewaiting.org/publications/statefacts?id=0053. Retrieved March 2, 2010.
[6] Courtney, M.E., Terao, S., & Bost, N. (2004). Midwest evaluation of the adult functioning of former foster youth: Conditions of youth preparing to leave state care. Chicago, IL: Chapin Hall Center for Children at the University of Chicago.
[7] Testimony of Kathleen M. McNaught On behalf of the American Bar Association before the Subcommittee on Income Security and Family Support Committee on Ways and means, United States House of Representatives for the hearing on "Implementation of the Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act" Washington, DC, September 15, 2009 citing: Dr. Joy Rogers of the Loyola University Department of Education, Education Report of Rule 706 Expert Panel presented in B.H. v. Johnson, 715 F. Supp.1387 (N.D. Ill. 1989), 1991.
[8] Wood, D., Halfon, N., Scarlata, D., Newacheck, P., & Nessim, S. (1993). Impact of family relocation on children's growth, development, school function, and behavior. Journal of American Medical Association, 270 (11), 1134-1338.
