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Hello. My name is Sarah Crouch and I am a graduate student at Angelo State University within the Professional School Counseling program. This presentation is to provide other Professional School Counselors and Educators with both the Legal and Ethical requirements for meeting the needs of students in Foster Care. Students in foster care must have a collaborative support system in place so that they may reach their individual goals.

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Summary- On July 7, 2021, I conducted an in-person interview with Joan McCleery, Miles I.S.D. Special Programs Coordinator. She provided insights into her experiences in working with foster care students, her knowledge of best practices in meeting their needs , and current issues relating to foster care students. Joan McCleery's experience as a 13 year Special Programs Coordinator, has provided her with years of experience in working with foster care students and families. She shared that it is her duty to stay current on ever-changing laws and regulations to ensure compliance within all programs.
Legal & Field of Study Impact- Joan McCleery shared that educators must work hand in hand with foster care representatives and families to ensure social emotional supports, academic supports, family supports, and privacy measures. She shared that as the Special Programs Coordinator, it is a priority to ensure that school counselors be aware of foster care student social-emotional wellness and academic supports available. As the Special Programs Coordinator, she oversees district policy creation and ensures that school counselors, teachers, and staff meet the needs of foster care students as the district liaison. In addition, she shared that empowering foster care students as educators is essential in the success of each child's future. Helping them by providing a stable school environment, when the home environment has not been stable is also important for their overall wellness.
Best Practices- The best practices shared by Joan McCleery include the following:

developing an individualized plan that includes both academic and social emotional recommendations to meet the students needs to ensure success

providing school stability

coordination between the school liaison and child welfare services

connecting students to support resources like free lunch services, college scholarships, tuition and fee waivers, counseling and supportive programs

Emerging Issue-
Joan McCleery shared that due to the impact of COVID-19 many foster students are having to live in CPS caseworker offices and surrounding churches while waiting to find a more permanent foster home. She shared that this can be very traumatic for children and that social emotional supports are often needed for lengthier amounts of time than a school counselor can offer. She also shared that referrals to private counseling agencies for foster care students are often met with scheduling time constraints and supporting the growing numbers of students is a challenge for all.

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The Legal Center for Foster Care and Education was established in 2007 through advocates from the American Bar Association Center on Children and the Law, the Education Law Center , and the Juvenile Law Center. Its purpose is to be an advocate for foster children at the federal level, in addition to providing resources and training to those that work with and for foster children (Legal Center for Foster Care and Education, 2021). This resource can provide Professional School Counselors with current federal focuses for students in foster care.
https://www.fostercareandeducation.org/Home.aspx

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Article 1-

The Gifted Child in Foster Care: Lost in the Shuffle

https://www.edweek.org/leadership/the-gifted-child-in-foster-care-lost-in-the-shuffle/2018/03

The 2018 article,

The Gifted Child in Foster Care: Lost in the Shuffle, shared the following:

Foster care children can struggle with school achievement, not because of ability, but because of the impacts of trauma, poverty, and high rates of mobility (Sparks, 2018)

A recent California study found that only "2 percent of students in foster care in that state were identified as eligible for gifted and talented education services, compared with 6 percent of low-socioeconomic students generally and 9 percent of the state’s total student population" (Sparks, 2018, p. 3)

The Every Student Succeeds Act of 2015 required school districts to review and respond to "performance data, including academic achievement and graduation rates, for foster students, and they must show the percentage of those students performing at both “proficient” and “advanced” levels on state tests" (Sparks, 2018, p. 4).

With the Every Student Succeeds Act and other more recent legislative acts that focus on student social emotional wellness, schools can help children in foster care to achieve success in spite of the challenges they face. This legislation has initiated important policy updates for schools that focus on making educational improvements for students in the foster care system.

Reference

Sparks, S. (2018, March 6). The gifted child in foster care: Lost in the shuffle. Education Week. Retrieved from https://www.edweek.org/leadership/the-gifted-child-in-foster-care-lost-in-the-shuffle/2018/03

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For George Garcia, academically challenging courses and participation in student government were more than just a path to college.

They also provided an escape.

"Because while my home life was shifting so much, I felt a sense of stability at school and something to concentrate on," said Garcia, who was in the foster-care system from age 10, when he and his four siblings were removed from home, to when he became legally emancipated at age 18. While he cycled through 10 home placements in four years of high school, Garcia stayed at the same Los Angeles school and said being surrounded with "academically ambitious" classmates and teachers in college-prep courses "challenged me to invest a lot of my time in something I could control."

Garcia ultimately was elected vice president of his class twice at Summit High School, graduated with honors in 2012, and became a foster-mentor with the Guardian Scholars program at the University of California, Riverside. Looking back, Garcia, now an administrative coordinator at U.C. Riverside's National Foster Youth Institute, said his time in foster care deepened his own sense of resilience and academic determination.

Yet Garcia's experience, while hopeful, is far from the norm for students with high potential in foster care, according to experts. Trauma, schooling instability, poverty: Any one of those challenges can make it harder for gifted children to be found and to show their strengths, and students in the foster-care system often have all of those disadvantages and then some.

"We get these kids over and over who are so eager to learn, but they have so many challenges against them, so they don't look like they are achieving because they are struggling with all the trauma going on in their lives," said Kathleen Casper, the gifted-education director at Solid Rock Community School near Tampa Bay, Fla., and an active foster parent for temporary placements.

The number of children in the foster-care system has been quietly ticking up after years of decline, from about 397,000 in 2012 to more than 437,000 in 2016, according to the most recent data from the U.S. Administration on Children, Youth, and Families. Experts attribute the rise to a wide variety of factors, from poverty and housing instability after the 2008 recession to the opioid epidemic. There are no national numbers on how many foster students participate in gifted education or advanced coursework in high school, but a recent California study found that only 2 percent of students in foster care in that state were identified as eligible for gifted and talented education services, compared with 6 percent of low-socioeconomic students generally and 9 percent of the state's total student population.

The Every Student Succeeds Act requires school districts to understand a lot more about both academically advanced students and those in foster care than they have in the past. Districts must now break out performance data, including academic achievement and graduation rates, for foster students, and they must show the percentage of those students performing at both "proficient" and "advanced" levels on state tests. Districts that better identify and support gifted students in the foster system could see better long-term achievement and school engagement for this group over time, experts say.

Keeping Track

The traditional process for identifying academically gifted students, including teacher referrals coupled with standardized assessments, may miss a quarter to half of gifted students, particularly those from low-income or other disadvantaged backgrounds, estimates research from the National Association for Gifted Children.

Common school assessments such as the Cognitive Abilities Test focus on verbal reasoning and spoken language, which also can be delayed in children who have experienced trauma, said Michael Postma, the executive director of the group Supporting the Emotional Needs of the Gifted. "The school would have to understand different characteristics of giftedness-not just the IQ piece-creativity, leadership, critical thinking," he said. "They might have missed schooling; you'll need to look beyond achievement to fluidity, speed of growth. You really have to look for contextual clues for these kids."

Another obstacle, said James Webb, a gifted-education researcher and author, is that "most school districts do not start [gifted] programs until 3rd grade, and by then, [a foster child's] idea of the world is pretty set, and they are less likely to be the teacher-pleaser kind of child who is more likely to be nominated by a teacher for the gifted program."

Last fall, for example, Casper, the gifted director at Solid Rock, temporarily took in a 6-year-old girl who had left her kindergarten after two months when she entered foster care. She was identified and referred for an evaluation based on her academic potential in her new school, but had not had the final paperwork signed when she was moved again, this time to live with a relative in another school district.

"So this child has now had to go to three different kindergartens. She has to fit into a new classroom, learn a new curriculum, get into the process of being identified, and then start all over again, with no guarantee that this relative will follow up on it, or even see the value of gifted education," Casper said. "Even if you advocate for this child in the period of time they are in your care, a lot of times the process takes so long that by the time the kid's moved, nothing has been done."

Jonathan Plucker, a professor of education and talent development at Johns Hopkins University's Center for Talented Youth, found highly mobile gifted students can be more resilient than students on average would be to changes because they are more likely to be naturally curious and good problem-solvers. But if their academic environments vary significantly from one placement to another, "that sends you very mixed messages about your value and talents," Plucker said.

Garcia recalled he was not tapped for gifted programs in middle school-and in fact cared little about his schoolwork when so much was going on outside of school. Instead of being identified for advanced programs through the school, he said that in high school, his friends convinced him to seek out more advanced coursework.

In Washington state, Treehouse, an advocacy group focused on getting foster students on a college-bound track, helps those transitioning into high school align their foster placements with their academic goals. Education specialists like Merissa Humes meet with students weekly to help them set goals, apply to colleges and for scholarships, and plan for life after both high school and the foster-care system.

Collectively, Treehouse and everyone in the community who supports the organization weave together the middle-class safety net youth in foster care need.

Judges and caseworkers generally decide placements by looking for a safe, stable home for a student, but the details of the student's school situation may not be at the forefront, said Angela Griffin, the chief program officer for Treehouse.

"We validate that, but it's also important for them to have the academic support they need ... that they are able to complete courses, work in similar programs," Griffin said.

One high school senior, for example, was a straight-A student who was about to be moved to a school five districts away that did not have the Advanced Placement courses he was taking. Treehouse eventually helped arrange transportation for the student to remain at his current school, even though it meant a 90-minute bus ride to and from a relative's house each day. "The student was willing to do it, and we were there to provide social and emotional support," until the student graduated, she said.

The support has dramatically improved foster students' graduation rate in the state. The five-year graduation rate for foster students participating in Treehouse is 89 percent, 7 percent higher than the overall graduation rate statewide and 40 percentage points higher than the state graduation rate for foster students.

Sometimes, Griffin said, advocates also have to persuade schools to look differently at a student with mediocre grades or behavior problems. "That happens quite a bit, because the trauma and instability they experience ... can sometimes mask the academic ability they have," she said.

Today, for example, Jordon Marshelle Barrett has earned mostly A's in her junior and senior years at Kentridge High School in Kent, Wash. But her grades were in a tailspin in 10th grade at a prior school, when she left one foster placement and ended up being shuttled among seven shelters and group homes, losing months of class in the process. Finally, with help from a new foster family and from Humes, she transferred to the more academically rigorous Kentridge and retook her sophomore classes, but worried that the repeated grade would be a black mark on her college applications.

Humes helped Barrett get a meeting with her preferred college, the University of Washington, Tacoma, to explain her transcript and press her determination to study psychology and law, to eventually become a homicide detective.

"Even though [Humes] was sick, she was texting me before the meeting: Ok, remember to tell them this and this ..." Barrett said. "Marissa took the time to really learn me and connect with me. ... Going through the shelters, you feel like you have nobody; it's really lonely. ... Not only did Treehouse help me with material things ... they helped me by giving me somebody I can talk to."

Response to Trauma

There has been very little study of gifted students in foster care, but researchers have looked at how intellectually advanced students respond to mobility, family instability, and trauma.

Jean Peterson, a Purdue University education professor emerita who for the past 25 years has tracked academic and emotional changes among gifted students who experienced trauma, found that intellectually advanced students who experienced abuse were at a higher risk of post-traumatic stress.

A former psychologist at the Children's Medical Center in Dayton, Ohio, Webb agreed. Common traits of giftedness, such as questioning adults and showing heightened sensitivity, can turn negative in children who have unstable or abusive home lives, he said.

"You have a class discussion, and the teacher says, 'Tell me about your family.' The student thinks, 'Which family?' Being in a foster system implies by definition that there is some family disruption. You can expect quite a reaction to this-which may or may not be verbalized," Webb said.

Garcia, the foster child who is now a college mentor for foster students, agreed, noting that few of his teachers or peers knew about his home situation, even though he changed placements 10 times in four years. "I feel like there's a barrier in understanding," he said. "You might have to talk in school about a lot of things you might not have really worked through, and it can be kind of retriggering, retraumatizing."

Both Peterson and Garcia said being in foster care can also heighten academic stress and the perfectionism that gifted students often struggle with. Garcia recalled staying up late to study for a test the next day in U.S. history. "I passed out and woke up covered in hives from the stress," he said. "I think stress management is one of the biggest challenges-and self-care."

Better coordination among education systems, social services, and other child-welfare agencies could help, researchers and advocates say, but personal connections with even one or two adults in school who understand and encourage a student's academic potential can greatly improve his achievement and success long term.

"A lot of kids in the system don't have a sense of themselves as 'bright.' Their intelligence might be put to simply surviving-getting groceries, taking care of younger siblings," said Peterson, a co-author of the 2018 book Counseling Gifted Students. "Educators need to point out to them, 'You have not had the easiest life, but look at all you've done.' "

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The Gifted Child in Foster Care: Lost in the Shuffle

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For George Garcia, academically challenging courses and participation in student government were more than just a path to college. They also provided an escape. "Because while my home life was shifting so much, I felt a sense of stability at school and something to concentrate on," said Garcia, who was in the foster-care system from age 10, when he and his four siblings were removed from home, to when he became legally emancipated at age 18.

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Article 2-

States Taking Steps to Improve Services for Students in Foster Care

https://www.k12dive.com/news/states-taking-steps-to-improve-services-for-students-in-foster-care/515064/

The 2018 article titled,

States Taking Steps to Improve Services for Students in Foster Care, shared the following:

As a district liaison for the National Center for Youth Law, Richard Puente of Santa Cruz California, works to improve the educational system for foster students. He has initiated a system for California school districts where foster care students receive individualized educational plans, much like special education students to ensure success (Jacobson, 2018)

Funding was allocated so that schools could meet the new regulations for foster students through changes in the states Local Funding Policy formula (Jacobson, 2018)

Other states like Arizona, New Mexico and Indiana have followed California’s lead and are now also working to create policy that ensures that foster care students are a focus of schools and funding (Jacobson, 2018)

The Every Student Succeeds Act of 2015 requires school districts to allow foster youth to remain in their same school, and for schools to provide transportation to that school if living arrangements have changed (Jacobson, 2018)

Increased funding and allowing foster care students to pick the school of attendance have greatly improved attendance and engagement for students (Jacobson, 2018)

Both federal statutes and state statutes have been passed to help children in foster care access educational needs. As more states focus on the needs of foster care students, positive change takes place.

Reference
Jacobson, L. (2018, Jan. 19).

States taking steps to improve services for students in foster care. K-12 Dive. Retrieved from https://www.k12dive.com/news/states-taking-steps-to-improve-services-for-students-in-foster-care/515064/

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Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008- https://www.congress.gov/bill/110th-congress/house-bill/6893

importance of school stability, a child must be able to stay at the school enrolled in at the time of placement

coordination between state, regional child welfare, and state and local education agencies

placements take into account the appropriateness of the current education setting and proximity to the school in which the child is enrolled at the time of placement in foster care

immediate enrollment by child welfare and local education agencies, and provide all of the child’s education records to a new school

Collaborating with other agencies to create a stable and successful school environment for foster children is an essential advocacy task for Professional School Counselors. By adhering to the law and supporting children through the Comprehensive Counseling Program, counselors are creating the optimal place for students to thrive.

Reference

Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008, Pub. L. No. 110-351 § 101

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Article 7 of the Texas Constitution-
https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/CN/htm/CN.7.htm

established that Texas will provide, support and maintain a free public education system

school funding, including one-fourth of revenue from state occupation taxes dedicated to education

establishment of Universities and the funding of

This constitutional law enables students in foster care to access an education. If school was not provided by the state as a free service, it is possible that these students would miss out on receiving the skills they need to grow and someday join the workforce.

Reference
Tex. Const. art. 7

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2021 Fulton v. City of Philadelphia
https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/20pdf/19-123_new_1co5.pdf

a lawsuit was filed by a same sex married couple wanting to adopt a child through  Catholic Social Services (CSS), which is a contracted adoption agency within the city of Philadelphia, due to CSS denial to serve the couple based on religious beliefs pertaining to same sex marriages

a lawsuit was brought against the city of Philadelphia by the plaintiffs which claimed this act was in violation of the city's Fair Practices Ordinance

the case made it to the United States Supreme court where the Supreme Court ruled unanimously that the Catholic social services agency could go against city policy and refuse to work with same-sex couples who apply to take in foster children due to religious freedoms (Fulton v. City of Philadelphia, 2021)

This case demonstrates the multifaceted impact of how laws impact the lives of foster children. As a Professional School Counselor, it is important to understand the many circumstances that foster children face in their pursuit of a life with a family and their education. With this understanding, counselors can gain a better understanding of this marginalized population of children.

Reference
Fulton v. City of Philadelphia, 2021

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Transition Assistance For Students Who Are Homeless Or In Substitute Care
https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/ED/htm/ED.25.htm#25.007

during school transitions the school must send records to the new school of enrollment no later than the end of the tenth working day after enrollment

new schools must have a system of transition in place within initial two weeks of enrollment

schools must develop a system for awarding credits, even partial credits, to a student

place the student in comparable programs to previous school

share appropriate information and work hand in hand with the Department of Family and Protective Services

accept Special Education or Section 504 from a previous school in addition to Individual Education Plans and accommodations/modifications

schools must develop a plan to allow students to complete uncompleted courses at no cost within the school year

review graduation plan for a student not likely to graduate after fifth year from ninth grade

schools must provide information to eleventh and twelfth grade students about dual credit courses, alternate courses for credits, and tuition waivers for post secondary opportunities

Reference
Texas Educ. Code § 25.007

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Miles Independent School District Transportation Policy for Students in Foster Care
https://pol.tasb.org/Policy/Download/1033?filename=CNA(LEGAL).html&title=TRANSPORTATION%20MANAGEMENT&subtitle=STUDENT%20TRANSPORTATION

ensure that children in foster care needing transportation to the school of origin will promptly receive transportation in a cost-effective manner

ensure that, if there are additional costs incurred in providing transportation to maintain children in foster care in their schools of origin, the district will provide transportation to the school of origin if:

1. The local child welfare agency agrees to reimburse the district for the cost of such transportation;

2. The district agrees to pay the cost of transportation; or

3. The district and the local welfare agency agree to share the cost of such transportation

Reference
Miles Independent School District. (2020, July 7). School Board Policy. Retrieved from https://pol.tasb.org/Policy/Download/1033?filename=CNA(LEGAL).html&title=TRANSPORTATION%20MANAGEMENT&subtitle=STUDENT%20TRANSPORTATION

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American School Counselor Association Ethical Standards for School Counselors
https://www.schoolcounselor.org/getmedia/f041cbd0-7004-47a5-ba01-3a5d657c6743/Ethical-Standards.pdf
The Professional School Counselor must:
"Advocate for the equal right and access to free, appropriate public education for all youth, in which students are not stigmatized or isolated based on their housing status, disability, foster care, special education status, mental health or any other exceptionality or special need" (American School Counselor Association, 2016, p. 5).

As a Professional School Counselor, it is an ethical duty to individualize responsive intervention based on student needs so that they may reach full potential. It is also a duty of the counselor to provide every student with needed services in a caring way without bias or judgement. School counselors have a unique set of skills to advocate for student social emotional and academic needs.

Reference
American School Counselor Association. (2016). American School Counselor Association Ethical Standards for School Counselors

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As one of the first individuals in my family to graduate high school, obtain a Bachelor's degree and participate in a graduate level program, I am thankful and appreciative for the laws and ethical guidelines that have been established to enable my success. From the tenth amendment of the United States constitutional law, which allowed individual states the freedom to establish educational laws (U.S. Const. amend. X) to the Texas Education Code 25.007 statutory law that establishes school funding regulations (Tex. Educ. Code 25.007), all laws have worked together to improve upon the educational system that I have been so blessed to attend. These laws have not only protected my freedoms within school, but have also established supports to aid my peers in need. The result has been a more educated and empowered generation within the workforce. I will use the positive educational experience attained to support future students and families as a Professional School Counselor, so they too may have a positive educational experience and future. Beyond being thankful and appreciative, I am also hopeful that we will continue to grow the education system through laws that fine tune school practices.

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Slide 13- Recommendations & Best Practices

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Slide 13- Recommendations & Best Practices

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Professional School Counselors can best support students in foster care by doing the following:

Review the resources available on your state education website Texas Education Agency Foster Care- https://tea.texas.gov/academics/special-student-populations/foster-care-and-student-success/foster-care-student-success

Identify the campus and district foster care liaison

Initiate training of educational staff on foster care related topics

Create a community resource guide that contains resources to meet the possible needs of all students

Review enrollment processes for foster students and review educational records to establish possible needs (review school nutrition assistance and transportation policies)

Collaborate with educational staff, families, and agency staff (Department of Family and Protective Services) to create an educational plan for student success by reviewing records and needs

Guide and support student social emotional wellness

Progress monitor student development and respond appropriately

Identify student talents and encourage extracurricular participation

Connect students and families to academic information and community resources as needed