• 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

The Gifted Child in Foster Care: Lost in the Shuffle

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).

States Taking Steps to Improve Services for Students in Foster Care

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)

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/

• 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

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

• 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)

• 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

• 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

• 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

• 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