1 educational stability and the fostering connections to success and increasing adoptions act of...
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Educational StabilityEducational Stability and the Fostering Connections to and the Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008Act of 2008
New York City Children’s Services New York City Children’s Services Education UnitEducation Unit
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What is the Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act?
The act, which we will refer to as “Fostering Connections” or “the Act” was passed by Congress in 2008. It has a number of different provisions, including:
• Requiring states to make greater efforts to identify and support relatives as foster care/adoptive resources.
• Providing additional support for adoption, including adoption of children with special needs.
• Promoting placement of siblings in the same home.• Improving and extending services for youths aging out of the foster
care system.• Providing support to better train child welfare staff.• Giving Indian tribes greater access to federal foster care and adoption
funds.• Requiring that a plan be developed to oversee and coordinate health
care and services for every child in foster care.
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What does Fostering Connections say about Educational Stability?
Section 204 of the Act requires that for every child or youth in foster care, there must be developed:
A plan for ensuring the educational stability of the child while in foster care, including—
(i) assurances that the placement of the child in foster care takes into account the appropriateness of the current educational setting and the proximity to the school in which the child is enrolled at the time of placement; and
(ii)(I) an assurance that the State agency has coordinated with appropriate local educational agencies … [ ]…to ensure that the child remains in the school in which the child is enrolled at the time of placement; or
(II) if remaining in such school is not in the best interests of the child, assurances by the State agency and the local educational agencies to provide immediate and appropriate enrollment in a new school, with all of the educational records of the child provided to the school.’’;
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One more time, please.Fostering Connections requires a plan for
educational stability for each child. The placement must take into account whether the school the child is in when s/he enters foster care is appropriate, and how far it is from the proposed foster home. The child should remain in that school unless it is not in her/his best interest to stay there. If it’s in her/his best interest to change schools, s/he must be enrolled in an appropriate school immediately, and her/his records must be forwarded to the new school.
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Anything else?
• Fostering Connections also requires states to ensure that all children in foster care for whom it is receiving federal aid 1) are enrolled in school or 2) have already graduated (unless certified by a physician as medically unable to attend school).
Section 204(b)
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Why do we talk about educational stability of children in care?
• National data studies and studies in many states and cities indicate that children in foster care often experience multiple changes in school placement.
• E.g., A 2003 study found 68% of “foster care alumni” throughout the country had attended 3 or more elementary schools; 33% had attended 5 or more. A 2004 study in Chicago found that 2/3 of public school students who entered foster care changed schools shortly thereafter.
http://www.casey.org/Resources/Publications/pdf/EducationalOutcomesFactSheet.pdf
Show me the data!!!!
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Why should we be concerned about educational stability?
• The same 2003 national study of “foster care alumni” found that students who had fewer changes in school placement were much more likely to have graduated.
• In Chicago, a 1996 study found that students who had changed schools 4 or more times had lost about 1 year of educational progress by the time they reached 6th grade.
• In 2000 in New York, 42% of students in a sample were found to have missed some school when they first entered care because missing records delayed their enrollment.
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Let’s review.When a child enters foster care, a plan for
educational stability must be developed. It should take into account the “appropriateness” of the child’s current school, and how far that school is from the proposed foster home placement. The child should remain in the current school unless it is in his or her “best interest” to change schools. The child should never remain out of school (or have his or her records unavailable to a new school) for any reason other than medical need.
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Can a child remain in the same school even if they are no longer
living in “the zone”?• Chancellor’s Regulation A-101 states that
students who change residence within NYC are entitled to remain in the school they are attending through the “terminal grade” (the last grade that school offers, e.g., if a 1st grader is attending a K-5, s/he would be eligible to continue in that school through 5th grade.) However, a student does not become eligible for yellow bus transportation as a result of the move.
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Transportation for General Education Students
• What grade is the student in?
• Was the student already eligible for free transportation based on distance from the school?
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General Education TransportationChancellor’s Regulation A-801, Section 1
Grades Free Transportation Half-Fare Transportation
K-2 Student lives ½ mile or more from school
Student lives less than ½ mile from school
3 – 6 Student lives 1 mile or more from school
Student lives less than 1 mile from school
7 – 12 Student lives 1 ½ mile or more from school
Student lives less than 1 ½ mile from school.
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General Education Transportation continued
• Students in grades K – 6 eligible for free transportation might be offered “yellow bus” service to school from designated bus stops. No route may be more than 5 miles from the first stop to the destination.
• Students in grades 7 – 12 will rely on public transportation. If public transportation options are poor, students in grades 7 & 8 may be permitted on yellow buses serving younger children.
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What about students receiving special education?
• Does the IEP include special education transportation? (Will be indicated on page 1 of the IEP)
• Does the child attend a special class?– If so, is s/he attending a District 75 school or a
community school?
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Special Education TransportationChancellor’s Regulation A-801, Section 2
• Students with disabilities are eligible for free transportation (MetroCard or yellow bus) regardless of distance from the school.
• Special Education busing (i.e., door-to-door in mini-bus, wheelchair lift, standard bus) must be specified on page 1 of the IEP, and must be recommended by a physician.
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Example, please.• Travis is placed in foster care on Friday.
He attends 2nd grade at P.244 in Brooklyn, and is being placed in a home on Rockaway Parkway in Canarsie. What kind of information will we need to consider about Travis’ school placement? What if we don’t have all the information by Monday?
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P244
Foster home
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Let’s continue.
Travis’ foster parent says she wants him to attend the zoned school because she wants to be able to pick him up at the same time as she picks up her own son. His mother says he must remain at P.244 because she expects him to come home soon. Under Fostering Connections, what is the relevant standard when considering where Travis should attend school?
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When might it be in a child’s best interest to change schools?
• Mary was placed in care last week. She attends 1st grade in a school with several older cousins. The principal reports that Mary confided in her that her cousins are seeking her out several times a day to carry messages from Mary’s mother, warning her not to talk about anything that happened at home, and telling her that her foster parents will probably begin to hurt her. Mary’s behavior is deteriorating, and she has begun to pull out her hair and chew her lip until it has become inflamed.
• Julian began kindergarten at P65 in the Mott Haven section of the Bronx in September, but missed multiple days, sometimes for a week at a time, until he entered care in late October. He was placed in the home of his aunt, who lives in Kingsbridge, approximately 1 ½ hour away by public bus.
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Enrollment in a new school – general education
• Under Chancellor’s Regulation A-101, an elementary or middle school student has the right to enroll at the school “zoned” for his or her address. To find out the school, you can call 311 or enter the child’s address on the DOE’s website (www.schools.nyc.gov) “Find a School” feature. If there is no zoned school, the child can be enrolled at a Borough Enrollment Office.
• High school students may be enrolled at a Borough Enrollment Office.
http://www.nyc.gov/html/acs/education/attendance_enrollment.html
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Enrollment in a new school – special education
• Special Education Teacher Support Services (SETTS) and/or Related Services – zoned school or Enrollment Office
• Co-Teaching (aka Collaborative Team Teaching) or Special Class in a Community School – District Special Education Placement Officer
• Special Class in a Special School (District 75) – D75 Placement Officer for Borough
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An opportunity for reflection…Take a moment and think back to Travis. If he were
placed in your agency, who would be responsible for gathering the necessary information? When would this occur? Who would help? Who would participate in developing the plan for educational stability?
You don’t have to share your answers, but if you are uncertain, or if you think there may be confusion among your colleagues, you may want to discuss that with your supervisors.
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Education Records• Records contained in a student’s file are necessary to
minimize disruption of instruction and make a smooth transition.
• While student records are confidential, federal law provides for disclosure to a new school a student is or will be attending.
Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), regulations at Code of Federal Regulations, Title 34, §99.31(a)(2)
• Fostering Connections provides that records must be provided to a student’s new school. Child welfare and local educational agencies share this responsibility.
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Troubleshooting Individual Cases
• Ruby is attending Jamaica High School in Queens and is placed with her adult cousin in Manhattan. Her cousin drives into western Nassau for work each day and can bring her back and forth. The principal says he thinks Ruby ought to transfer to a school in Manhattan.
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Troubleshooting continued.
• Jason began attending a new school when he entered care. The guidance counselor says that two weeks later, she still doesn’t have any records, and wants to know what you are going to do about it.
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&
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Children’s Services Education Unit
Maya Cooper, Staff Attorney, [email protected] Donald Lash, Staff Attorney, [email protected] Roberto Romero, Education Advocate Supervisor 212-341-
[email protected] Regina Schaefer, Director, at [email protected]