Transcript PA Homeless Children’s Initiative Conference Meeting the

A Few Facts
• Almost half of youth in foster care in
Pennsylvania do not complete high school.
• Only one-third graduate in four years.
• Youth in foster care are far more likely to:
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repeat a grade;
score lower on standardized tests;
Have lower grade point averages; and
Earn fewer credits towards high school graduation.
• Research shows that youth fall 4-6 months
behind academically with just one change in
school!
• Use Schools as partners in foster parent
recruitment within their district.
• According to a national survey, 25% of foster youth reported
that they had been homeless at least one night within 2.5 to 4
years after exiting foster care.
• 3 in 10 of the nation's homeless adults report foster care history.
• Approximately 1,000 children age out of foster care or are
discharged with a goal of emancipation in Pennsylvania annually.
• Nationally, 24,000 youth “age out” of foster care each year
without “proper supports to successfully transition to adulthood.
• The number of youth who leave foster care by ‘aging out’ has
grown every year since 2001, and the percentage of all foster
care exits that are ‘aging out’ has nearly doubled in the last
decade.
• Studies show that up to 70 percent of the inmates in the state
penitentiary system spent at least part of their youth in the foster
care system.
• Only 4 out of 10 foster youth leave their foster homes with even
$250 to their name.
• Almost 7 out of 10 have no idea where they're going to live.
• Nearly half of foster youth reach adulthood without graduating
high school.
– On average, emancipated foster youth earn only about $6,000 a year
during their first few years as adults.
– Nearly half of them have periods of unemployment during that time, and
more than half spend at least part of their first year homeless.
• McKinney-Vento defines homeless youth as those:
– Awaiting foster care placement;
– Living with a friend, relative or someone else
because the lost their home or can’t afford a
home;
– Staying in a motel or hotel;
– Living in an emergency or transitional shelter or
domestic violence shelter;
– Staying in substandard housing;
– Living in a car, park, public place, abandoned
building or bus or train station; or
– Living in a campground or an inadequate trailer
home, abandoned in a hospital, living in a
runaway or homeless youth shelter.
• Over 70% of C&Y cases are for general neglect
which includes housing related issues or
concerns.
• Children involved with C&Y face a variety of
housing issues, many of them that fall under
McKinney-Vento.
• Approximately 12.3% of children in
Pennsylvania enter foster care each year due to
inadequate housing.
Awaiting Foster Care – What does it
mean?
• Awaiting foster care includes children who are
living in:
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Shelters
Emergency care
Interim care
Respite foster care
Evaluative or diagnostic centers or placements for
the sole purpose of evaluation
• The list of examples of “awaiting foster care”
placements is not exhaustive.
• If the child/youth is awaiting foster care because he
placement is not likely to become permanent, they are
eligible for McKinney-Vento protections.
• PDE BEC “Education for Homeless Youth”
underscore that the “awaiting foster care placement”
provision applies to any placement “not likely to
become permanent.”
• Issuance of OCYF Bulletin 3130-08-01 entitled
“Educational Stability and Continuity for
Children in Substitute Care”
– Provided guidance and recommendations for county
children and youth workers to ensure stability as it
relates to school
– Provided guidance around McKinney-Vento
– Required county children and youth agencies to
appoint an “education liaison” as their “central point
of contact on education”
• Development of the Education Screen
– Completed in conjunction with Pennsylvania Child
Welfare Training Program, Education Law Center,
Juvenile Law Center, Pennsylvania Department of
Education
Education Screen
• Purpose is to identify any triggers that a child
may need extra help, and that there may be a
role for the caseworker in making sure the child
gets that help
• Done on every school age child involved with
the child welfare system upon initial contact, as
well as at each 6 month review
Areas Addressed
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Education records
Education stability/prompt enrollment
Special schools settings/situations
Progress towards promotion or graduation
Preparation for post-secondary education
Need for special education evaluation
Adequacy of special education services
Need for special education decision-maker
Need for accommodations for a disability or physical or
behavioral health condition
Fostering Connections Act
vs. McKinney-Vento
• McKinney-Vento requires school districts to ensure
school stability, provide transportation to school of
origin, pendency in school of choice while disputes are
resolved, immediate enrollment help of school liaisons
to enroll, access to Title I, comparable services, etc.
• Fostering Connections requires caseworkers to
consider proximity and appropriateness of prior school
in placing children AND ensure school stability unless
remaining in the same school is not in the child’s best
interest. Transportation is more limited; no liaisons, no
clear mandate on Education – HOWEVER, they have a
duty to cooperate to ensure stability.
Educational Stability/School Travel
Reimbursement
• Child’s case plan must include provisions to assure
educational stability while in foster care.
• Requires C&Y to work in partnership with the local
school district to allow the child to remain in their
home school when doing so is in their best interest.
– Includes reimbursement for reasonable travel to and from the
child’s home school as an allowable foster care maintenance
cost.
– It is possible that this may be paid to a third party provider.
• Seek creative solutions to transportation needs.
• Work with C&Y and other agencies to develop a
comprehensive program to ensure
transportation.
• Seek Court orders from C&Y when necessary.
Key Questions to Consider When
Making a Best Interest Determination
• How deep are the child's ties to his or her current school?
• Would the timing of the school transfer coincide with logical juncture such as
after testing, after an event that is significant to the child, or at the end of the
school year?
• How would changing schools affect the student's ability to earn full credits,
participate in sports or other extra-curricular activities, proceed to the next
grade or graduate on time?
• How would the length of the commute to the school of origin impact the
child?
• How anxious is the child about having been removed from the home and/or
any upcoming moves?
• What school do the child's siblings attend?
• Are there any safety issues to consider?
Key Questions Continued
• How long is the child’s current placement expected to last?
• What is the child’s permanency plan?
• How many schools has the child attended over the past few years? How
many this year?
• How have the school transfers affected the child emotionally, academically
and physically?
• How strong is the child academically?
• To what extent are the programs and activities art the potential new school
comparable to or better than those at the current school?
• Does one school have programs and activities that address the unique needs
or interests of the student that the other school does not have?
• Which school does the student prefer?
Next Steps
• Continue addressing educational needs for youth in
foster care and also those involved with the C&Y
system (in-home).
• Continue improving relationship/communication
between schools and C&Y
• Finalization of the education screen
• Training to county children and youth education
liaisons
• Use of Accurint for Family Finding
• “The education of our young people in foster
care is a crucial framework for future success.”
• “We believe the time has come for the silos of
education, child welfare, services for those with
disabilities and the judiciary, coordinate their
efforts so that the challenging and sometime
dismal education outcomes for youth can be
turned around.”
Contact Information
• Grace Gross
• [email protected]
• 717-705-2908
• Cindi Horshaw
• [email protected]
• 717-783-7287