Transcript Plenary Session I: The Education of Children and Youth

Plenary Session I: The Education of Children and
Youth Served by Neglect and At-Risk Programs
Liann Seiter, NDTAC, and Kathleen McNaught, ABA
1
Agenda
• Who is served by Part D neglect and at-risk
programs?
• Education of youth in the foster care system
• Funding and examples of Part D neglect and
at-risk programs
2
Definition of Neglect Program
The term “institution for neglected or delinquent
children and youth” means—
• A public or private residential facility, other than
a foster home, that is operated for the care of
children who have been committed to the
institution or voluntarily placed in the institution
under applicable State law, due to
abandonment, neglect, or death of their parents
or guardians; or
SUBPART 3: SEC. 1432.DEFINITIONS
3
Definition of Neglect Program (cont.)
The term “institution for neglected or delinquent
children and youth” means—
• A public or private residential facility for the care
of children who have been adjudicated to be
delinquent or in need of supervision.
SUBPART 3: SEC. 1432.DEFINITIONS
4
Definition of Youth Who Are At-Risk
The term “at-risk,” when used with respect to a child, youth,
or student, means a school-aged individual who
Academic Risk Factors
•
•
•
•
•
Is at risk of academic failure
Is at least 1 year behind the
expected grade level for his or her
age
Has limited English proficiency
Has dropped out of school
Has a high absenteeism rate
Other Risk Factors
•
•
•
•
Is pregnant or is a parent
Has a drug or alcohol problem
Is a gang member
Has come in contact with the
juvenile justice system in the past
SUBPART 3: SEC. 1432.DEFINITIONS
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Similar Needs and Challenges Across Programs
6
Age Breakdown by Program Type for Title I,
Part D in SY 2012–13 (Preliminary)
100%
5%
6%
80%
60%
70%
79%
88%
40%
20%
0%
Ages 19 - 21
Ages 14 - 18
Ages 11 - 13
Ages 3 - 10
16%
9%
6%
12%
7%
At-Risk
Neglect
Juvenile Detention
and Corrections
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Racial Ethnic Breakdown by Program Type for
Title I, Part D in SY 2012–13 (Preliminary)
100%
80%
60%
22%
37%
30%
39%
American Indian or
Alaskan Native
Asian
Black or African
American
Hispanic or Latino
15%
22%
40%
Native Hawaiian or
other Pacific Islander
White
47%
20%
32%
32%
Two or more races
Other (race)
0%
At-Risk
Neglect
Juvenile Detention
and Corrections
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Similar Needs and Challenges Across
Programs (cont.)
9
Education of youth in the
foster care system
Kathleen McNaught, ABA
Legal Center for Foster
& Care Education
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Collaboration of
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American Bar Association Center on Children and the Law
Education Law Center (PA)
Juvenile Law Center
Annie E. Casey Foundation
Casey Family Programs
A national technical assistance resource and
information clearinghouse on legal and policy matters
affecting the education of children and youth in foster
care

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Listserv, Training Materials, Conference Calls and Webinars,
Publications, Searchable Database (includes state laws &
policies)
Website: www.fostercareandeducation.org
Who is in the foster care system?


60% will return home
50% stay in care for less than a year^
2014 National Working Group on Foster Care and Education
^ U.S. Department of Health and Human Services AFCARS report
The Whirlwind of System Involvement
Removed from home/parents/siblings
 May not have had chance to say goodbye
 Uncertain about where parents/siblings are
Living with strangers
 In strange house/room/bed/institution
 Different customs/routine, other children in home
 Institutional settings may be unsafe
Few or no possessions
Uncertainty about future
 How are my siblings and parents
 Where will I live?
 Will I return home?
Ongoing mobility
And in addition to all this “WHERE WILL I GO TO SCHOOL?
Children in foster care are struggling
academically

Estimated about ½ of youth in foster care complete high school
by age 18 (compared to 70% of youth in the general population).

Fifteen-year-olds in out-of-home care were about half as likely as
other students to have graduated high school 5 years later, with
significantly higher rates of dropping out (55%) or incarcerated
(10%).

Youth in foster care on average read at only a seventh grade level
after completing 10th or 11th grade.

Two to four times more likely to repeat a grade.

Far less likely to enter into, and complete, post secondary
education.
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Barriers to Educational Achievement for
Court-Involved Youth
 Lack
of placement stability
 Delayed enrollment
 Children with special education needs do not
access/receive services
 Over-representation in alternative education
 Poor on-site educational programs
Blueprint for Change: Education
Success for Children in Foster Care
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8 Goals for Youth
Benchmarks for each goal
indicating progress toward
achieving education success
National, State, and Local
Examples
Blueprint for Change: Goals for Youth
Goal 1:
Goal 2:
Goal 3:
Goal 4:
Goal 5:
Remain in the Same School
Seamless Transitions Between Schools
Young Children Are Ready to Learn
Equal Access to the School Experience
School Dropout, Truancy, and
Disciplinary Actions Addressed
Goal 6: Involving and Empowering Youth
Goal 7: Supportive Adults as Advocates and Decisionmakers
Goal 8: Obtaining Postsecondary Education
New HHS and Department of
Education Joint Letter: May 2014
Emphasizes the importance of educational stability and that
implementation requires a partnership between education
and child welfare agencies.
 Clarifies that state and local education agencies have a legal
duty to help implement the educational requirements under
Fostering Connections. (“the Fostering Connections Act
imposes specific obligations” on both child welfare agencies
and local educational agencies).
 Directs SEAs to remind LEAs of their obligation to
collaborate and coordinate with child welfare agencies
http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cb/resource/fosteringconnections-letter
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Legal Tools for School
Stability and Continuity
 FEDERAL
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Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing
Adoptions Act
 FEDERAL
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CHILD WELFARE LAW
EDUCATION LAW
McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act
Fostering Connections Act
Every child’s case plan must include “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.”
 Child welfare agency must coordinate with school to
ensure child remains in the same school unless not
in the child’s best interest.
 Child welfare agency may use federal funds to
provide reasonable travel for children to remain in
their school of origin.

Fostering Connections Act (continued)
 If
remaining in same school is not in child’s best interests,
child’s case plan must include assurances that the child
welfare agency and local education agency will:
 provide immediate and appropriate enrollment in a new
school; with
 all of the educational records of the child provided to the
school.
 All IV-E eligible children must be full-time elementary or
secondary school student or have completed secondary
school.
Direct Fostering Connections
Questions: What do we do when…
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Children come into care and need a living
placement?
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Identify placements that keep child within school catchment
area/district
Stabilize living placements and minimize placement
disruptions
Living placements do change and child is placed
outside of school catchment area/district?
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Make best interest determination about which school a child
should attend (factors to consider, individuals to involve)
Direct Fostering Connections Questions:
What do we do when… (continued)
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It is best for a child to stay in the same school even
when living out of district?
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Address barriers to keeping a child in that school
Address transportation issues
It is best for a child to be re-enrolled in a new
school?
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Make that enrollment immediate and seamless
Make sure records follow accurately and timely
Some Additional Questions that Emerge
from Fostering Connections
What are the unique needs of our youngest children in foster care and
how do we meet those needs?
How do we ensure the right supports are in place for children in care, in
particular supports that are trauma informed?
How do we support children in foster care who have special education
needs?
How do we put children in care on track for completing high school and
entering post secondary or training opportunities?
How do we ensure that children in care who enter post secondary
education successfully complete their education
McKinney-Vento Homeless
Assistance Act
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Rights: Remain in school of origin, regardless of residency;
Transportation; Immediate enrollment, without typically
required documents; District liaisons and state coordinator
Eligibility: (Among others) children living in emergency
or transitional shelters; children abandoned in
hospitals; children “awaiting foster care placement”
Data and Information Sharing
Data and Information Sharing (continued)
Different types of data and information sharing are taking place to support
children in foster care:
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State level efforts to identify aggregate level data on the outcomes
for children in care
(California- Invisible Achievement Gap;
http://www.fostercareandeducation.org/DesktopModules/Bring2mind
/DMX/Download.aspx?portalid=0&EntryId=1954&Command=Core_
Download, Nebraska; Arkansas)
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Local level real time data sharing across agencies designed to be
tool to front line staff who work directly with children and youth. Also
separate data system that identifies living placement options in school
districts
(Cincinnati, Ohio; San Diego and Sacramento, CA)
Data and Information Sharing (continued 2)
Child/student specific data sharing models
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Real time access to records by caseworkers
Frequent data-exchange for case management and
reporting
System level sharing and accountability
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State Automated Child Welfare Information System
(SACWIS) education elements (Unique Education
Identifier)
State or local education agencies disaggregating
education outcome data for children in care
Statewide “report-card”
FERPA
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Protect privacy interests of students’ education
records.
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Prohibits schools from disclosing personally
identifiable information from students’ education
records without the written consent of a parent or
eligible student, unless an exception to general consent
rule applies.
20 U.S.C. § 1233g; 34 CFR Part 99
Family Educational Rights
and Privacy Act (FERPA)

Effective January 14, 2013, the Uninterrupted
Scholars Act (USA) includes two important
changes:
 USA
creates a new “child welfare exception”
 USA eliminates duplicative notice for the “court
order exception”
FERPA – new provisions

Information can be released without parental consent to:
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“an agency caseworker or other representative of a State or
local child welfare agency, or tribal organization… who has the
right to access a student's case plan

when such agency or organization is legally responsible, in
accordance with State or tribal law, for the care and protection of
the student
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provided that the education records, or the personally identifiable
information contained in such records, of the student will not be
disclosed … except to an individual or entity engaged in
addressing the student's education needs….
Education Agency Examples
Education Curriculum and Training
 Casey Family Programs: Endless Dreams
http://www.casey.org/resources/initiatives/EndlessDreams/
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Educator Screen and Toolkit
http://www.jlc.org/resources/publications/meetingeducational-needs-students-child-welfare-system
(Pennsylvania)
School-based liaisons
 McKinney-Vento
 State law created education liaisons (Texas, Colorado,
Missouri)
Education Agency Actions
Trauma-Informed Curricula
 Compassionate Schools Initiative
http://www.k12.wa.us/CompassionateSchools/
(Washington)
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Provides training, guidance, referral, and technical assistance
to help educators more effectively reach and teach
vulnerable students
Not a program, but a process to cultivate a culture and
climate that benefits all students.
Trauma Sensitive Schools
http://traumasensitiveschools.org/ (Massachusetts)
Contact
Kathleen McNaught
[email protected]
Administration of Title I, Part D Neglect and AtRisk Programs: Funding and Examples
Liann Seiter, NDTAC
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Administrative Aspects of Neglect and
At-Risk Programs
Neglect Programs
• Funding of neglect programs through Part D and Part A
• Which States use Part D funds for neglect programs?
• What are States doing with their Part D funds to serve
youth who are neglected?
At-Risk Programs
• Funding of at-risk programs through Part D
• Which States use Part D funds for at-risk programming?
• What are States doing with their Part D funds to serve
youth who are at risk?
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Neglect Programs
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Funding for Youth Who Are Neglected
Under Title I, Part A
Title I, Part A, Section 1113(c)(3)(B) requires a local
education agency (LEA) to reserve Part A funds to
provide services to children and youth in local neglect
institutions that are comparable to services provided in
Title I schools
• There is no set formula for calculating how much an LEA
must reserve
• The amount set aside must be sufficient to ensure
comparability to Title I services in the LEA’s community
Title I schools
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Title I, Part D vs. Part A Reservation for
Serving Youth who are Neglected
• Part D allows LEAs to serve children and youth
who are neglected with Part D funds, however it
does not require it
• Part A requires that LEAs serve children and
youth who are neglected
• The reservation requirement in Part A is a standalone requirement and cannot be fulfilled by
activities under Part D
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Supplemental Services and Comparable
Services
Part D
Part A
Funds may be used for Funds are used within a
a broader purpose than local neglect facility to
comparable services in
provide comparable
a State or local neglect
services
program
A state education agency (SEA) may allow a neglect facility to use
Part A funds to provide comparable services and Part D funds for
supplemental activities (such as transition services, delinquency and
dropout prevention, and peer mediation)
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States Using Part D Funds for Neglect Programs
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States Using Part D Funds for Neglect
Programs (cont.)
Number of States
Average Number of
Neglect Programs
Subpart 1 only
8
6
Subpart 2 only
17
32
Both Subparts
6
17
No Neglect Programs
21
n/a
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What are states doing with their Part D
funds to serve youth who are neglected?
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Summer school programming
Career and vocational training
Tutoring (offered through LEAs)
Supplemental reading and mathematics instruction
to assist youth who are academically behind
Academic technology programs
Educational behavioral support counseling
Transition coordinator/transition activities
Instructional support and materials
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At-Risk Programs
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Part D Funding of At-Risk Programs
• At-risk youth are not included in the annual count for
Subpart 2; States that use formula funding typically do
not serve at-risk youth with Part D funds
• Some States have provided funding to at-risk programs
by:
– Using a portion of funds generated by counts from
N & D programs for at-risk programming
– Allowing individual LEAs to choose to fund at-risk programs
– Using a “bump” in Part D funding at the SEA for at-risk
programming
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Considerations When Choosing to Fund
At-Risk Programs
• You may encounter potential pushback from facilities that
serve youth who are neglected or delinquent if their
funding is reduced
– There may be economic, social, and youth-specific justification
to use funds to reduce the incidence of delinquency/recidivism
– Programs that support youth who are at-risk may align with
State, Federal, or agency priorities
• The State may add metrics to the CSPR data collected
to better measure the success of at-risk programming at
the elementary and middle school levels
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States Using Part D Funds for At-Risk Programs
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What are states doing with their Part D
funds to serve youth who are at-risk?
• Placing educational advocates in schools who
provide counseling support, case management,
academic coaching, and referral to students who
are at risk of dropping out of school
• Placing Health Service Case Managers in
elementary and middle school who provide
services to youth who are at risk of dropping out
due to severe health conditions
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Breakouts
Breakout
Topic
I–A
Serving the Needs of Children and Youth in
Neglect Programs at the SA Level
I–B
Serving the Needs of Children and Youth in
Neglect and At-Risk Programs at the LEA
Level
I–C
Serving the Needs of Crossover Children
and Youth
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