Transcript Document

Educational Issues of our
Foster Children
Presented by
Alma Alfaro
CPS Education
Specialist
Education Outcomes - Foster Care in Texas
Fact: Students in foster care lag behind the general student population in high school
completion. National studies show great disparity between graduation outcomes of
students in foster care in comparison to the general student population.
High School Graduation Program:
• Minimum 48.8% foster care vs. 17.3% general
population
• Recommended 49.3% foster care vs. 70.7% general
population
• Distinguished 1.9% foster care vs. 12.1% of general
population
(PEIMS 2011)
Foster Children Compared to the State Population
Graduates by Graduation Type
2010-11
Texas Foster Youth More Likely to be in Special
Education and Less Likely to be in Gifted &Talented
Students in foster care are almost 3 times more likely to receive special education
services compared to students in the general population (10%). (PEIMS 2010-2011)
In 2010, the Supreme Court of Texas issued an Order Establishing
“Children's Commission”
http://education.texaschildrenscommission.gov/resources/tools-2/cps.aspx
The Education Committee believed that school, court and Child Protective
Services (CPS) stakeholders needed a website dedicated to the educational
needs of students in foster care. This website is intended to be used by
teachers, school administrators, CASAs, attorneys and guardians ad litem,
school attorneys, courts, and any others who might support children and youth
in foster care.
School Stability
• Records may be lost or misplaced, causing youth
to lose credits and/or repeat classes. Records may
not transfer in a complete and timely manner.
• Youth may not be appropriately withdrawn from
school, resulting in lowering of youth’s grades.
• Youth may sit out of school for days/weeks at a
time, or are placed in inappropriate classes upon
transferring to a new school.
Casey Family Services, ‘Education Stability for Children & Youth in Foster Care’
For every school move - students in foster
care lose 4-6 months of emotional growth
& academic preparation.
(Advocates for Children of New York, Inc. 2000)
Texas Education Code Recognizes students in foster care:
 Immediate school enrollment - TEC 25.002
 Timely Records transfer - TEC 25.002(a-1)
 Students grades 9-12 are entitled to finish high
school where they were enrolled at the time of
placement - TEC 25.001 (g)
 Free eligibility for PRE-K - TEC 29.153
 Accelerated Instruction (At-risk indicators and
Compensatory Education) - TEC 29.081 (Code #11)
 TEA to assist the transition from one school to
another of students in foster care - TEC 25.007
Attendance Zones
TEC 25.001(g)
• Same district, different campus
– Grades 9-12, right to remain at same campus
– Grades 8 and lower, considered an
intradistrict transfer by local policy
• New district
– Grades 9-12, right to remain at same campus
– Grades 8 and lower, double check that child is
not still eligible to attend previous district
– If not, consider an interdistrict transfer
School District Foster Care Liaison:
81st Legislative Session – Texas Legislature passed
H.B. 826
“Each School District shall appoint at least one
employee to act as a liaison officer to facilitate
the enrollment in or transfer to a public school of
a child in the district who in the conservatorship of
the state. (TEC section 33:904)”
**The foster care liaisons were to be designated
by school districts by December 1, 2011**
http://www.tea.state.tx.us/index4.aspx?id=25769804968
Uninterrupted Scholars Act 2013
Amends FERPA by expanding the list of organizations to which an
educational agency or institution may release education records
without parental consent…
Now includes an agency caseworker or other representative of a
state or local child welfare agency or tribal organization authorized
to access a student’s case plan when such agencies or
organizations are legally responsible for the care and protection of
the student.
Tuition and Fee Waiver
 Have been in the conservatorship of DFPS the day before the
student's 18th birthday;
 Have been in the conservatorship of DFPS on or after the day of
the student's 14th birthday and the student was eligible for adoption
on or after that day;
 Have been in the conservatorship of DFPS on the day the student
graduated from high-school or received an equivalent of a highschool diploma;
 Have been in the conservatorship of DFPS on the day the student
was adopted and the adoption occurred on or after September 1,
2009;
 Have been in the conservatorship of DFPS on the day permanent
managing conservatorship (PMC) was granted to a non-parent and
the PMC occurred on or after September 1, 2009; OR
 Is currently in the conservatorship of DFPS and is enrolling in a
dual credit course or other course for which a high-school student
may earn joint high-school and college credit.
QUESTIONS??
[email protected]
(956) 369-4586