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Supporting Students in Foster Care

There are approximately 270,000 school-aged children in the foster care system, representing some of the most vulnerable students in our schools today. Many of these children have histories of trauma, abuse and neglect, and loss and require an additional level of support to develop resiliency. Simply being in foster care can create disruptions and barriers, influencing their personal and social development—all of which affect a student’s ability to be successful in school. With the proper resources, schools can serve as stable and safe environments where foster care children can gain their footing and thrive.

Timely Information

The Foster Care Exchange 

Title I, Part A of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, as amended by the Every Student Succeeds Act of 2015, now requires each state educational agency to identify a foster care point of contact (POC), who is responsible for overseeing the educational stability of students in foster care. The Foster Care Exchange provides the opportunity for POCs to share questions and knowledge in chats or topical discussion threads, host conference calls, store files, and share resources. 

To join the Foster Care Exchange contact cendres@serve.org or FosterCare@ed.gov. To sign in, visit the Foster Care Exchange. 

Federal Resources

Non-Regulatory Guidance: Ensuring Educational Stability for Children in Foster Care

Joint non-regulatory guidance provides background information, FAQs, examples from the field, and a sample point of contact notification letter. (June 23, 2016)

Access the Guidance

Dear Colleague Letter on Implementation of Educational Stability Requirements

This letter responds to changes made to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) and describes collaboration requirements for state and local educational agencies and child welfare agencies. (December 5, 2016)

Access the Guidance

Dear Colleague Letter on Foster Care Guidance and Timelines

A joint letter from ED and HHS shares the provisions in Title I of the ESEA that promote educational stability for children in foster care. (June 23, 2016)

Access the Guidance

Access the Timelines

Getting Oriented to Supporting Students in Foster Care

Foster care is defined as 24-hour substitute care for children placed away from their parents or guardians and for whom the title IV-E agency has placement and care responsibility. While in foster care, children may be placed in a variety of environments, including:

  • Foster family homes
  • Foster homes of relatives
  • Group homes
  • Emergency shelters
  • Residential facilities
  • Child-care institutions
  • Pre-adoptive homes

*Adapted from the Non-Regulatory Guidance: Ensuring Educational Stability for Children in Foster Care from the U.S. Department of Education and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Guidance on the Foster Care Provisions in Title I, Part A of ESSA. Foster Care, 45 C.F.R. § 1355.20

The resources curated throughout this collection offer state and local points of contacts with guidance as well as other resources to ensure that students placed in foster care can access and experience success in school.

External Resources

Foster Care Blog Series

A four part blog series 

CCNetwork Resources

How to Help Our Children in Foster Care Create, Navigate, and Maintain Relationships

By Tanya Collins and Nanmathi Manian
 

Every student has unique learning needs, experiences, and reactions to these experiences. Balancing these individual needs can be challenging. Being aware of our students’ history and sensitive to any trauma they may have experienced can be a first step in the right direction to influencing a student’s ability to be successful in school.

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The Power of Being Understood for Children and Youth in Foster Care

By Tanya Collins and Nanmathi Manian

 

I didn’t want to sit alone at lunch, so I would go to the library or lie down in the nurse’s office. It’s hard having to adjust and be uncomfortable at school and then going back to a home where I was uncomfortable too. -  A quote from a student in the foster care system

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Collaborating with Child Welfare, Schools, And Parents

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Implementing The Educational Stability

Children and youth in foster care are more likely to have been exposed to trauma, experienced
abuse or neglect, changed schools, and moved from one home to another while having less
access to timely interventions than their non-child-welfare peers. As a result of these life
experiences and challenges to the systems, students in foster care are more likely to have
difficulty in school than other children and youth. For example, children and youth in foster care
are:

  • More likely to move during the school year
  • More likely to repeat a grade
  • More likely experience educational difficulties (suspension/expulsion, segregation from
  • peers, relational issues, etc.) 
  • More likely to be identified in need of special education services
  • More likely to drop out of high school 
  • Less likely to attain a four-year, post-secondary degree

Did You Know?

The Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) requires states to gather data on the academic achievement and graduation rates of students placed in foster care. States submit this information to EDFacts, a U.S. Department of Education initiative, to collect, analyze, and promote the use of high-quality data. Learn more about EDFacts and the data it collects.

The ESEA also requires states to provide information about students in foster care as a part of their state report cards. As a result, information about academic achievement, graduation rates, and other state-adopted academic indicators can be found on state educational websites in easily understandable formats.

External Resources

Engaging in Data-Informed Decisionmaking

The Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) requires states to gather data on the academic achievement and graduation rates of students placed in foster care. States submit this information to EDFacts, a U.S. Department of Education initiative to collect, analyze, and promote the use of high-quality data. Learn more about EDFacts and the data it collects.

The ESEA also requires states to provide information about students in foster care as a part of their state report cards. As a result, information about academic achievement, graduation rates, and other state-adopted academic indicators can be found on state educational websites in easily understandable formats.

External Resources

Creating A Safe School Environment

There is national recognition that children and youth in foster care face a disproportionate risk of receiving disciplinary actions—including more frequent suspensions and expulsions—than their non-foster care peers. These disciplinary actions can often have far more significant consequences than intended that adversely affect their academic achievement, such as increased engagement with the juvenile or criminal justice system and greater risk of high school dropout.

Creating a safe and welcoming environment can be an essential part of creating a positive school climate that can serve as a protective factor for students experiencing adversity. A positive school climate has been shown to decrease rates of disruptive behaviors, truancy, fights, and suspensions at school (Hopson & Lee, 2011) and may make it easier to develop healthy relationships, which can help close the achievement gaps between students in foster care and their peers (Clemens et al., 2017).

The resources below offer educators tools and strategies for creating a positive school climate.

External Resources

Providing Special Education Services When Needed

Students in foster care can sometimes have behavioral issues or special learning needs that may make their success in school more challenging. Due to frequent moves and life instability, many children and youth in foster care, who might benefit from special education supports, slip through the cracks and never receive the assessments and services they need.    

Stronger collaboration between the education and child welfare systems can help ensure children and youth in foster care have greater school continuity, appropriate special education assessments and assignments, educational achievement, and academic success.  

Did You Know?

The frequent school changes experienced by students in foster care can hinder their academic achievement. National data indicate, on average, foster youth undergo three placement changes while in out-of-home care, losing 4–6 months of academic progress with each move.  

External Resources

Transitioning To Independence (Aging Out)

Approximately 20,000+ children age out or are emancipated from foster care annually. The definition of emancipation varies state by state based on whether or not they offer extended foster care and through what age. Generally, emancipation means these youth reached a state’s legal age of adulthood, usually 18, without having been reunited with their biological families or placed in new permanent families. Extended foster care is offered in many states with most jurisdictions capping benefits at age 21.


Youth who age out of foster care are more likely to engage in risky behaviors and are more likely to experience hardships. It is critical to help youth transitioning out of foster care to achieve self-sufficiency. 

Did You Know?

CalYOUTH study surveyed 622 youths who had aged out of foster care for at least two years.

  • 48.6% reported experiencing at least one economic hardship
  • 31.1% reported not having enough money to buy clothes
  • 26.9% reported having their cell phone or internet services disconnected
  • 26.2% reported not having enough money to pay rent



Source: Courtney, M. E., Okpych, N. J., & Park, S. (2021). Report from CalYOUTH: Findings on the relationship between extended foster care and youth’s outcomes at age 23. Chicago, IL: Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago.
 

External Resources