A Few Facts

1
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
• repeat a grade
• score lower on standardized tests
• Have lower grade point averages and
• Earn fewer credits towards high school
  graduation.

2

• 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.

3

• 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.

4

• 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.

5

• 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 cant 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.

6

• Over 70 of CY cases are for general neglect
  which includes housing related issues or
  concerns.
• Children involved with CY 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.

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Awaiting Foster Care What does it mean?

• Awaiting foster care includes children who are
  living in
• Shelters
• Emergency care
• Interim care
• Respite foster care
• Evaluative or diagnostic centers or placements
  for the sole purpose of evaluation

8

• 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.

9

• 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

10

• Development of the Education Screen
• Completed in conjunction with Pennsylvania Child
  Welfare Training Program, Education Law Center,
  Juvenile Law Center, Pennsylvania Department of
  Education

11
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

12
Areas Addressed

• 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

13
Fostering Connections Actvs. 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 childs best interest. Transportation
  is more limited no liaisons, no clear mandate on
  Education HOWEVER, they have a duty to
  cooperate to ensure stability.

14
Educational Stability/School Travel Reimbursement

• Childs case plan must include provisions to
  assure educational stability while in foster
  care.
• Requires CY 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 childs home school as an allowable
  foster care maintenance cost.
• It is possible that this may be paid to a third
  party provider.

15

• Seek creative solutions to transportation needs.
• Work with CY and other agencies to develop a
  comprehensive program to ensure transportation.
• Seek Court orders from CY when necessary.

16
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?

17
Key Questions Continued

• How long is the childs current placement
  expected to last?
• What is the childs 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?

18
Next Steps

• Continue addressing educational needs for youth
  in foster care and also those involved with the
  CY system (in-home).
• Continue improving relationship/communication
  between schools and CY
• Finalization of the education screen
• Training to county children and youth education
  liaisons
• Use of Accurint for Family Finding

19

• 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.

20
Contact Information

• Grace Gross
• ggross_at_state.pa.us
• 717-705-2908
• Cindi Horshaw
• chorshaw_at_state.pa.us
• 717-783-7287