TEXAS EDUCATION AGENCY
FOSTER CARE & EDUCATION
ADDRESSING STUDENTS IN K-12
TEXAS REACH
6.04.13
Workshop Goals
Texas Education Agency - Introduction
 Education Impacts of Foster Care
 Data & Information
 Federal & State Law
 School District Foster Care Liaison(s)
 Linking with District Liaisons
 Resources

Texas Trio Project
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17-month federal demonstration grant, Child Welfare - Education System
Collaborations to Increase Educational Stability (CWED), from U.S Dept of Health and
Human Services, Administration for Children & Families
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1 of 10 states chosen to highlight collaboration and cross-systems work addressing the education
outcomes of children and youth in foster care.
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TEA hired Foster Care & Education Policy Coordinator to coordinate grant activities and develop
agency capacity
Build model collaboration - Facilitate improved coordination, communication,
and practice
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TEA; DFPS; Supreme Court Children’s Commission
Implement local pilot project
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Partnered with HISD and local DFPS to identify: enrollment & withdrawal, cross-system training,
additional barriers, and needs, etc.
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Worked in 3 pilot schools.
Supreme Court Children’s Commission:
Education Committee
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May 20, 2010 Supreme Court of Texas
signed order establishing Education
Committee of Permanent Judicial
Commission for Children, Youth and
Families.
Focused on improving educational
outcomes of foster children and youth.
Coordinated effort of numerous
agencies and systems involved with child
protection and education including -100
stakeholders.
Charged to look at challenges, identify
judicial practices and cross-disciplinary
training needs, improve collaboration,
and make recommendations regarding
education.
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Seek to improve collaboration,
communication & practice through
partnerships with DFPS, TEA, and
stakeholders in education and
child protection community.
Over 100 recommendations and
strategies identified related to:
School readiness, School Stability &
Transitions, School Experience,
Supports & Advocacy, Post
Secondary Education.
http://texaschildrenscommission.gov/PDF/TheTe
xasBlueprint.pdf
TO THE ADMINISTRATOR ADDRESSED (TAA)
Letters regarding students in foster care:
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Subject: Foster Care Awareness, May 17, 2013 available online:
http://www.tea.state.tx.us/index4.aspx?id=25769804968
Subject: Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting Requirements, March 6,
2013 available online:
http://www.tea.state.tx.us/index4.aspx?id=25769803997
Subject: Importance of Maintaining the Education Stability for Children
and Youth in the Foster Care System, August 22, 2012 available online:
http://www.tea.state.tx.us/index4.aspx?id=2147508587
Subject: Attendance, Admission, Enrollment, Records and Tuition, August
2, 2012 available online:
http://www.tea.state.tx.us/index4.aspx?id=2147508100
TEA Listserv sign-up: http://miller.tea.state.tx.us/list/
High Mobility - Foster Care impacts
education:
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Significant problems with transferring information and documentation
between educational and child welfare systems.
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.
By 6th grade, students who had changed schools 4 or more times lost about 1 year
of educational growth (Courtney et al, 2004).
Casey Family Services, ‘Education Stability for Children & Youth in Foster Care’
Additional Impacts on Education
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Stability (multiple school &
home placements)
Separation/Loss family
Trauma impacts learning
Special Education
Missed school days for
appointments
Stigmatization
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Socialization
Lower scores on
standardized tests
Loss of important
educational, social, cultural
connections.
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:
36,441 Texas children encounter the child
welfare system
16,000 school age children are in foster care
23.1% (highest percentage) of children in
care are 14-17.
1,410 young people exited from care in
2011.
On average each of these youth moved 8
times.
Casey Family Programs, Austin, TX Webinar HB 452, Feb 2012, DFPS 2011, Data Book.
Education Outcomes - Foster Care in Texas
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Fact: 40.7% of school leavers (reason for leaving school) for
students in foster care are coded as graduated, as compared to
70.7% of school leavers statewide for students not in foster care, in
grades 7-12. This is not a graduation rate. (PEIMS 2010-11)
Fact: 28.7% of school leavers (reason for leaving school) for
students in foster care are coded as dropped out, as compared to
8.4% of school leavers statewide for students not in foster care, in
grades 7-12. This is not a dropout rate. (PEIMS 2010-11)
Fact: Students in foster care are almost three times more likely
(24.5%) to receive special education services compared to students
in the general population (8.8%). (PEIMS 2011-12)
PEIMS: 2011
Leaver Status of Students Who Left
Texas Public Schools, Grades 7-12
2010-11
10
Counts of
Foster
Children
% of Foster
Children
Statewide
Counts
Statewide
%
Graduated
631
40.7
290,581
70.7
Dropped Out
445
28.7
34,389
8.4
149
9.6
36,356
8.8
86
5.5
20,876
5.1
157
10.1
702
0.2
88
5.3
28,236
6.9
Left for non-graduate, non-dropout
reasons:
School outside Texas
Homeschooling
Removed by Child
Protective Services
All other non-graduate,
non-dropout reasons
Note: The percentages on the first two rows are not graduation or dropout rates. These
numbers represent the number of students who graduated or dropped out during the year
divided by the total number of students who left during that school year.
Foster Children Compared to the State Population
Dropouts by Grade
2010-11
11
40
35
30
25
20
Foster Children %
Statewide %
15
10
5
0
Grade 7 Grade 8 Grade 9 Grade
10
Grade
11
Grade
12
Foster Children Compared to the State Population
Graduates by Graduation Program Type
2010-11
12
80
70
60
50
Foster Children %
Statewide %
40
30
20
10
0
Minimum
Recommended
Distinguished
Counts and Percentages of Foster Children
by Gender and Ethnicity: 2011-12
Counts of
Foster
Children
13
% of
Foster
Children
Statewide
Counts
Statewide
%
Female
11,554
48.1 2,432,216
48.7
Male
12,465
51.9 2,566,363
51.3
American Indian/
Alaskan Native
Asian
Black or African American
Hispanic/Latino
Native Hawaiian/
Other Pacific Islander
White
Two or more races
105
0.4
22,383
0.4
88
0.4
177,185
3.5
5,765
24.0
640,171
12.8
42.4 2,541,223
50.8
10,190
28
7,264
579
0.1
6,257
0.1
30.2 1,527,203
30.6
2.4
84,157
1.7
Counts and Percentages of Foster Children
by Program: 2011-12
14
Category
At Risk
Career and Technology
Economically Disadvantaged
Gifted and Talented
Immigrant
Limited English Proficient (LEP)
PK Military
Special Education
Counts of
Foster
Children
% of Foster
Children
Statewide
Counts
Statewide
%
16,307
67.9
2,267,995
45.4
2,540
10.6
1,072,893
21.5
21,669
90.2
3,013,442
60.3
225
0.9
381,744
7.6
20
0.1
71,754
1.4
1,480
6.2
838,418
16.8
18
0.1
6,033
0.1
5,884
24.5
440,744
8.8
Counts and Percentages of Special Education Foster
Children by Primary Disability: 2011-12
15
Counts of
Special
Education
Foster
Children
% of
Special
Education
Foster
Children
Statewide
Counts of
Special
Education
Children
Statewide
% of
Special
Education
Children
Emotional Disturbance
2,055
34.9
26,303
6.0
Learning Disability
1,152
19.6
172,560
39.2
Intellectual Disability
806
13.7
35,992
8.2
Other health impairment
748
12.7
56,426
12.8
Speech Impairment
598
10.2
89,646
20.3
Federal Law
Provisions for Students in
Foster Care
Fostering Connections to Success and
Increasing Adoptions Act, 2008

Emphasizes the importance of school stability, maintaining the
students school placement, importance of coordination between
child welfare and education agencies.

Assurance that the placement take into account
appropriateness of current education setting & proximity to
the school in which the child is enrolled at the time of
placement.

If not in the best interest – state & local education agency
provide immediate and appropriate enrollment in new
school with ALL of the education records of the child
provided to new school.
Amendment to Family Educational
Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)

Uninterrupted Scholars Act:
Permits educational agencies and institutions to disclose
education records of students in foster care to State and
county social service agencies or child welfare agencies.
The statute also amended the requirement that
educational agencies and institutions notify parents
before complying with judicial orders and subpoenas in
certain situations.
http://www2.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/fpco/hottopics/inde
x.html
State Law
Texas Education Code
Provisions for Students in
Foster Care
Texas Education Code Recognizes students in foster care:

Immediate school enrollment - TEC 25.002
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Timely Records transfer - TEC 25.002(a-1)
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Students grades 9-12 are entitled to finish high school
where they were enrolled at the time of placement - TEC
25.001 (g)
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Free eligibility for PRE-K - TEC 29.153
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Accelerated Instruction (At-risk indicators and
Compensatory Education) - TEC 29.081 (Code #11)
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School District Foster Care Liaisons - TEC 33.904
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Free College Tuition & Fee Waiver – TEC 54.366
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TEA to assist the transition from one school to another of
students in foster care - TEC 25.007
School District Foster Care Liaison:
“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 33.904)”
Tuition & Fee Waiver (TEC 54.366)
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Sec. 54.366. (a) A student is exempt from the
payment of tuition and fees authorized in this
chapter, including tuition and fees charged by an
institution of higher education for a dual credit
course or other course for which a high school
student may earn joint high school and college
credit.
Enrolls…..no later than the student's 25th birthday.
Transition Assistance for Students in Foster Care
TEC 25.007:

Encouraging school districts and open-enrollment
charter schools to provide services for a student in
foster care in transition when applying for admission
to post-secondary study and when seeking sources of
funding for postsecondary study;
Foster Care: Who Are the Players?
Family
Court/Judge
Attorney/Atto
ney Ad Litem
Caregiver
Student
DFPS: Social
Worker,
Education
Specialist,
PAL & others
Therapy/
Medical
Guardian Ad
Litem; CASA
Community
School
Transition to Adulthood
Family
Student
Community
DFPS: PAL,
After Care
LINKING WITH DISTRICT
LIAISONS TO SUPPORT
STUDENTS IN FOSTER CARE:
Bridging the Gap:
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Introduce yourself to district liaisons.
Host a collaborative forum with district liaisons and other
groups who support the education of students in foster
care. (ACC Luncheon)
Create opportunities and include students where the
tuition and fee waiver may be activated: summer bridge
programs, introductory courses, mini-terms, and other
opportunities.
Communicate with liaisons about campus events and
incorporate students.
Host a celebration for graduating high school students.
Include others involved in student’s life: judge, CASA,
caseworkers, caregiver, etc.
TEA and Liaisons: Building Capacity
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Identifying district liaisons and developing a contact list.
TEA Website: Foster Care & Student Success
http://www.tea.state.tx.us/FosterCareStudentSuccess/
Webinar Trainings (Foster Liaison 101, CPS/Court overview)
Foster Care Education Listserv http://miller.tea.state.tx.us/list/ sign-up to received updates.
Resource Guide – Coming Summer 2013!
Email: Fostercareliaison@tea.state.tx.us
Foster Care Education & Policy Coordinator,
fostercareliaison@tea.state.tx.us; kelly.kravitz@tea.state.tx.us;
512-463-9235
Coming Soon…
Resource Guide - Summer 2013!
Resource Guide Chapters:
Education & Students in Foster Care
2) Increasing Cross-System Awareness
3) Building Cross-System Partnerships
4) Understanding Foster Care
5) District Foster Care Liaisons
6) Identifying Students & Maintaining Confidentiality
7) Enrollment 101
8) School Stability & Promoting Effective Transfers
9) Education Decision Making & FERPA
10) Additional School Provisions
11) The School Experience – Providing Student Support
12) Special Education
13) Planning For Transitioning & Post Secondary Education
1)
Education Service
Center Regions
32
Welcome to Texas Supporting Success!
This new free online program has been
created exclusively for young people in
foster care. It has articles, quizzes,
information, tips and tools to help you
manage your life , prepare for
independent living, and plan for a happy
future.
Additional Resources:
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www.ownyourownfuture.com
www.texascollegeandcareer.org
www.texassupportingsuccess.org
www.texasgearup.com/byot/category/
Texas Youth Connection:
http://www.dfps.state.tx.us/txyouth/default.asp
“A Youth Guide to School and Success” – Treehouse
for Kids, Seattle, WA.
Thank you!
Kelly Kravitz, TEA
Kelly.kravitz@tea.state.tx.us
(512) 463-9235