F IF IF IF I
F
O
Issue
R
Y
O
U
R
I
N
F
O
R
04-19
M
A
T
Date:
I
O
N
06/04
EDUCATIONAL STABILITY
New Legal Requirements in 2004
Assembly Bill 490 made changes to the Education Code and to Welfare and Institutions Code that impose new duties and
rights related to the education of children in foster care. The key provisions of the legislation are as follows:

Establishes legislative intent that foster children be ensured access to the same opportunities to meet academic
achievement standards to which all students are held, maintain stable school placements, be placed in the least
restrictive educational placement and have access to the same academic resources, services and extracurricular
and enrichment activities as all other children.

Requires Local Educational Agencies (school districts) to designate a staff person as an Educational Liaison for
foster children to ensure appropriate school placement, transfer and enrollment of foster children.

Makes local school districts and county social workers jointly responsible for the timely transfer of students and their
records when a change of schools is in the child’s best interest.

Requires that a public school be considered as the first school placement option for foster children unless the child’s
IEP specifies a nonpublic school or the person holding the educational rights of the child determines it is in the child
best interests to attend a nonpublic school.

Provides that, upon a child is placed outside of his or her school or origin’s attendance area, or when resolution of a
school placement dispute is pending, the child, through his or her parent/guardian, may elect to continue to attend
the school of origin for the remainder of the school year.

Allows foster children to be immediately enrolled in school without school records, immunization records, school
uniforms, paying fees owed to the previous school, waiting for a new school track to begin etc. The immediate
enrollment of and provision of educational services to foster children is not to be impeded by anyone.

Requires school districts to calculate and accept credit for full or partial coursework satisfactorily completed by foster
children and earned while attending a public school, juvenile court school, nonpublic, or nonsectarian school.

Authorizes access to school records of foster children to DCFS without parental consent or a court order, for the
purpose of court ordered case management or to assist with the transfer or enrollment of a foster child in a new
school.
The DCFS 179, Parental Consent and Authorization For Medical Care and Release of Health and Education Records and;
DCFS 1399, Notification to School of Pupil’s Foster Care Status and Request for Transfer of Pupil and Appropriate Records
from the School-of-Origin to the New School have been revised to better facilitate school transitions of foster children. The
School FAX Cover Sheet has been developed to facilitate communication between DCFS and the School. These forms are
available on LA Kids.
The Educational Stability Reference Guide on the following three pages lists the specific AB 490 requirements and the
CSW’s corresponding responsibilities.
If you have any questions regarding this release please
e-mail your question to:
Policy@dcfs.co.la.ca.us
Clerical Handbook: http://198.51.213.151/Policy/Hndbook%20Clerical/Default.htm
Child Welfare Services Handbook: http://198.51.213.151/Policy/Hndbook%20CWS/default.htm
FYI’s: http://198.51.213.151/Policy/FYI/TOCFYI.htm
EDUCATIONAL STABILITY
REQUIREMENT
Reference Guide
CSW RESPONSIBILITY
EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL
PLACEMENT DECISIONS ARE TO
BE MADE IN THE BEST INTEREST
OF THE CHILD
Make placement decisions that include consideration of
maintaining the child in his or her school of origin.
EDUCATIONAL STABILITY
When selecting out-of-home placements, consider placing
with:
 Non-Custodial Parent
 Relatives, NREFM’s, Tribal Members
 Siblings
 Placement near the Parent’s home
 A home in the attendance area of or nearby, the schoolof-origin
COOPERATION BETWEEN
AGENCIES TO MAINTAIN
EDUCATIONAL STABILITY
Make every effort to arrange for the child to continue to
attend his/her school-of-origin. Work with the school and
care provider to ensure the following:

Any school transfer includes immediate enrollment in
the new school.

Any barriers to the child being given the opportunity to
meet the same state academic achievement standards,
placement in the least restrictive educational programs
and access to the same academic resources, services
and extracurricular and enrichment activities available
to all students, are addressed and removed.
PREFERENCE FOR PUBLIC
SCHOOL PLACEMENT
Ensure that children under the supervision of DCFS are
enrolled in a public school unless there is an IEP stating that
another educational placement is more appropriate or the
holder of the child’s educational rights feels it is in the best
interests of the child to be placed in a non-public school.
EDUCATIONAL LIAISON FOR
FOSTER CHILDREN
Contact the Educational Liaison for foster children for
assistance in appropriate school placement, transfer and
enrollment of foster children.
CONTINUATION IN SCHOOL-OFORIGIN
Discuss with the holder of the child’s educational rights and
the child whether or not it is in the “best interest” of the child
to remain in the school-of-origin. Inform them that (s)he has
the right to request the school district to provide
transportation between the placement and the school-oforigin.
Consider alternative transportation options to ensure school
stability such as the caregiver, a family member, bus pass,
etc.
2
EDUCATIONAL STABILITY
REQUIREMENT
Reference Guide
CSW RESPONSIBILITY
WAIVER OF RIGHT TO CONTINUE
IN SCHOOL OF ORIGIN
If the Educational Liaison for foster children recommends a
waiver of the child’s right to attend the school-of-origin,
obtain from the Educational Liaison for foster children a copy
of the written explanation stating the basis for the
recommendation and attach a copy to the next jurisdictional
court report. See FYI 04-10, What CSWs Need to Include
in Court Reports Regarding a Child’s Education.
SCHOOL TRANSFER FROM THE
SCHOOL OF ORIGIN
If the decision is made that the child is to transfer to a new
school, the school of origin must be notified immediately, in
writing, by DCFS. Utilizing the DCFS 1399 and the School
FAX Cover Sheet, notify the school-of-origin of the need to
transfer the child and request that the child and his/her
records be transferred to the new school. A written
explanation stating the basis for the decision to change
schools must be documented in CWS/CMS, the Case Plan
and the next Jurisdictional Court Report. See FYI 04-10,
What CSWs Need to Include in Court Reports Regarding
a Child’s Education.
IMMEDIATE ENROLLMENT
Work with the school and care provider to ensure that when
a child transfers to a new school (s)he is immediately
enrolled in the new school.
ACCESS TO STUDENT RECORDS
Contact the school and request the needed
records/information. If necessary, submit the request to the
school and attach either a signed (signature of the holder of
educational rights) copy of the DCFS 179 Section B or a
redacted Minute Order ordering the release of the
information to DCFS.
NOTE: A student’s school records and other academic
information are confidential and DCFS may not
share this information with any person or agency not
authorized by law to have access to such
information.
FOSTER CAREGIVER AUTHORITY
TO CONSENT TO IEP AND
RELATED SERVICES
Foster parents may sign for the child’s IEP only when the
court has limited the educational decision making rights of
the parents and either the child has been placed in a
planned permanent living arrangement or the foster parent
has been designated by the court as the “responsible adult.”
See FYI 02-47, Appointment of Foster Parents to Make
Educational Decisions.
3
EDUCATIONAL STABILITY
REQUIREMENT
FOSTER CHILDREN IN
EMERGENCY SHELTERS
Reference Guide
CSW RESPONSIBILITY
At this time (06/04), DCFS does not utilize Emergency
Shelters, however, this information is included here in the
event that DCFS should begin utilizing Emergency Shelters
at a future date.
Foster children living in emergency shelters, may receive
educational services at the emergency shelter as necessary
for short periods of time for either of the following reasons:

For health and safety emergencies, or

To provide temporary, special, and supplementary
services to meet the child's unique needs if a decision
regarding whether it is in the child's best interest to
attend the school of origin cannot be made promptly, it is
not practical to transport the child to the school of origin,
and the child would otherwise not receive educational
services.
The educational services may be provided at the shelter
pending a determination by the person holding the child’s
educational rights regarding the educational placement of
the child.
CALCULATION OF SCHOOL
CREDITS
Verify with the new school that all transferred credits have
been accepted.
Ensure that full and partial coursework credits have been
applied to calculations for graduation.
DIPLOMAS
Advocate for the youth’s high school graduation.
NO LOWERING OF GRADES
BASED ON PLACEMENT OR
COURT-RELATED ABSENCES
Inform the school of:
 Placement changes
And upon request share:
 Court appearance dates
 Court ordered activities
Review attendance and grade records to ensure the child
was not penalized.
LIFE QUALITY ASSESSMENT FOR
REGIONAL CENTER CLIENTS
If appropriate consent to and request a copy of the Life
Quality Assessment provided by the Regional Center.
Attach a copy to the next Jurisdictional Court Report.
DCFS 179 - Parental Consent and Authorization for Medical Care
DCFS 1399 - Notification to school of pupil's Foster Care Status and request for transfer of pupil and appropriate records
from the school-of-origin to the new school
4