Interagency Communication and Collaboration in Nebraska: Meeting the Educational Needs of Youth in Out-of-Home Care Pat Frost State Title I, Part D, Coordinator Nebraska State Department of Education

Ad Hoc Committee on the Education of Students in Out of Home Placement Why the Need: Hawkins-Stafford Act & Improving America’s Education Act – connect Title I, student performance, accountability 1996: Multi-Agency Task Force, co-led by State Senator 2001: Ad Hoc Committee on the Education of Students in Out of Home Placement 2004: Legislation regarding students earning credits Commitment/legislation completed; Need to refocus the mission of Ad Hoc Committee – assign smaller specific work group projects

Collaboration: Who Is Involved Education Department Stakeholders – Special Education, Federal Title Programs, Accreditation, School Career Counseling Partnering Agencies – State Foster Care Review Board and Private Residential Facilities, etc. Established Committees – Special Education Advisory Committee, etc. Advisory Committees – Transition, etc. Practitioners – local teachers, principals

Collaboration Strategies Established vision, mission, and goals Gathered data through networking and surveys Enlisted other established agencies and foundations for Ad Hoc membership:  Ad Hoc Committee: 26 designees  Smaller workgroups focused on priority areas (e.g., transition, state assessments, data, school completion)

Collaborative Activities 2008: Conducted annual needs assessment for Committee priorities – identified a need for Nebraska “systems” toolkit, using information gained from:  Focus groups with stakeholders  Topical workgroups – adding a systems workgroup 2009: Supreme Court, HHS, ED, Juvenile Justice representatives attend Utah Collaborative Initiative Summit Combining the two:  Integrate toolkit with initiative  Ad Hoc Committee on the Education of Students in Out of Home Placements & Court Initiative Advisory  Develop timeline for collaborative planning and completion of initiative – partnering4students website

Barriers and Lessons Learned Use of blended funding: foundations, “in kind,” and ED grants Sustainability: Retirements & MOUs Prioritizing goals and objectives Reaching out to practitioners (e.g., Nebraska Educators of Students At Risk (NESTAR)) Continuous improvement: professional development and evaluation Dissemination of information

Works In Progress and Outcomes Online data/information sharing project State Transition Liaison (Pilot) – Special Education and Vocational Rehab funds “Training of Trainers” cadre for professional development, including cross-agency training modules Partnering conference on transition  Source of information for primary systems dealing with juveniles and education

For Additional Information Templates, bylaws, mission/vision statements, priority areas structure, practitioners samples, etc. Contact: Pat Frost State Title I, Part D, Coordinator (402)