1. Supporting Successful School Experiences for Students in Foster Care Through Collaboration
November 3, 2011

2. Supporting Successful School Experiences for Students in Foster Care Through Collaboration
Michelle Lustig, Ed.D, MSW
Coordinator, Foster Youth and Homeless Education Services
San Diego County Office of Education
San Diego County Office of Education

3. Learning Outcomes Increased awareness of
Policy in California relating to the education of children in foster care including:
Historical context
Statewide efforts
Legislative efforts
Local efforts in San Diego County that put policy into practice including:
Interagency collaboration
Interagency information/data sharing
Direct service provision

4. The Pathway of Cross System Collaboration
Required Understandings:
The need to be bi-lingual!
The language of Education
The language of Child Welfare
Areas of mutual concern:
Academic Achievement
School Attendance
Response to Discipline Concerns
Continuity of Special Education Services
Communication
Emotional/Behavioral Needs
Confidentiality

5. California: Foster Youth Services Programs
Pilots began in school districts
Education Code Sections (2000)
Provide support services to foster children who suffer the traumatic effects of displacement from family and schools and multiple placements in foster care.
Services are designed to improve the children's educational performance and personal achievement, directly benefiting them as well as providing long-range cost savings to the state.
California Department of Education
San Diego County Office of Education

6. The Role of Foster Youth Services Programs (FYS)
EC Requires that FYS Programs:
Work with the child welfare agency to minimize changes in school placement
Facilitating the prompt transfer of educational records
Provide education-related information to the child welfare agency to assist the child welfare agency to deliver services to foster children, including, but not limited to, educational status and progress information required for inclusion in court reports by Section of the Welfare and Institutions Code.
Respond to requests from the juvenile court for information and working with the court to ensure the delivery or coordination of necessary educational services
Facilitate communication between the foster care provider, the teacher, and any other school staff or education service providers for the child.
Share information with the foster care provider regarding available training programs that address education issues for children in foster care.
Refer caregivers of foster youth who have special education needs to special education programs and services.
San Diego County Office of Education

7. The Role of Foster Youth Services Programs (FYS) cont’d
Direct Service Provision
Tutoring
Mentoring
Educational Case Management
Transition Services
Emancipation Services
Facilitation of timely individualized education programs, in accordance with the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. Sec et seq.), and of all special education services.
Establishing collaborative relationships and local advisory groups.
Establishing a mechanism for the efficient and expeditious transfer of health and education records and the health and education passport.
San Diego County Office of Education

8. California Foster Youth Education Task Force
The California Foster Youth Education Task Force is dedicated to improving educational outcomes for foster youth in California by bringing together subject matter experts representing more than 35 organizations and agencies to engage in cross-systems collaboration. Membership is open to anyone interested in promoting improved educational opportunities and successes for California's foster youth.

9. FosterEd Connect http://fosteredconnect.org/
This interactive meta-website is for all stakeholders involved in improving the educational outcomes for children and youth in foster care. It is monitored by subject matter experts on the California Foster Youth Education Task Force.

10. Legislation Relating to the Education of Students in Foster Care
Provisions contained in California Education Code, Welfare & Institutions Code and The Rules of Court:
Equal Access to curricular and extracurricular
Best Interest Considerations
School stability/school of origin
Immediate enrollment (includes definition of enrollment)
School Selection-Least restrictive/best interest considerations
Educational Rights Holder/Education Surrogate
Timely transfer of records

11. Legislation Relating to the Education of Students in Foster Care cont’d
School District AB 490 Foster Youth Liaison
Disputes
Excused absences
Credit Protection/Partial credits
Course work protection
Higher Education Provisions including year round housing and priority class registration.
Rules of Court
Aligned with AB 490
Monitoring who holds Educational Rights and academic progress at every hearing

12. San Diego: An Overview:
History of:
Leadership from Juvenile Court
Collaboration
Cross system information sharing
Interagency Agreement/MOU
Foster Youth Student Information System (FY-SIS©)
School Success Project
The Tutor Connection Program

13. Leadership from Juvenile Court :
History of Presiding Judges who took the lead
Standing Court Orders
Chair of Foster Youth Services Advisory Committee
Creation of “I Can Go to College” Events

14. Collaborative History:
Collaboratives
Regional Collaboratives brings together:
School district and school site personnel
Child Welfare staff and administration
Foster Youth Services Advisory Committee
School District Foster Care and Homeless Liaison Meetings
College Connection
Brings together:
Local colleges and universities
County ILS staff
CBO ILS staff
Foundations
Community partners (EdFund, Cal Soap, Credit Unions, etc.)
Events
College Connection Days
Career Fair

15. Cross System Information Sharing:
Agreement across all child serving systems that information can and should be shared when legally allowable and in the best interest if the child:
Interagency Agreement (2006/2011)
50 signatories
Includes mandates as well as best practices and local policies
MOU
Juvenile Court
HHSA, CWS
Probation
SDCOE
Foster Youth Student Information System (FY-SIS©)
Web based secure database which houses the health and education information of children under the jurisdiction of Juvenile Court

16. School Success Project
Collaborative effort focused on increasing cross system knowledge and awareness while increasing the education and stability and outcomes for students in foster care.
Partners include:
Child Welfare and The San Diego County Office of Education, Foster Youth and Homeless Education Services.
Original funding from The Stuart Foundation, Qualcomm, Inc., Promises2Kids Foundation, and Casey Family Programs.
Foster Youth Liaison team provides services to youth, serves as an interpreter or broker between child-serving systems, and provides assistance with all aspects of referrals for services.
Effort has sustainability plan

17. School Success Project-cont’d
Outcome
2009 (1/09 start)
2010
2011
2012-thru 9/11
Total referred and served
675
1849
1895
348
Total # remained in same school for entire school year
273
343
N/A
% stayed in SOO –Best Interest during placement change
43%
34%
41%
59%
% changed to less restrictive setting
16%
28.5%
26.5%
54%
Special Education Assistance 67
260
282 56
Social Worker Knowledge
57%
72%
73%

18. The Tutor Connection Program
The Program:
Low cost/no cost program that leverages the expertise of partners to achieve shared outcomes.
Partners include:
San Diego County Office of Education, Foster Youth and Homeless Education Services,
California State University, San Marcos, College of Education and Office of Community Service Learning
San Diego County, Health and Human Services, Child Welfare Services.
Students in foster care receive tutoring that varies among subject specific, subject remediation and study skills/organizational methods.
The tutors are future teachers, enrolled in CSUSM’s College Of Education.
Tutors receive curriculum that covers the child welfare and foster care systems as well as the impact of child abuse, neglect and trauma on academic development.

19. The Tutor Connection Program cont’d
SDCOE oversees program administration and curriculum instruction, facilitates tutor/student match, and respond to issues about the child welfare and foster care system’s.
Child Welfare provides the majority of student referrals to and performs background checks on all tutors.
Achievement of the program’s dual goals is expected to produce a systemic change that will positively impact future generations of students in foster care. The dual goals are:
Insure that all students in foster care have the educational support they need to succeed in school
Educate future teachers on the unique needs of these vulnerable students so they are more empathetic prepared teachers.

20. The Tutor Connection Program (cont’d)
Impact:
Over 1850 future teachers have participated in the program
Over 2300 students in foster care have received tutoring services.
Academic outcomes include:
Students K-8: 98% improved in at least one subject area on Wide Range Achievement Test 4 (WRAT 4)
Students Grades 9-12: 79.5% improved their overall GPA. This % does not include students whose GPA’s remained unchanged.
The program has been recognized by the Jimmy and Rosalyn Carter Foundation Partnership Foundation as a certified community/university partnership and has received additional recognitions and awards locally, in California and Nationally, including a Golden Bell Award from the California School Boards Association.

21. Upper Darby School District
Supporting Successful School Experiences for Students In Foster Care through Collaboration
Upper Darby School District

22. Upper Darby School District Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) 2010 Performance

23. No Child Left Behind No Child Left Behind Act of 2001
All students must be Proficient or higher in mathematics and reading/language arts by 2014.
To ensure that districts/schools are on track to achieve this goal, states determine if districts/schools are making sufficient progress each year; i.e. Adequate Yearly Progress

24. AYP Targets Participation in the state math assessment
Participation in the state reading assessment
Performance on the state math assessment
Performance on the state reading assessment
Other academic indicators

25. Performance Targets Mathematics Reading 2002-2004 35% 2002-2004 45%% % % % % % %
Reading % % % % % % %

26. American Indian or Alaskan Native Asian or Pacific Islander
Subgroups (N≥40)
American Indian or Alaskan Native
Asian or Pacific Islander
Black/African American non-Hispanic
Latino/Hispanic
White non-Hispanic
Multi-Racial/Ethnic
IEP (Special Education)
ELL (English Language Learner)
Economically Disadvantaged

27. AYP Summary Building Attempted Subgroups Subgroups Made Made AYP
Aronimink 9
Yes
Bywood 25 24 No
Garrettford 21
Highland Park 26
Hillcrest 13
Kelly 17 15
Primos
Senkow
Stonehurst 20
Westbrook Park
Beverly Hills 33 32
Drexel Hill
High School 28
District 6
Total
269
259
96%

28. PSSA Math Proficiency – All Students
2010 Target = 56 %
2011 Target = 67 %

29. PSSA Reading Proficiency – All Students
2010 Target = 63 %
2011 Target = 72 %

30. How the Upper Darby School District helps students grow…
Strong research-based core curriculum/interventions
Strong dynamic leadership
Data driven decision making using multiple data points
Creative use of schedule and people
Fidelity to not only the interventions provided but the mission
detail/3351/

31. Bywood Elementary School : 18 Languages
Arabio
Urdu
Hindi
Fulah
Spanish
Tamil
Bengali
Vietnamese
French
Creole and pidgins
Lao
Punjabi
Chinese
Tigrinya
Khmer
Tagalog
Hmong
Mandingo
Of the 685 students at Bywood Elementary School, 212 have had some form of ELL services, 102 are current ELL students, 25 are 1st year out monitored students, 12 are 2 year out monitored students. Economically Disadvantaged 579 out of 685 are free/reduced lunch.
Arabio (Turkish)
Urdu (Pakistan)
Fulah (niger/congo)
Tamil (Indian Sub-cont)
Mandingo (Senegal/Sierra Leone)

32. Ethnicity Statistics

33. Bywood Elementary School
3/ /1960

34. Math Growth… All students: 79.6% Black students: 75.7%
Asian students: 91.9%
IEP students: 47.6%
ELL students: 78%
Economically Disadvantage students: 80.3%

35. Reading Growth… All students: 73% Black students: 70.2%
Asian students: 82.3%
IEP students: 28.6%
ELL students: 70.8%
Economically Disadvantaged students: 74.9%

37. Supporting Successful Experiences for Foster Care Students
Team collaboration within school and out of school
Members of the team include:
School Psychologists
Social Workers
Principals
Teachers
Counselors
Parents
Case Workers

38. Working Together Teams Can Determine
Academic and behavioral needs of students in foster care
Intervention programs
Services necessary to support students in and out of school
Assessments needed to determine eligibility for special education

39. Home School and Agency Communication
Favorable outcomes for students in foster care require constant communication
Updates on progress monitoring are essential
Changes in the environment at home should be communicated to the school
Extra curricular activities require the encouragement of both school and home

40. Case Studies
There are many students in foster care who have been successful and have achieved academically in the Upper Darby School District

42. Contact Information
Michelle, Lustig, Ed.D, MSW
Coordinator, Foster Youth and Homeless Education Services, San Diego County Office of Education
Dan McGarry
Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction, Upper Darby School District,
Brenda Kabler
Coordinator of Psychological Services, Upper Darby School District,
Debbie Staub
Early Learning & K-12 Education Advisor, Casey Family Programs