1. School Stability and Transportation Coordination for Children in Out of Home Placement
Philadelphia Department of Human Services and School District of Philadelphia
Liza M. Rodriguez, Ph.D., Consultant
Research, Education, and Social Innovations
Bridging Vision, Strategies, and Practice

2. School Stability and Transportation Coordination
Presentation Outline
Background for School Stability & Transportation Coordination in Philadelphia
Framework: Child Welfare and School District Collaboration
Mayor’s Cross-Systems Leadership Initiative
Data Sharing Memorandum of Understanding
School Stability and Transportation Coordination Protocol
Preliminary Year 1 data
Lessons Learned

3. Child welfare and school district collaboration in Philadelphia
Background: School Stability and Transportation Coordination in Philadelphia
Child welfare and school district collaboration in Philadelphia
Mayor Michael Nutter’s alignment of City services with school district
Mayoral convening of key city departments and School District of Philadelphia
Cross-systems work group
Data-sharing Memorandum of Understanding between child welfare and school district
School Stability Transportation Protocol for Children in Out of Home Placement

4. Framework: Child Welfare and School District Collaboration
Year 1, A
Mayor’s Office of Education convenes systems
Year 1, B
Child Welfare and School District establish regular learning & planning meetings
Year 2, A
Data sharing buy-in and MOU development
Year 3
School Stability Coordination Protocol (Transportation)

5. Demographic information All schools attended Attendance
Framework: Child Welfare & School District Collaboration MOU = Information Sharing
School District
Child welfare
Name, Date of Birth, Case Number
Name and contact information for DHS worker, supervisor, administrator
Provider agency and contact information
Placement zip code, date and discharge date
Type of placement
Final status of investigation if School is reporter
Court dates
Status of parents’ education rights
Name, Address
Demographic information
All schools attended
Attendance
Disciplinary/behavioral record
Grades for all subjects
High school credits
Special education status and records (IEP)
Standardized test scores

6. Framework: Child Welfare & School District Collaboration Transportation Coordination Protocol
Busing/transpass requested through counselor if outside of 1.5 mile radius
Remains in current school
Attendance and progress monitored
TRACK 1
Child is placed 1st time or changes placement
SCHOOL
DHS Education Support Center & District assistance
STABILITY
TRACK 2
Attendance and progress monitored
Cannot remain in school due to safety or other critical factors listed in Policy
Provider obtains transfer packet from original school
Immediately enrolled in new school

7. Child Welfare and School District Collaboration Preliminary Year 1 Data
DHS tracks data on individual consultations to identify common barriers, length of time in resolving barriers, and barrier resolutions
More than 1024 individual consultations by DHS Education Liaisons as of May 2011
Of the 1024 consultations, 916 unduplicated youth have been served.
Top three identified educational barriers in consultations:
School Stability (31%)
Unexcused Absences (22%)
Transportation (12%)

8. Appropriate Education Setting Identified 22%
Child Welfare and School District Collaboration Preliminary Year 1 Data
Resolutions
97% of Education Barriers addressed by the
Education Support Center are resolved.
Appropriate Education Setting Identified 22%
Stayed in School of Origin 14%
Transportation Provided 9%
Resource Information Provided, 11%
Other (foster home changed, home environment issues addressed, etc.) 13%

9. Child Welfare & School District Transportation Coordination Lessons Learned
School stability ensured for approximately 200 children in first year of full implementation
Both child welfare and schools welcomed a single point of contact to resolve school stability issues for children in placement.
Communication and cross-training between systems is critical – on a regular basis
Both systems understood how to take unresolved system barriers “up the chain of command”

10. Child Welfare & School District School Stability Collaboration Lessons Learned
Systems continue to make internal reforms and changes - Collaboration structure needs to adapt to change to sustain itself over time

11. Questions, Comments

12. Contact Information
Liza M. Rodriguez, Ph.D.
Consultant
Research, Education, and Social Innovations
Bridging Vision, Strategies, and Practice