1. From Foster Care to College
College Access Affinity Group
May 8th, 2014
11- noon

2. Who is in the Foster Care System?
2014 National Working Group on Foster Care and Education
60% will return home
50% stay in care for less than a year^
^ U.S. Department of Health and Human Services AFCARS report
UPDATE CHART ON THIS PAGE FROM MOST RECENT NATIONAL DATASHEET
The majority of children and youth in foster care are school age
The percentage of child victims of a particular race/ethnicity varied among States.
There are many States in which the percentage of minority race/ethnicity child victims was disproportionate to the percentage of these children in the State population.
Overrepresentation is found for African American, Alaska Native/American Indian, and Hispanic children and youth. 2

3. Research Shows Poor Outcomes
2x more likely to be absent from school
17-18 year olds 2x more likely to have out-of-school suspension, 3x more likely to be expelled
Average reading level of year olds in foster care = 7th grade
Likelihood of foster youth receiving special education x that of others
50 % complete high school by 18
2-9 % attain a bachelor’s degree

4. The Invisible Achievement Gap: 2013 Center for the Future of Teaching and Learning – WestEd
Percentage proficient or above for CST mathematics results for students in foster care, other at risk subgroups, and all students, grades 2-7, 2009/10

5. The Invisible Achievement Gap, Continued
Grade 12 graduation rate for students in foster care, other a- risk subgroups, and all students, 2009/10

6. Barriers to Educational Achievement for Children in Care
Lack of placement stability
Delayed enrollment
Children with special education needs do not access/receive services
Over-representation in alternative education
Confusion about legal rights

7. Blueprint for Change: Education Success for Children in Foster Care
Goals for Youth
Goal 1: Remain in the Same School
Goal 2: Seamless Transitions Between Schools
Goal 3: Young Children Are Ready to Learn
Goal 4: Equal Access to the School Experience
Goal 5: School Dropout, Truancy, and Disciplinary Actions Addressed
Goal 6: Involving and Empowering Youth
Goal 7: Supportive Adults as Advocates and Decision makers
Goal 8: Obtaining Postsecondary Education

8. Federal Legislation FEDERAL CHILD WELFARE LAW FEDERAL EDUCATION LAW
Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act
FEDERAL EDUCATION LAW
Uninterrupted Scholars Act
(FERPA Amendment)

9. Fostering Connections Act
Every child’s case plan must include “assurances that the placement of the child in foster care takes into account the appropriateness of the current educational setting and the proximity to the school in which the child is enrolled at the time of placement.”
Child welfare agency must coordinate with school to ensure child remains in the same school unless not in the child’s best interest.
Child welfare agency may use federal funds to provide reasonable travel for children to remain in their school of origin.
At first bullet, need to discuss how the “assurance” must be backed up with action: that we did consider these issues and make every effort to place the child in the same school district and school attendance zone as the prior placement.
At second bullet, must discuss the deliberateness of this decision – support discussion with CLS in all removal staffings, beginning with removal into shelter care.
At third bullet, need to stress that there are no additional funds to the CBCs. Rather, this is permission to use state contract dollars for this purpose. CBCs may want to consider fund-raising and grant writing to support these transportation costs.

10. Uninterrupted Scholars Act (U.S.A.) FERPA – New Provisions
Information can be released without parental consent to:
“an agency caseworker or other representative of a State or local child welfare agency, or tribal organization… who has the right to access a student's case plan
when such agency or organization is legally responsible, in accordance with State or tribal law, for the care and protection of the student
provided that the education records, or the personally identifiable information contained in such records, of the student will not be disclosed … except to an individual or entity engaged in addressing the student's education needs….
Also removes duplicative notice provision when the parent is a party to a dependency court proceeding

11. Education Agency Examples
Education Curriculum and Training
Casey Family Programs: Endless Dreams
Educator Screen and Toolkit (Pennsylvania)
School-based liaisons
McKinney-Vento
State law created education liaisons (Texas, Colorado, Missouri)
Trauma-Informed Practices
Compassionate Schools Initiative (Washington)
Provides training, guidance, referral, and technical assistance. Not a program, but a process to cultivate a climate that benefits all students.
Trauma Sensitive Schools (Massachusetts)

12. Interagency Collaboration
Cincinnati, Ohio (Kids in School Rule!)
School-based liaisons
Interagency team
Court oversight
Data collection and information-sharing
Texas
State-level, court-led collaborative
Changed legislation and policy

13. For every 100 youth in foster care who enter high school…..
Maybe 50 will graduate from high school…..
For these graduates, only about 7 will be ‘college ready’…..
may enroll in a higher education or career training program…..
Maybe 7 will earn an AA degree/certificate & 2 a bachelor’s degree…..
If foster youth completed high school and attended postsecondary education at the same rate as their peers, nearly 100,000 additional foster youth in the 18 to 25-year-old age group would be attending higher education.
Wolanin, T. R. (2005). Higher education opportunities for foster youth: A primer for policymakers. The Institute for Higher Education Policy (IHEP), December.
General Population Students in Foster Care
High school graduation 70% <50%
College ready/prep 30% /15% ???
College going from h.s. 65% %-15%
cc vs. 4-year college 40%/38% %/30%
College completion rate 56% ???
U.S. adults w/ bachelor’s
degree or above 28% 2% Bachelor & 7% w/ AA/certificate

14. Common Barriers to College Access and Success
K-12 Success
Lack of educational and career advocacy
Absenteeism/enrollment interruptions - instability
Few engaged in college prep courses or programs (TRIO, GEAR UP, AVID, other)
Records transfer and confidentiality issues
Long terms educational impacts of abuse and neglect
Higher Education Success
On their own (‘Independent’) at a young age - survival mode dominates
Few college programs are aware of their support needs
Lack of role models, college advocates, mentors/coaches
Health related needs unmet
Lack of good college/program fit
Rainer Scholars and National Advising College Corps (Seattle Times 4/13/14)
Upward Bound increased postsecondary enrollment or completion rates for some subgroups of students. For the subgroup of students with lower educational expectations at baseline—that is, the students who did not expect to complete a bachelor’s degree—Upward Bound increased the rate of postsecondary enrollment by 6 percentage points and postsecondary completion by 12 percentage points.
GA TRIO = Tri State conference
DATE: April 6-9, 2014
LOCATION: Atlanta
Airport Sheraton Gateway
GASPP President
William Troy Curry
Tel: (404) Fax: (404) ​
Atlanta Metropolitan State College
1630 Metropolitan Parkway SW
Atlanta, GA 30310
NCAN National Program Directory (
45 program(s) have been found that match your criteria. Original Search Criteria: State: GA

15. Federal and State Postsecondary Policy Advances
Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA)
College Cost Reductions Act
Chafee Foster Care Independence Act/ETV
Extended Medicaid coverage - ACA
Carl D. Perkins Career And Technical Education Act
State:
College tuition waivers (21 states)
Passport to College (WA)
CA AB 194 – priority college registration
CA AB 12 & SB Housing Placement Program (THPP)
Special Populations as Defined by the Perkins Act
In this webcast, we will give you more information about Special Populations as they are defined
in the Perkins Act. As we know, the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education
Improvement Act which was reauthorized in 2006 has continued and strengthened its
commitment to preparing women and men for occupations that are non-traditional and to
ensuring access to CTE programs for Special Populations who face unique challenges as well as
to prepare all students for careers that lead to self-sufficiency. Now through this webcast we
hope to help you, the CTE teachers reach these goals by increasing your knowledge regarding
the Perkins defined Special Populations. In the current text of the Act, six groups have been
identified as Special Populations. These include:
1. Individuals with disabilities: These are those individuals who meet the disability
eligibility criteria under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and the Individuals
with Disabilities Education Act of For a detailed account of this group, please
access our Disability Awareness module on our website.
2. The second group is the individuals from economically disadvantaged families including
foster children. Any individual or member of a family who receives need based financial
assistance, or whose income is at or below the poverty level as defined by the U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services is considered an individual who is from an
economically disadvantaged background. Foster children are children that are in the legal
guardianship or custody of a state, county, or a private adoption or foster care agency, yet
are cared for by foster parents under a short-term or a long-term foster care arrangement
with the custodial agency. 3.
AB 12 (CA)
AB 12 allows California to take advantage of several components of the federal Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008 (P.L. 110‐351) to:
Convert California's kinship guardian assistance program (Kin‐GAP) into a federally subsided program. By doing so, the federal government will now pay a 50% share of cost for federally‐eligible participants, saving the state tens of millions of dollars of state general funds (GF); and
Extend foster care for eligible youth beyond age 18 and, at full implementation, up until the age of 21; and
Provide extended Kin‐GAP assistance or Adoption Assistance Program (AAP) assistance to eligible youth up until age 21, provided the youth has a mental or physical handicap that warrants continuation of assistance OR entered guardianship or adoption at age 16 or later per federal law; and
THP‐Plus Foster Care is a new foster care placement, modeled after the existing THP‐Plus program. It is one of seven placements available for youth ages 18 to 21 who elect to participate in extended foster care. Additional information about the specifics of this placement option is provided throughout this document.
THP‐Plus Foster Care;
Home of a relative or NREFM (approved);
Foster family home (licensed);
Foster Family Agency certified home (licensed);
Home of a non‐related legal guardian (approved by the juvenile court);2
Group home (licensed), subject to new limitations discussed further below;
Supervised Independent Living setting (approved).
Kansas Tuition Waiver in 2006

16. State Postsecondary Education Initiatives (CA, WA, MI, OH, TX, GA, VA & NC)
Increasing awareness of the opportunities available in postsecondary education programs and raising awareness of the unique circumstances of youth from foster care in relation to higher educational opportunities
Establishing effective collaboration between higher education, child welfare, and community agencies
Learning about practice and policy exemplars that are impacting improved college access and success for students from foster care
Introduction to a comprehensive framework for supporting college students from foster care - Supporting Success: Improving Higher Education Outcomes for Students from Foster Care
 Identification of action plan to promote statewide support college approaches

17. The Fostering Success Michigan Initiative…
…Is building a statewide collective-impact strategy that strives to prepare young people in foster care between the ages of 12 to 25 across the state of Michigan. Fostering Success Michigan will increase awareness, access and success in higher education and post-college careers for youth and alumni of foster care.
Goals:
To increase the number of students from foster care who obtain high-quality degrees and credentials to 60% by the year 2025
To increase the successful career transitions among Michigan's youth and alumni of care by building a network to support college campuses and local community organizations to aid youth in foster care.
To increase the knowledge and skills of network members so that they may optimally respond to the needs of youth and alumni of foster care
The ultimate goal of this initiative is to increase college-going rates and successful career transitions among Michigan's youth and alumni of care by building a network to support college campuses and local community organizations to aid youth in foster care. Using a Collective Impact Framework, we will increase knowledge and skills of network members so that they may optimally respond to the needs of youth and alumni of foster care ages 12 to 25 in ways that not only promote access and success in post-secondary education, but also in transitioning successfully to the career of their choice.

18. The Education Reach for Texans Initiative…
Education Reach for Texans seeks to eliminate barriers to success and build support programs for alumni of care attending public colleges and universities in the state of Texas. Historically, our main means for achieving this goal has been to hold state-wide convenings of postsecondary and child welfare professionals in order to facilitate sharing of ideas and spurring the implementation of campus-based support programs. While the convenings remain our core focus, we continue to expand our communication efforts in sharing both resources and information statewide.
5th Annual Education Reach for Texans Convening May 30, 2014, Austin Community Colleges
Campus Connections: Securing Campus Housing & Other Supports for Youth Who Were in Foster Care

19. Foster Care and Postsecondary Education Policy, Practice and Collaboration Scan
5/5/14
State Higher Education/Child Welfare Collaborations (8)
Potential for systems collaboration (5)
Some college based support program(s) (11) SC MA VT NH MD NJ NY \ ME CT GA FL KS TN NC OH WV WI LA ND VA
State Tuition Waiver Legislation (23) RI
Foster Care to Success ETV Administered States
AL, AZ, CO, MA, MD, NC, NY, OH (8) NM
Passport to College Promise (WA)
Unknown (26) NV AZ MT WA
Statewide Gear Up Program (KS) WA MT MN OR ID SD WY MI IA PA NE IN IL NV UT DE MO CA CO KY DC OK AR AZ MS AL AK TX
Top 10 states for youth in FC
CA, TX, MI, FL, OH,
IL, IN, NY, PA, AZ
CA, TX, OH, WA, MI, GA, AL = 34% of all FCY in USA HI
Sincerely, Becca Seul

20. “What kept me on track was not my intelligence, but my ability to connect with people on my journey from foster care to successful college student. Essentially, I overcame my educational and trust issues as I found people who were willing to support me and invest in my vision to be an asset to society. Ultimately, in many different ways I was able to find success in higher education because of my quest to become successful and my support system. They have helped me so much reach towards a better life.”
William – recent college graduate from foster care

21. The role of College Access Providers
Improving Education Outcomes for Students in Foster Care
The role of College Access Providers

22. Misconceptions about Students in Foster Care
Kids are in foster care because they done something “bad” or committed a crime.
Children in foster care are like orphans
Children in foster care act “bad” because they don’t have parents to discipline them
Birth parents don’t want their children
Foster children are often not grateful, or glad to have caring foster parents, no matter how good their foster parents are.

23. Common Barriers Frequent changing of foster or residential homes
Lack of basic clothing and supplies
Impacts of abuse, neglect, and trauma
Educational gaps

24. Model Support Approaches
Kansas GEAR UP (KKGU) – a U.S. Department of Education federally funded grant hosted by Wichita State University.
Student Identification
College Access Plan
College and career exploration
KKGU scholarship program

25. Outcomes
GOOD:
Student high school and GED completion rates have increased
A larger number of students in foster care are enrolling in college
The number of students believing they cannot afford to attend college has decreased (as shown by our pre/post surveys)
BAD:
The number of students placed in foster care has increased
Students are moved more frequently (one student – up to 15 times in one year)
The necessity for therapy and life skill training for children in foster care continues as the population of children in foster care increases.

27. Perspectives from the field
Student stories

28. PK-12 Education Resources
A national technical assistance resource and information clearinghouse on legal and policy matters affecting the education of children and youth in foster care.

29. Postsecondary Education Resources
Foster Care and Student Success: Texas Systems Working Together to Transform Education Outcomes of Students in Foster Care (2013). Texas Education Agency and the Supreme Court of Texas, Permanent Judicial Commission for Children, Youth and Families (Children’s Commission), October
Foster Youth Campus Support Programs: A Leadership Guide (2013). California College Pathways, June.
Foster Youth: Supporting Educational Success – Trainers Guide (2014), California College Pathways
It’s my life: Postsecondary education and training and financial aid excerpt (2006). Casey Family Programs, Seattle, WA
Providing Effective Financial Aid Assistance to Students from Foster Care and Unaccompanied Homeless Youth: A Key to Higher Education Access and Success (2009). Tracy Fried & Associates.
Supporting success: Improving higher education outcomes for students from foster care – A Framework for Program Enhancement - Version 2.0 (2010).Casey Family Programs, Seattle, WA.

30. Contact Information
Kathleen McNaught, Assistant Staff Director of Child Welfare, American Bar Association's Center on Children and the Law John Emerson, Postsecondary Education Advisor, Casey Family Programs Corinne Nilsen, Executive Director, Kansas GEAR UP Wichita State University