“Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) Foster Care Essentials” Webinar Series
Each May, we honor and recognize National Foster Care Month to raise awareness about students experiencing foster care in your schools, agencies, and communities. Sessions include a 30-minute presentation followed by a 15-minute Q&A session.
Best Interest Determination (BID) Essentials
Friday, May 3, 11:00 – 11:45 AM
Join us for an overview of school placement best interest determinations (BIDs.)
Immediate Enrollment and Records Transfers Essentials
Friday, May 10, 11:00 – 11:45 AM
Review requirements and discover insights on immediate enrollment and records transfers.
Transportation Essentials
Friday, May 17, 11:00 – 11:45 AM
Focus on transportation considerations and transportation plans required under ESSA.
Working Together to Ensure Educational Stability
In December 2015, the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) reauthorized the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA). Protections for students in foster care found under ESEA, as amended by ESSA, aim to enhance collaboration and align both education and child welfare systems to improve educational outcomes. For the first time, ESSA embeds federal education law provisions that promote school stability and success for children and youth in foster care.
Children and youth in or entering foster care frequently change schools, which is disruptive to their education and makes it difficult to develop supportive relationships with teachers, peers and relationships within their communities. Unplanned school changes may be associated with delays in children’s academic progress, leaving highly mobile students more likely to fall behind their less mobile peers.
ESSA amends the ESEA to include educational stability for children and youth in foster care exclusively under Title I, Part A. Title I educational stability provisions for students in foster care were required to be implemented within one year of the federal law’s passage on Dec. 10, 2016.
Pennsylvania Department of Education, Pennsylvania Department of Human Services, and Center for Schools and Communities are working together to promote school stability and success for children and youth in foster care.
