Upcoming Partner Professional Development Opportunity –
Youth In Care Transitioning to College – Financial and Transition Support

Tuesday, May 5, 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM, 12:00 PM – 12:30 PM Optional Q&A

Are you working with youth in care who want to get a college degree? Then this follow-up webinar is for you! Please join us for an important encore presentation on how youth with foster care experience can get a post-secondary education tuition-free and the issues they need to consider during the critical transition period between high school and college. Learn how you can support them as they navigate the financial aid process and prepare for college. This event is great for high school youth in care, resource parents, and anyone who supports or works with foster youth.

Information will be provided on college entitlements including the PA Tuition Waiver (FosterED) and the Chafee grant for the 2026 – 2027 academic year as well as challenges students face and supports that are available before they enter college and once they are enrolled to help them be successful on their educational journeys.

This webinar is shared on behalf of the School District of Philadelphia.

Disclaimer: Learning Series sessions are created by individual providers. The opinions presented herein do not necessarily represent the official stance or policies of the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE), and no official endorsement by the PDE should be inferred.

Essential Training

Title I Educational Stability Provisions: Ensuring Educational Stability and Success for Students in Foster Care

In late 2024, the U.S. Departments of Education and Health and Human Services released updated non-regulatory guidance for students in foster care – the first significant revision since the passage of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) nearly a decade ago. This two-part series provides a clear overview and guidance on how the Title I Part A provisions promote educational stability for students in foster care under the new guidance – including expectations for implementation by school entities and child welfare agencies in Pennsylvania.

Part 1 includes:

  • Initiative Context and the Legal and Guidance Framework
  • Initiative Structure in Pennsylvania
  • Applicability of Provisions
  • Collaboration Strategies
  • Defining School of Origin
  • Defining a Best Interest Determination (BID)
  • Key Questions to Develop your Local BID Process

Part 2 includes:

  • BID Process Strategies, Participants, and Scenarios
  • Defining School of Origin
  • Transportation
  • Transportation Plan Guidance
  • Defining Immediate Enrollment and Records Transfers
  • Information Sharing
  • Dispute Resolution
  • Strategies to Resolve Disputes
  • Special Guest: The American Bar Association featuring the Education Barriers Project

Download Title I Educational Stability Provisions presentation handout (PDF).

These recordings should be reviewed and retained by school and child welfare agency staff who support the education of students in foster care. By listening to these recordings, you will gain a solid understanding of your roles and responsibilities, enabling you to better support students in foster care under the new guidance.

National Foster Care Month ESSA Essentials Recorded Webinars

This three-part recorded webinar series featured during National Foster Care Month equips education and child welfare partners in Pennsylvania with practical guidance to support students in foster care under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). Sessions cover Best Interest Determinations (BIDs) and cross-agency collaboration, immediate enrollment and records transfer requirements, and the development of effective transportation plans – helping ensure school stability and timely access to education.

Part 1 – Best Interest Determinations and Collaboration

Part 2 – Immediate Enrollment and Records Transfers

Part 3 – Transportation


Recorded Webinars

Best Practices for Supporting LGBTQ+ Students with Experiences in Foster Care

Join Phii Regis, Director of the All Children – All Families Program at the Human Rights Campaign Foundation, for an essential session on best practices for supporting LGBTQ+ students with experiences in foster care. This session will explore recent updates in federal guidance from the Administration for Children & Families, with a focus on promoting affirmative care and ensuring safe, supportive placements. Gain insights into creating inclusive, affirming environments to better support LGBTQ+ students navigating the foster care system.

Creating and Exploring Local Tools to Ensure Educational Stability for Youth in Foster Care

Attendees will explore tools and procedures created locally to aid in the implementation of the Every Student Succeeds Act’s foster care provisions. Discover why these local tools help to ensure educational stability for youth in foster care and take away ideas to create new procedures or to integrate into existing practices. Attendees will also learn how the Educational Stability Regional Foster Care Offices can assist local education agencies and county children and youth agencies in reaching their goals to provide educational stability.

Making Quality Best Interest Determinations: Implementation of BIDs during COVID and Beyond

This session features an in-depth discussion of the Best Interest Determination (BID) process, including an overview of tools to help schools and child welfare agencies collaborate around these important decisions, review of BID best practices by school district and child welfare agency points of contact, and discussion on COVID-19’s effect on BIDs and ways to help students in foster care now and in the upcoming school year.

Reducing the Abuse to Prison Pipeline for Foster Youth

Explore the impact of the school-to-prison pipeline, starting with evidence of its harmful effects on vulnerable youth. We will examine key contributors within the education system, including harsh disciplinary practices, implicit bias, and unmet student needs. The session will also provide an overview of relevant child welfare laws, highlighting how they can be leveraged to secure essential services for these youth, focusing on support and rehabilitation rather than punishment.

Safe Haven: Creating Spaces that Destigmatize the Mental Health Experience for Students Experiencing Homelessness and Foster Care

Explore how youth-serving professionals and educators can foster safer, more supportive environments for open mental health conversations with students experiencing homelessness or foster care. Featuring the resource Ab(solutely) Normal, this webinar highlights how storytelling through prose, verse, and visuals challenges stigma and reinforces that emotional struggles do not define a person, while offering practical tools and supports to guide meaningful, compassionate engagement.

Supporting Youth at the Intersection of Homelessness, Foster Care, and Juvenile Justice: Leveraging Federal Education Programs

This session offers Pennsylvania LEA staff an overview of the overlapping challenges faced by youth experiencing homelessness, involvement in child welfare, or juvenile justice systems. Featuring experts from NDTAC, SchoolHouse Connection, and Center for Schools and Communities, the webinar highlights key federal programs, essential resources, and practical strategies to strengthen cross-program collaboration. Participants will explore promising practices and actionable approaches to support students who are neglected, delinquent, at-risk, homeless, or in foster care.

The Every Student Succeeds Act: Educational Stability for Foster Care Youth in Pennsylvania — Local Points of Contact Responsibilities

This webinar reviews and reinforces the responsibilities and best practice expectations of Pennsylvania local education agency foster care points of contact for ensuring the educational stability for foster care youth, as amended by the Every Student Succeeds Act of 2015.

To and Through: Creating Conditions that Support Higher Education Success for Youth with Experience in Foster Care

Hear from members of the Pennsylvania Youth Advisory Board (YAB) about their journey to and through higher education. The Pennsylvania YAB is comprised of current and former youth in foster care, ages 14-21. YAB youth leaders educate, advocate, and form partnerships to create positive change in the substitute care system. This training will feature a moderated panel of YAB alumni discussing their experiences transitioning to higher education as well as how educators and child welfare professionals can create conditions that support youth with experience in foster care to and through higher education. The webinar will also highlight key information pertaining to Pennsylvania’s new Fostering Independence Tuition Waiver Program (FosterEd).

Understanding and Implementing Act 1 of 2022: A Guide for School Staff

Join Center for Schools and Communities staff, Benjamin Simmons, Matthew Butensky, and Meghan Dale, for an informative session on the fundamentals of Act 1 of 2022 – Assisting Students Experiencing Education Instability. The training will provide an overview of the legislation, its key provisions, and practical strategies for effective implementation in educational settings.

Download Understanding and Implementing Act 1 of 2022 handout.

Disclaimer: Featured sessions are created by individual providers. The opinions presented herein do not necessarily represent the official stance or policies of the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE), and no official endorsement by the PDE should be inferred.