Title I Educational Stability Provisions: Ensuring Educational Stability and Success for Students in Foster Care
Part 1: Monday, December 15, 1:00 PM-2:30 PM
Part 2: Tuesday, December 16, 1:00 PM-2:30 PM
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, two-day series provides a clear overview of how Title I provisions promote educational stability under the new guidance. Topics include best interest determinations (BIDs), immediate enrollment, and transportation, as well as the collaboration required between education and child welfare agencies. Participants will leave with a solid understanding of their roles and responsibilities enabling them to better support students in foster care under the new guidance. On the second day, participants will also learn about the American Bar Association’s Education Barriers Project, which supports agencies in improving school experiences and outcomes for students in foster care.
Act 48 credit available.
Speakers
Matthew Butensky, Youth Development Project Manager and PA SEA Point of Contact, Center for Schools and Communities
Matt Butensky is a Youth Development Project Manager at the Center for Schools and Communities (CSC). Since joining CSC, Matt has worked on behalf of the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) to support students experiencing education instability. Since 2016, Matt has served as PDE’s statewide foster care point of contact.
Dawn Traill, Human Services Analyst, Pennsylvania Department of Human Services
Dawn Traill is a Human Services Analyst within the Division of Policy, Bureau of Policy, Programs, and Operations, Office of Children, Youth and Families (OCYF) at the Department of Human Services (DHS). She is assigned as the lead analyst and point of contact at the state level, regarding the educational stability of children in foster care. In this role, Dawn provides technical assistance to county child welfare agencies and regional offices in Pennsylvania.
Recorded Webinars
Understanding and Implementing Act 1 of 2022: A Guide for School Staff
[Recorded June 2025] 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. 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.
Supporting Youth at the Intersection of Homelessness, Foster Care, and Juvenile Justice: Leveraging Federal Education Programs
[Recorded November 2025] 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.
2024-2025 Webinar Series Recordings
Best Practices for Supporting LGBTQ+ Students with Experiences in Foster Care
[Recorded December 9, 2024] 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.
Education Stability for Children and Youth in Foster Care in Pennsylvania Mid-year Program Update
[Recorded February 24, 2025] Join staff from the Education Stability for Children and Youth in Foster Care in Pennsylvania program for updates, new guidance, and questions.
Reducing the Abuse to Prison Pipeline for Foster Youth
[Recorded March 10, 2025] 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.
ESSA Essentials Webinars
Part 1 – Best Interest Determinations and Collaboration
Review the specific guidance from federal and state agencies on making Best Interest Determinations (BIDs) for students in foster care regarding school placement.
Part 2 – Immediate Enrollment and Records Transfers
Review the specific guidance from federal and state agencies on ensuring immediate enrollment for students in foster care.
View Part 2 – Immediate Enrollment and Records Transfers Recording
Part 3 – Transportation
Review the specific guidance from federal and state agencies on developing, revising, and executing Transportation Plans (TPs) with other agencies for students in foster care.
2024 Education for Students in Foster Care Check-Ins
Learn more about the ongoing efforts of colleagues across Pennsylvania to ensure educational stability for children and youth in foster care. You will hear from your state education and human services points of contact on program updates and previews.
2022 Foster Care Point of Contact Mid-Year Check-In
Hear about reminders, updates, and available tools to support school stability for students in foster care. Learn from each other by sharing challenges, successes, and strategies. Gain an understanding of efforts to ensure educational stability for students in foster care throughout Pennsylvania. Learn about new resources from the American Bar Association Center on Children and the Law.
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). Act 48 and NASW credits are available for those attending the webinar in its entirety.
Making Quality Best Interest Determinations: Implementation of BIDs during COVID and Beyond
Four years into the implementation of the Every Student Succeeds Act’s protections for students in foster care, we have made great strides but ongoing efforts and planning are needed to successfully implement school stability policies to support students in foster care. 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.
Employing Self-Compassion and Relationship Building to Address Trauma in Youth
“Trauma-Informed PA: A Plan to Make Pennsylvania a Trauma-Informed, Healing-Centered State” was released July 2020 by the Office of Advocacy and Reform. The plan presents a continuum starting with becoming trauma aware and moving toward being a healing-centered state. This presentation will utilize the continuum presented in the plan to address relationship strategies when working with youth, as well as strategies to move from compassion fatigue to compassion resilience to assist adults who are working with youth who have experienced trauma.
Begin the Journey: The Pennsylvania Department of Education Equitable Practices Hub
The Pennsylvania Department of Education released the Equitable Practices Hub in September 2020. The hub is organized by six equity pillars of practice: 1) General Equity Practices, 2) Self-Awareness, 3) Data Practices, 4) Family and Community Engagement, 5) Academic Equity, and 6) Disciplinary Equity. This session will provide an overview of the hub and the importance of equity in Pennsylvania schools.
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.
ESSA’s Foster Care Provisions 101
In this webinar attendees will be provided with an overview of the protections LEAs and child welfare agencies must provide to youth in foster care to ensure educational stability. The presenter will also review the history and implementation of ESSA’s foster care provisions in Pennsylvania as well as introduce best practices regarding implementation.
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.
Ensuring Educational Stability for Children in Foster Care: Transportation Procedures
Signed into law on December 10, 2015, the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) reauthorized the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, and includes new provisions for children in foster care that complement requirements in the Fostering Connections Act of 2008. These provisions take effect on December 10, 2016. (You can learn more about these new provisions and what they mean for states, districts, and schools through joint guidance released on June 23, 2016, from the U.S. Departments of Education and Health and Human Services.)
Disclaimer: Conference 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.