School Success K-12

Tools and resources to support achievement of good grades, earn a degree/diploma while thoroughly learning the materials that can increase the ability to pursue higher education or find a job.

Caregiver Resources

• iFoster
  iFoster is a national non-profit organization with over 40,000 members across all 50 states, Guam, and Puerto Rico. iFoster’s mission is to ensure that every child growing up outside of their biological home has the resources and opportunities they need to become successful, independent adults.

• Treehouse
  Treehouse is a group of social workers that are committed to providing youth in foster care with the academic and other essential support they need to graduate from high school at the same rate as their peers with a plan for their future.

Core Services – School Readiness and School Success

• Short Term Residential Treatment Programs (STRTPs)
  All foster family agencies provide core services to foster youth in care, such as education, physical, behavioral, mental health, extracurricular supports, and transition to adulthood services. All of the services are culturally relevant and trauma-informed.    

Transportation and School Stability  

The Elementary and Secondary Education Act, as amended by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), contains key protections to promote the educational stability and success of students in foster care. These protections help ensure that students experience minimal disruptions in their education, avoid gaps in school attendance, and receive the opportunities and support that they need to succeed.

The Frequently Asked Questions on the California Department of Education Foster Youth Education Rights web page  may be helpful in answering questions regarding transportation to school of origin for students in foster care. For more information regarding ESSA and the educational stability requirements for students in foster care, please visit the ESSA Update #6 letter (released on January 18, 2017). For additional information, please contact Paula Evans from the California Department of Education by emailing  pevans@cde.ca.gov.

Developmental and Health Care Services

Regional Center Offices in California
Regional centers are nonprofit private corporations that contract with the Department of Developmental Services to provide or coordinate services and supports for individuals with developmental disabilities. They have offices throughout California to provide a local resource to help find and access the many services available to individuals and their families.

California Department of Education Resources

• Resources on Individualized Education Programs (IEP) for Children with Disabilities
  IEP resources are provided to improve instruction, assessment, and accountability for students with disabilities.   
   
• IEP Team Process and Requirements
  This document, developed by the California Department of Education, describes the process by which an IEP team is developed and the applicable laws and statutes.

• Foster Youth Services
  Foster Youth Services Coordinating Programs provide support services to foster children who suffer the traumatic effects of displacement from family and schools.
   

CDSS Letters and Information Notices

All County Letters (ACLs)

• ACL 17-24 Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA)
  The purpose of this ACL is to inform county child welfare and juvenile probation departments about the ESSA (PL 114-95) enacted on December 10, 2015. The foster youth educational stability requirements of ESSA became effective on December 10, 2016, and are applicable to child welfare and probation supervised foster youth.
   
• ACL 16-91 Utilizing Title IV-E Funding to Support County Foster Youth Services Coordinating Programs
  The purpose of this ACL is to provide information to county child welfare departments regarding the opportunity to partner with county offices of education to draw down federal Title IV-E funding to increase educational case management services for foster youth.
   
• ACL No. 13-03 The Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008 (Public Law 110-351) Education Travel Reimbursement
  This letter is to clarify education travel reimbursements for placements not addressed in ACL No. 11-51, dated September 21, 2011. This letter establishes that those Non-Minor Dependents (NMDs) placed in a Supervised Independent Living Placement as described in ACL No. 12-44 and attending high school at their school of origin and meeting all other requirements (as described in ACL No. 11-77, Page 6, Section 4) are entitled to receive the education travel reimbursement. This reimbursement is to be paid directly to the NMD.  
   
• ACL No. 12-70 Educational Stability and Case Plan Assurances
  The purpose of this ACL is only to address educational stability and the case plan assurances related to educational stability. Public Law 110-351 and 112-34 amended Title IV-E of the Social Security Act to require that the case plan includes a plan for ensuring the educational stability of the child while in foster care.
     
• ACL No. 11-51 The Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008 (Public Law 110-351) Education Travel Reimbursement
  The purpose of this ACL is to provide instruction and guidance to county child welfare and probation departments regarding the applicable rates to be paid for reimbursement of costs related to transporting a child in grades kindergarten through 12th to his/her school of origin, based on the educational stability plan.  

• ACL No. 10-12 The Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008 (Public Law 110-351) Case Plan Assurances and Educational Transportation Reimbursement
  The purposes of this ACL are to notify counties of the requirements of Public Law (PL) 110-351 and to provide direction for compliance with these new federal mandates. PL 110-351 amended Title IV-E of the Social Security Act to require that case plans for children and youth in foster care include specified assurances for educational placement stability. In addition, PL 110-351 provides for the cost of reasonable travel for the child to remain in the school in which the child is enrolled at the time of placement as an allowable foster care maintenance cost.

• ACL No. 16-84 Child and Family Team
  This ACL provides information and guidance regarding the use of child and family teaming to deliver child welfare services (including education services), as required by Assembly Bill 403, commonly known as the Continuum of Care Reform.

All County Information Notices (ACINs)  

• ACIN I-80-04 Documentation of the Educational Needs of Children Receiving In-Home Services and Children in Foster Care
  The purpose of this ACIN is three fold. First, it is to emphasize the importance for social workers, probation officers, or other responsible personnel to document in the case file or Child Welfare Services/Case Management System when the educational needs of children and youth receiving in home services are assessed, and to document how the identified needs were addressed. Second, this notice also briefly outlines the requirements of Assembly Bill 490, Chapter 862, Statutes of 2003, which imposes new duties and rights related to the education of dependents and wards in foster care. Finally, this notice also informs counties of a new Educational Advocacy Curriculum that has been developed by the Northern Regional Training Academy.
   
• ACIN No. I-15-19: Available Education-Related Resources
  The purpose of this ACIN is to provide information about the production of several education-related resources for youth in foster care as well as the various professionals and adults who serve them. These resources include the following: a new CDSS foster youth education webpage, education resource cards, a protocol document, education-related topic contacts, and the Education Travel Reimbursement Informational Brochure for Caregivers.

State and Federal Laws Pertaining to Foster Youth and Education  

• Every Student Succeeds Act (Public Law 114-95) (2015)
  This law reauthorizes the Elementary and Secondary Education Act Of 1965 and replaces No Child Left Behind Act of 2001.  The purpose of the law is to provide all children significant opportunities to receive a fair, equitable, and high-quality education and to close educational achievement gaps.    

• Assembly Bill 854 (2015) Educational Services: Pupils in Foster Care
  This bill aligns the Foster Youth Services (FYS) program with the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) to ensure the effective implementation of LCFF for students in foster care.

• Assembly Bill 490 (2015)
  Educational Rights and Stability for Foster Youth Act.     

• Assembly Bill 167/216 (2014) High School Graduation Requirements: Pupils in Foster Care
  This law exempts foster and probation youth from having to fulfill additional school district graduation requirements if they transfer to a new school district. 
   
• Assembly Bill 1909 (2014) Foster Children Suspension and Expulsion Notifications
  This law addressed disciplinary proceedings, expulsion, extended suspension, and manifestation determination for children with exceptional needs.    
   
• Assembly Bill 12 (2010) California Fostering Connections to Success Act
  California Fostering Connections to Success Act extends foster care to eligible youth from age 18 To 21.     
   
• Senate Bill 578 (2011) Pupils in Foster Care: Course Credit
  Foster Youth Awarded Full Or Partial Credit For Coursework Completed While Attending A Previous School.     
    
• Assembly Bill 1933 (2010) Foster Children: Education
  This law allows foster youth to remain in their school of origin.