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UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

OFFICE OF ELEMENTARY & SECONDARY EDUCATION

December 5, 2016

Dear Chief State School Officers,

Title I, Part A (Title I) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA), as amended by the 

Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA)1, now contains key protections for children in foster care that require 

State and local educational agencies (SEAs and LEAs) to collaborate with child welfare agencies to ensure the 

educational stability of children in foster care. These provisions build upon the Fostering Connections to 

Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008 (Fostering Connections), the Federal child welfare law that 

requires child welfare agencies to collaborate with educational agencies to ensure educational stability for 

children in foster care. Together, the new Title I foster care requirements and Fostering Connections ensure 

that children in foster care experience minimal educational disruption as the result of foster care placement

and receive the same opportunities as their peers to develop the skills necessary to be successful in school and 

life. 

To facilitate a smooth transition to the new foster care educational stability requirements under Title I, the 

U.S. Department of Education (ED) placed a condition on each SEA’s fiscal year 2016 Title I grant award 

that requires each State to ensure that it implements the requirements under ESEA sections 1111(g)(1)(E) and 

1112(c)(5)(B) by no later than December 10, 2016. We would like to take this opportunity to remind you of 

this timeline and encourage you to work with LEAs in your State to support effective implementation of 

these requirements. For more information on the effective date of the educational stability provisions, please 

review the Dear Colleague Letter issued jointly by ED and the U.S. Department of Health and Human 

Services (HHS) on June 23, 2016. 

ESEA EDUCATIONAL STABILITY PROVISIONS

At the State level, section 1111(g)(1)(E) of the ESEA requires an SEA to collaborate with the State agency 

responsible for administering State plans under parts B and E of Title IV of the Social Security Act to ensure 

the educational stability of children in foster care. More specifically, each SEA must ensure that:

• A child in foster care will enroll or remain in the child’s school of origin, unless a determination is

made that it is not in the child’s best interest to attend that school;

• If a determination is made that it is not in the child’s best interest to remain in the school of origin,

the child will be immediately enrolled in a new school, even if the child is unable to produce records

normally required for enrollment; and

• A new (enrolling) school immediately contacts the school of origin to obtain relevant academic and

other records.

In addition, the SEA must designate an employee to serve as a point of contact (POC) for child welfare 

agencies and to oversee implementation of the educational stability provisions. This POC cannot be the 

same person as the State Coordinator for the Education of Homeless Children and Youths under section 

722(d)(3) of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (McKinney-Vento Act). 

1 Citations to the ESEA in this letter refer to the ESEA as amended by the ESSA. 

Under the Congressional Review Act, Congress has passed, and the President has signed, a resolution of 

disapproval of the accountability and State plans final regulations that were published on November 29, 2016 (81 

FR 86076). Because the resolution of disapproval invalidates the accountability and State plan final regulations, 

the portions of this guidance document that rely on those regulations are no longer applicable. To the extent that 

this document addresses statutory requirements, however, it is unaffected by the resolution of disapproval.
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At the local level, section 1112(c)(5) of the ESEA requires an LEA that receives Title I funds to collaborate 

with the State or local child welfare agency to:

• Develop and implement clear written procedures governing how transportation to maintain children 

in foster care in their school of origin when in their best interest will be provided, arranged, and 

funded for the duration of the time in foster care; and

• Designate a POC if the corresponding child welfare agency notifies the LEA in writing that it has 

designated an employee to serve as a POC for the LEA.

Transportation is a central component of educational stability and may be needed in order to fulfill the 

requirements that ensure educational stability for children in foster care. Accordingly, as part of regulations 

governing State plans under the ESEA published on November 29, 2016, an SEA must ensure that the 

transportation procedures developed by LEAs in collaboration with State and local child welfare agencies 

describe how the requirements of ESEA section 1112(c)(5)(B) will be met in the event of a dispute over 

which agency or agencies will pay any additional costs incurred in providing transportation. The 

transportation procedures must also describe which agency or agencies will initially pay the additional costs so 

that transportation is provided promptly during the pendency of the dispute (34 C.F.R. § 299.13(c)(1)(ii)) (see 

http://www2.ed.gov/policy/elsec/leg/essa/essaaccountstplans1129.pdf for the complete regulations). 

We understand that developing transportation procedures involving multiple school districts and child 

welfare agencies can be complex. The LEA and child welfare agency should make every possible effort to 

reach agreement regarding how transportation will be provided, arranged, and funded by exploring a variety 

of options and tailoring how transportation will be provided based on the unique circumstances of the child. 

For example, in some cases the foster parent may be willing and able to transport the child to the school of 

origin. In another situation, transportation could be provided by utilizing the LEA’s pre-existing bus routes. 

We encourage SEAs to actively support LEAs as they develop and implement transportation procedures. To 

accomplish this, SEAs should take such measures as: 

• Developing a transportation procedures template or model agreement for LEAs to ensure uniformity 

across districts.

• Collaborating with State child welfare agencies to provide guidelines about what should be included 

in the transportation procedures. 

• Sharing examples of promising cost-sharing practices from across the country. 

• Developing a transportation procedures checklist to use during Title I, Part A monitoring of LEAs.

We also recommend that SEAs, in collaboration with State child welfare agencies, establish uniform, 

statewide policies if the LEAs and local child welfare agencies cannot come to an agreement on how to share

any additional transportation costs at the local level. An SEA and State child welfare agency may establish a 

statewide dispute resolution process that could include a transportation funding default, such as the LEA and 

local child welfare agency evenly splitting the additional costs. Alternatively, the SEA and State child welfare 

agency may come to a joint decision to allocate responsibility for the additional costs based on other factors, 

such as:

• The LEAs and local child welfare agencies could share the costs based on an agreed-upon distance

(e.g., the LEA pays for transportation costs up to a certain number of miles, and the child welfare 

agency pays the remaining transportation costs). 

• The LEAs and child welfare agencies could share the costs based on the length of time the child 

requires transportation (e.g., the LEA pays transportation costs for the first six months of a child’s 
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placement, and the child welfare agency pays for transportation costs beyond six months of a child’s 

placement).

REMOVAL OF AWAITING FOSTER CARE PLACEMENT

The ESEA also amended section 725(2) of the McKinney-Vento Act by removing children “awaiting foster 

care placement” from the definition of “homeless children and youths” for purposes of administering the 

Education for Homeless Children and Youths program. This change takes effect for covered States—i.e., 

those that have defined or described the term “awaiting foster care placement” in statute or regulation—on 

December 10, 2017; the change takes effect for non-covered States on December 10, 2016. Thus, children 

who are awaiting foster care placement must be served under the McKinney-Vento Act until at least 

December 10, 2016. However, regardless of a State’s status as covered or non-covered, SEAs and LEAs

must meet the Title I requirements for all children in foster care, including those awaiting foster care 

placement, beginning on December 10, 2016. Children who are currently eligible for McKinney-Vento 

services because they are awaiting foster care placement should have a seamless transition to receiving 

services under Title I, and there should be no gaps in their transportation coverage. It is important to note 

that children awaiting foster care placement may still be covered under the McKinney-Vento Act if they 

qualify under another definition of homeless, such as being doubled-up or living in a shelter. 

JOINT GUIDANCE AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE

On June 23, 2016, ED and HHS issued non-regulatory joint guidance to both clarify the educational and 

child welfare agency roles in implementing the Title I foster care educational stability provisions and to

elevate promising practices from the field. Since the release of the joint guidance, ED again partnered with 

HHS to host a five-part webinar series; each webinar focused on distinct ESSA educational stability 

requirements and also allowed States an opportunity to hear about promising practices being implemented by 

their peers in the field. The joint guidance and webinar recordings are available on our ESSA website. ED 

will continue to provide support and guidance in the upcoming months as questions arise.

In order to make the best use of the transition period, ensure we are sharing information directly with the 

right person, and facilitate efficient and effective implementation of these provisions, we ask you to please

provide the name and contact information for your State POC to ED on or before December 16, 2016. This 

information may be provided directly to your contact in ED’s Office of State Support at OSS.[State 

name]@ed.gov. 

Thank you for your work every day to improve educational outcomes for children in foster care.

Sincerely,

/s/

Ann Whalen

Senior Advisor to the Secretary

Delegated the Duties of Assistant Secretary for Elementary 

and Secondary Education

cc: State Title I Directors