June 23, 2016 

Dear Chief State School Officers and Child Welfare Directors: 

As the field prepares to implement the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), 1 

as 

amended by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), the U.S. Departments of Education (ED) and 

Health and Human Services (HHS) would like to draw your attention to important new provisions 

in Title J, Part A (Title I) of the ESEA that promote educational stabi lity for children in foster care 

and that take effect on December I 0, 20 16. The success and well-being offoster youth require 

ongoing collaboration and partnership between educational and child welfare agencies, and the 

implementation of the Title I foster care provisions provides a critical opportunity for agencies to 

work together for the betterment of the nearly 270,000 school-aged children currentl y in foster care. 

Data suggest that children in foster care are more likely than their peers not in foster care to 

experience adverse educational outcomes, including academic achievement in reading/language arts 

and math, grade retention, high school graduation, and postsecondary enrollment.2 These 

challenges are tied, in part, to the high mobility of foster youth and the educational discontinuity 

that results from placement and school changes. Unplanned school changes may lead to del ays in 

students' academic progress;

3 this impacts foster youth more than most due to the number of 

placement changes that many young people experience while in foster care. Greater educational 

stability has been shown to lead to improved outcomes for foster youth, including higher graduation 

rates. For example, a recent study found that that educational stability may increase the rate of 

students in foster care graduating on time and lower the rate of students earning a high school 

equivalency diploma, remaining enroll ed for more than four years, or exiting the K-12 system 

without a high school credential.4 

In recognition of the importance of educational stability for foster youth, the Title I foster care 

provisions in the ESEA require that State educational agencies (SEAs) and local educational 

agencies (LEAs) collaborate with State and local child welfare agencies (CWAs) to ensure school 

stability for children in foster care. Specifically, as detailed in the attached joint ED and HHS non1 In this letter, unless otherwise indicated, citations to the ESEA refe r to the ESEA, as amended by the ESSA. 2 See, for example, Harden, B.J. 2004. "Safety and stability for foster children: A developmental perspective". The 

future ofchildren, 14( 1): 31-47; National Youth in Transition Database. Unpublished analyses (April 20 16). 

Administration on Children, Youth and Families, HHS; and Frerer, K.; Sosenko, L.D.; Pellegrin, N.; Manchik, V.; & 

Ho rowitz, J. (201 3 ). Foster youth stability: A study of California foster youths' school and residential changes in 

relation to education outcomes. Retrieved from http: www.iebcnow.org IEBCPublicFiles iebc.public. 67 67e52ff2­

4b46-4afa-8 l 33-ba223aa80c33 .pdf. 


3 National Working Group on Foster Care and Education. (2014.) Fostering success in education: National factsheet on 


the educational outcomes of children in foster care. Retrieved from 

http: www.fostercareandeducation.org OurWorlc/NationalWorkingGroup.aspx 4 Clemons, E. and Sheesley, A. (20 16.) Every transition counts: Educational stability of Colorado's students in foster 

care: 2007-08 TO 201 3- 14. Retrieved from http://www.unco.edu/cebs/foster-careresearch/pdf/reports/Every Transition Counts V. l Interactive.pdf. 

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). This guidance document is 

unaffected by that resolution and remains 

applicable.
Page2 

regulatory guidance, a child in foster care must remain in his or her school oforigin ifthat is 

detennined to be in the child's best interest. If, on the other hand, it is in the child's best interest to 

be enrolled in a new school, the child must be immediately enrolled, and the new school must 

promptly contact the school of origin to obtain necessary records. Further, to ensure that a child in 

foster care remains in his or her school of origin (when it is in the child's best interest), LEAs must 

develop procedures in collaboration with State and local CWAs that address how transportation to 

the schools of origin for children in foster care will be provided, arranged, and funded. In addition, 

for the first time, SEAs and LEAs must report annually on academic achievement and graduation 

rates for children in foster care as a separate subgroup to show how foster youth are performing 

relative to their peers. Bringing this crucial data to light will allow SEAs and LEAs to better 

understand the educational outcomes offoster youth and take appropriate steps to address any 

deficiencies. 

The landmark Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008 (Fostering 

Connections) was the first Federal legislation to require efforts to ensure educational stability for 

foster youth. Many ofthe new Title I foster care provisions reinforce and complement those in 

Fostering Connections, and both statutes emphasize the shared responsibility of educational and 

child welfare agencies in promoting the well-being of children in foster care. Since the passage of 

Fostering Connections, States and LEAs have made significant progress towards forming 

partnerships and instituting laws and policies that further promote school stability and college- and 

career-readiness for foster youth. Still, there is much work to be done. 

We believe that the new Title l foster care provisions, in concert with Fostering Connections, can 

dramatically improve outcomes for foster youth. Successful implementation ofthe ESEA will 

require strong partnerships and consistent collaboration between educational and child welfare 

agencies. We are providing the attached joint guidance as a key tool for educational and child 

welfare agencies to use as they embark on establishing new partnerships and implementing the new 

provisions of the law. In addition to clarifying the statutory requirements, the guidance provides 

recommendations for SEAs, LEAs, and CWAs and highlights promising practices from the field for 

agencies to consider as they move toward implementation by December I 0, 2016. Given this 

ambitious timeline, we strongly encourage agencies to begin working together now to ensure that all 

ofthe policies and processes are in place so that foster youth may receive the statutory protections 

to which they are entitled. 

These new protections hold great promise for foster youth, and it is our hope that this collaboration 

leads to ongoing efforts by SEAs, LEAs, and CW As to improve outcomes for this vulnerable 

student population. Thank you for all your work to support children in foster care to date, and we 

look forward to collaborating with you on this important issue in the future. 

Sincerely,~~ Jn.~ 

John B. King, Sylvia M.Burwell 


Secretary Secretary 


U.S. Department ofEducation U.S. Department of Health 


and Human Services