To place them appropriately, and anticipate and best meet their special needs, schools may have to develop new student assessment tools and actively solicit children's records and less formal information from social service agencies and families. Districts and schools can also work with social service agencies to develop a mechanism for maintaining a comprehensive health and education profile of foster children, which was mandated by the Federal Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1989. Instructional activities can recognize the many different configurations of families and show that all are equally valid, both to enhance the self-esteem of foster children and to educate other children about diversity. School libraries can acquire the growing body of literature featuring foster and adoptive families, and teachers can use the books to spur discussion. Children can be prompted to describe what they think makes a good friend, an exercise which develops loyalty and appreciation of diversity, and can end the teasing that foster children frequently experience.
Early intervention is essential to overcoming the deleterious effects of life as a foster child.
To ensure that foster children are healthy and receive necessary medical treatment and psychotherapy, schools can arrange for them to visit on-site medical offices and counselors, as well as collaborate with community health clinics. Teachers may need guidance in critically reviewing curriculum materials for possible insensitivities about children in nontraditional families, and in overcoming their negative feelings about children from dysfunctional families. Also, foster parents, like other parents, can be enlisted to help children learn and attend school regularly. Many, who have raised children previously, are quite adept at doing so, although some foster parents may need help in creating a home environment conducive to learning. All foster parents may need to focus on helping their children do homework, because the youth typically forget they have any.