Source: http://texaschildrenscommission.thelawbox.com/library_item/gov.texaschildrenscommission.benchbook/136
Timestamp: 2019-10-20 09:12:59
Document Index: 323011341

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 675', '§ 675', '§ 675', '§ 266', '§ 6301', '§ 6311', '§ 6311', '§ 6311', '§ 11431']

Congress passed the most sweeping child welfare law in a decade with the Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008 (Fostering Connections Act).[48] 42 U.S.C. § 675. The Fostering Connections Act includes important provisions regarding the educational stability of youth in foster care, calling on child welfare agencies to keep the child in the same school any time the child's placement changes, unless it is not in the child’s best interest. If the child cannot remain in the same school, the child must be promptly enrolled in a new school. The legislation also increases the amount of federal funding that may be used to cover education-related transportation costs and requires child welfare agencies to work with local education agencies (LEAs)[49] to ensure educational stability. Provisions in the Fostering Connections Act highlight the importance of improving educational outcomes of children and youth in foster care across the nation.
• Coordinate with local education agencies – The child welfare agency must coordinate with LEAs to ensure that the child can remain in the school where the child is enrolled at the time of each placement. 42 U.S.C. § 675(1)(G)(ii)(I). For further detail, please see U.S. Departments of Education and Health & Human Serv., Admin. for Children & Families (2014) joint letter.[50]
• Transportation – Foster care maintenance payments may cover reasonable travel for the child to remain in the school in which the child is enrolled at the time of placement. 42 U.S.C. § 675(4)(A).
In recognition of the need for agency coordination, DFPS must collaborate with the Texas Education Agency (TEA) to develop policies and procedures to ensure that the needs of foster children are met in every school district. Tex. Fam. Code § 266.008(d).
In December 2015, the most recent reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, known as the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), became law.[51] 20 U.S.C. § 6301 et seq. ESSA makes substantial changes to the education system, including giving more flexibility to states to determine student performance measures. ESSA also mirrors in the education law many of the provisions affecting students in foster care from the Fostering Connections Act.
• Best interest determination – A child in foster care is entitled to enroll or remain in the school of origin unless a determination is made that it is not in the child’s best interest to attend the school of origin. The decision must be based on all factors relating to the child’s best interest, including consideration of the appropriateness of the current educational setting and the proximity to the school in which the child is enrolled at the time of placement. 20 U.S.C. § 6311(g)(1)(E)(i).
• Streamlined transitions – When a determination is made that it is not in the child’s best interest to remain in the school of origin, the child is immediately enrolled in a new school, even if the child is unable to produce records normally required for enrollment. 20 U.S.C. § 6311(g)(1)(E)(ii). The enrolling school must immediately contact the school last attended by the child to obtain relevant academic and other records. 20 U.S.C. § 6311(g)(1)(E)(iii).
Previously, a child who is “awaiting foster care placement” met the federal McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (McKinney-Vento Act) definition of homeless and the child was entitled to attend the school that the child attended when permanently housed or the school in which the child was last enrolled, with transportation and other services provided by the district. 42 U.S.C. § 11431 et seq.[52] ESSA amends the McKinney-Vento Act and effective December 10, 2016, the “awaiting foster care placement” was removed from the definition of homelessness. Pub. L. No. 114–95. For more information on this change, please see guidance from the Department of Education, Education for Homeless Children and Youths Program Non-Regulatory Guidance.[53]