On November 3-4, 2011, the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education within the U.S. Department of Education and the Children’s Bureau of the Administration for Children, Youth and Families within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services will host a national meeting, Child Welfare, Education and the Courts: A Collaboration to Strengthen Educational Successes of Children and Youth in Foster Care.
The purpose of the meeting is to bring together State teams representing education and child welfare agencies, along with the judicial branch to discuss how best to promote educational stability and improve educational outcomes for children in foster care. Participating State teams are charged with creating a plan for cross-system collaboration to be implemented following the conference.
This meeting will assist in a more comprehensive and meaningful implementation of The Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008 (P.L. 110-351). The law requires that State child welfare agencies include actions in case plans that will increase educational stability for children in foster care. In particular, the law specifically requires that child welfare agencies coordinate efforts with education agencies to keep children enrolled in their current school while in foster care, thereby keeping them connected with family, teachers and friends while continuing their progression through school.
For more information on the meeting and the Fostering Connections Act, please see below:
- Letter to Chief State School Officers and State Child Welfare Directors on the Fostering Connections Act
- National Meeting Invitation to State Educational Agencies
- National Meeting Purpose Statement
- (NEW) Slides from a September 27 Webinar on the National Meeting Titled “Improving Education Outcomes for Students in Foster Care”
