Educators and school districts that are working to serve foster youth have a new tool available to them. A new resource, California’s Partial Credit Model Policy: An Implementation Manual for School Districts and Child Welfare Agencies, has recently been released and provides comprehensive information to ensure foster youth are awarded credit for all work completed so they can stay on track for high school graduation.
In September 2013, the Child Welfare Council adopted a statewide model policy to provide guidance to school districts, county offices of education, and child welfare agencies on how to award partial credits. This manual provides a partial credit calculation formula, explanations of the policy’s provisions, and implementation tools for use by school personnel and social workers.
The partial credit model policy is a product of cross-agency collaboration between the Alliance for Children’s Rights, the California Department of Education (CDE), California Department of Social Services (CDSS), California School Boards Association (CSBA), the Child Welfare Council, several school districts, child welfare agencies and foster youth advocates.
“Foster youth face numerous obstacles to high school graduation, but receiving credit for completed school work should not be one of them,” said Alliance Education Attorney Paige Fern. “The Partial Credit Model Policy will give school districts across the state the tools they need to ensure our foster youth stay on track for high school graduation, ready to pursue their higher education goals.”
