California has been a leader in recognizing the importance of school stability for youth in foster care since 2004. As new federal legislation offered a renewed focus and new mandates on these rights, counties across the state have been working to implement it in different ways and with varying levels of success. Still, there has been little statewide information consolidated and shared to inform that work.
In 2019, the Alliance for Children’s Rights sent a Public Records Act request to every county child welfare agency and probation department in the state (58 of each), and the top 10 school districts by foster youth enrollment (serving 29% of all foster youth in the state) to gather information about their Every Student Succeed Act (ESSA) school of origin transportation plans.
A NEW REPORT OF OUR FINDINGS
We provide the results of our extensive statewide survey, review best practices, analyze data demonstrating California’s status of implementing ESSA transportation plans and other related school stability laws, and provide local and state level recommendations to increase the ability of youth in foster care to stay in their school of origin.
Topics covered include:
- ESSA School Stability Transportation Plans
- Taking School Stability Into Account in Placement Decisions
- Written Procedures for Providing Notice for Placement Changes
- Education Rights Holders (ERH)
- Best Interest Determination (BID) Procedures and Participants
