Education Program
Championing the educational rights of our clients
The Alliance’s Education Program takes a holistic and collaborative approach with schools in defining and addressing the needs of our clients. We provide direct education advocacy for youth, and empower caregivers and other service providers to advocate for the children they serve.
Together, we work to promote paths to learning and ensure that children and young adults impacted by foster care and the delinquency system can access an equitable education.
Our Education Programs focus on:
Educational Equity for Youth Impacted by the Foster and Probation Systems
Children and youth in foster care change schools an average of 8 times while in care, losing up to 6 months of their education with each move.
Youth in foster care and probation experience the poorest education outcomes of any at-risk student population including lower academic performance and graduation rates, and higher rates of school discipline and chronic absenteeism. This is caused by many factors–including significant rates of school instability, trauma, school push-out, and increased rates of learning and social/emotional disabilities.
Although state and federal laws grant youth impacted by the foster care and probation systems. As unmet needs escalate, youth in care are also more likely to fall into the school-to-prison pipeline, as schools increasingly push disabled and traumatized youth into the criminal justice system rather than providing legally mandated education services.
Education Rights of Foster and Probation Youth
According to California law (AB490, 1933, 167, 216, and 379), youth in foster care or probation are guaranteed the following education protections:
School of Origin (SOO)
Children and youth in foster care or on probation have a right to school stability and can remain or return to any of the following schools, even if their home placement has changed:
- The school they attended when first removed from their parents
- The last school they attended
- Any school attended in the last 15 months where the youth feels a connection
Additionally:
- Youth can matriculate to the next school level with their peers for the entire time they are SOO eligible.
- Elementary and Middle school students can stay at their SOO until the end of the school year when their foster/probation case closes.
- High school students can stay in their SOO until they graduate, regardless of when their foster/probation case closes.
- A youth’s Education Rights Holder (ERH) decides whether remaining in their school of origin is in the youth’s best interests.
- Caregivers have a right to monetary reimbursement from DCFS for driving kids to their SOO. Other transportation options are available to youth impacted by the foster care and probation systems.
Immediate Enrollment
If your child or youth cannot remain at their SOO, they have a right to be immediately enrolled in their new school of residence, even if they don’t have any paperwork or uniforms or anything else normally required to enroll in school. Youth also should not be pushed-out to an alternative school for any reason (e.g., credit deficiency, mid-year enrollment, behavior concerns, p robation involvement) unless the youth’s Education Rights Holder determines it is in their best interests to attend a different school. Youth have a right to equal participation in all school activities/events (e.g., tutoring, sports, drama) even if they missed sign up or try out deadlines.
Partial Credits
High school youth impacted by the foster care or probation systems, who change schools mid-semester, have a right to partial credits for any course work that they complete. Each district must have its own partial credit calculation formula, specifying how many days of attendance equals how many credits. For California’s Partial Credit Model Policy, see our Foster Youth Education Toolkit.
State Minimum Graduation (AB 167/216)
Youth impacted by the foster or probation systems, who transfer schools after completing their 2nd year of high school, and who are unable to reasonably complete their new district’s graduation requirements within 4 years of high school, may graduate under the state minimum graduation requirements, if their Education Rights Holder decides it is in their best interests.
The Alliance is Here.
If your child or youth’s education rights are being violated, please reach out. We can assist youth in enrolling in school, returning to their school of origin, gathering their partial credits (likely any youth who has attended multiple high schools and moved mid-semester has credits they have earned but have not yet been awarded), or who need help determining their graduation path.
For school districts, Education Rights Holders, social workers, probation officers, attorneys representing youth in dependency/delinquency courts, or judges looking for best practices and tools to implement these laws, learn about our Foster Youth Education Toolkit.
Early intervention services for young children in foster care are critical
We have helped over 3,000 children receive education services to overcome trauma, instability, and developmental delays.
Because most of a child’s brain development occurs during the early months of life, traumatic experiences in early childhood—such as abuse, neglect, or separation from family—can result in cognitive losses or physical, emotional, and social delays, all of which undermine development. Early intervention and trauma-informed education and care can meaningfully and measurably improve outcomes for children as they grow.
Video:
The Alliance Advocated for Our Kids
How We Help
Established in 2010, The Saltz Family Early Intervention Advocacy Center supports clients in overcoming legal barriers to give children (birth age-5) access to the appropriate developmental and early education assessments, speech and language, occupational therapy, and physical therapies, and other services that are critical to their development, so that they can enter kindergarten, ready to learn.
Developmental Milestones
How do you know if your child is experiencing developmental delays? Children experience tremendous change and growth in the first few years of life and each child develops at their own pace. Milestones are skills that children typically learn by a certain age such as sitting up by six months or talking by age two. Developmental milestones should be reviewed every few months for your child.
The Alliance is Here.
If you are caring for a child in foster care and want to learn more about how to receive early intervention education services, contact us.
Special Education (K-12)
Protecting access to special education for foster youth
50% of children in the foster care system and up to 80% of children in the probation system have educational disabilities; 100% of these youth experience trauma and instability. These children and their families often struggle to access quality special education services.
How We Help
By advocating for thorough assessments and appropriate educational services, the Alliance meets the specialized needs of our young clients, so that they can thrive in their school settings.
Potential Indicators of Disability
What does a child with an education disability look like?
- Academic delays in reading, writing or math; poor grades; retention
- Behavior problems at school
- Speech and language deficits
- Problems with handwriting
- Social emotional problems, including depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder (note that youth sometimes self-medicate with drugs for these disorders)
- Inattention, disorganization, impulse control problems, ADHD
- Poor attendance: specifically for older youth
The Alliance is Here.
If you are caring for a child involved in the foster care or probation systems and want to learn more about how to access special education services, contact us.
The Alliance is Here.
If you are seeking direct education advocacy for the children in your care, please reach out.
Training for Caregivers and Providers
The Alliance conducts free professional training for caregivers, educators, service providers, social workers, probation officers, CASAs, and legal professionals. We train on a wide variety of subjects including general education, early intervention, and special education rights, reading assessments and advocating for special education eligibility, trauma, implicit bias, racial justice in education, etc. To schedule a training, please contact jrowland@alliancecr.org.
Resources:
- School Stability in Transportation Plans
- Advocating for Your Child's Education Rights
- Foster Youth Education Toolkit
- School Stability, Enrollment, and High School Graduation Rights of Foster and Probation Youth
- Education Manual
- Special Education Eligibility Checklist
- Developmental Milestones: Watch My Baby Grow
- Records Requests
- Assessment Requests
- Explore Other Resources
