Educational Stability: Joint Collaboration

Child welfare agencies, courts, and local education agencies are just some of the entities that must work together to ensure positive educational outcomes for children and youth in out-of-home care. Though every discipline has a distinct role to play in supporting young people, effective collaborations are the foundation for services and supports to effectively meet the needs of the whole child. The following resources provide additional information about how these agencies can develop and maintain strong partnerships.

Case Planning for Educational Stability
Feierman, Horshaw, Murphy, Stoltz, & Williams (2011)
Explores how case-planning strategies can improve educational opportunities and outcomes for youth in the child welfare system. The session highlights two tools from Pennsylvania designed to facilitate the process of addressing educational issues during case planning. This workshop was presented at a conference co-sponsored by the Children's Bureau and the U.S. Department of Education. Workshop materials include the following:

Children at Risk in the Child Welfare System: Collaborations to Promote School Readiness: Final Report (PDF - 1,730 KB)
Catherine E. Cutler Institute for Child and Family Policy & Oldham Innovative Research (2009)
Provides analysis of data from the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-being. The report also includes data from a case study in Colorado involving interviews with key stakeholders and statewide surveys of caseworkers and foster parents to examine how collaborations between the child welfare, early intervention/preschool special education, and early care and education services systems meet the developmental needs of children ages 0 to 5 years who are involved in the child welfare system.

Child Welfare - Education System Collaborations to Increase Educational Stability Discretionary Grant Cluster
Child Welfare Information Gateway
Catalogs programs that were funded through Children's Bureau discretionary grants to support collaborative initiatives between State, local, or Tribal child welfare agencies and education systems to improve educational stability and permanency outcomes for youth between the ages of 10 and 17 in the child welfare system.

Powerful Partnerships: How Local Systems Can Work Together to Create Educational Stability for Kids
Cuneo, Fink, Guenthner, Punske, & Comstock (2011)
Describes successes and challenges from programs in Cincinnati, OH and Pima County, AZ. These materials explain how jurisdictions can create multisystem partnerships at the local level to help keep children in out-of-home placements on track academically in a seamless and coordinated manner. This workshop was presented at a conference co-sponsored by the Children's Bureau and the U.S. Department of Education. Workshop materials include the following:

Supporting Successful School Experiences for Students in Foster Care Through Collaboration
Kabler, Lustig, McGarry, & Staub (2011)
Addresses what can be done both within and outside of the school environment to support the "total" school experience for students in foster care. The session describes two models: (1) the San Diego County Foster Youth Services model, which seeks to create a collaborative environment between child welfare, the courts, and public education and (2) the Upper Darby (Pennsylvania) School District's Response to Instruction and Intervention Model for academics and behavior, which supports both students in foster care and the entire student body. This workshop was presented at a conference co-sponsored by the Children's Bureau and the U.S. Department of Education. Workshop materials include the following:

When Working Together Works: Academic Success for Students in Out-of-Home Care (PDF - 416 KB)
Legal Center for Foster Care and Education & National Center for Homeless Education (2010)
Helps educators and child welfare advocates work together to support the academic success of children and youth in out-of-home care. The brief offers practical, proven strategies for collaboratively implementing two Federal laws: the McKinney-Vento Act and the Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act.