Students in Foster Care
The
Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) of 2015, outlines that State Educational Agencies (SEA) hold specific responsibilities aimed at supporting the educational rights and opportunities of students in Foster Care; this also falls within requirements established under Title I, Part A (Title I) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA).
Foster Care student rights include:
- access to immediate enrollment in schools regardless of access to records or additional requirements;
- free transportation to and from school;
- access to free meal services, and
- support engaging in academically and socially enriching activities offered by their school district.
Within this context,
Foster Care is defined as substitute care for children placed by the Department of Human Services or a tribal child welfare agency away from their parents and for whom the department or agency has placement and care responsibility, including:
- Placements in foster family homes,
- Foster homes of relatives,
- Group homes,
- Emergency shelters,
- Residential facilities,
- Child care institutions and
- Pre-adoptive homes
State School District Foster Care Contacts
The Every Student Succeeds (ESSA) Act requires that all school districts identify a Point of Contact assigned to work with staff and provide assistance for students in Foster Care. Each school district in Oregon must also have a designated liaison tasked with overseeing the coordination and application of these supports. This is done through collaboration with caseworkers and other human services representatives, training staff within their districts on the unique needs of students in Foster Care, and engaging with community organizations and agencies to ensure that students and families receive adequate services under ESSA/ESEA. See ODE's ESSA webpage for more details.
ODE
The Foster Care support team runs a Contact list generated from the Continuous Improvement Plan (CIP) Budget Narrative (BN) monthly to maintain accuracy to the fullest extent possible.
List Headers Defined:
-
HL - Homeless Liaison
-
HDA - Homeless District Administrative Contact
-
FC - Foster Care
-
FCT - Foster Care Transportation
Navigation:
- Click on the caret arrow in the primary column to expand or hide details.
- Files can be downloaded and filtered or sorted as desired.
- Questions regarding missing contact information should be directed at the district in question. Websites have been linked for contact details.
District Role & Responsibilities
Districts must submit their Program Contacts on the Continuous Improvement Program Budget Narrative (CIP BN) via the
Central Login Application on the
ODE District Website at the beginning of each new school year.
It opens for updates 8/1 and is due by 10/1.
Updates made between the end of the prior school year and August 1st
will not be reflected in the new SY contact list report.
Districts are responsible for updating the contact information as staff changes occur.
ODE is unable to make updates to district Contact details
ODE CAN add an additional contact to the list. Please email all information under the list headers to fostercare@ode.oregon.gov.
For CIP Budget Narrative updates please connect with your district administration and
District Security Administrator (DSA).
For additional support, districts can refer to the
ODE's CIP Budget Narrative website and
CIP Budget Narrative Quick Start Guide
Districts must ensure that assigned Points of Contact and Liaisons are aware of their role supporting students.
District Contacts are encouraged to attend monthly Office Hours for programmatic support.
See the
District Support header for Zoom link and additional resources.
Public/Community Partners
For additional information or support, please contact the Foster Care team by email at
fostercare@ode.oregon.gov.
Support for Districts, FC Points of Contact, & ESDs
Foundational Knowledge
Technical Assistance
Office Hours
State Foster Care and Transportation Point of Contacts are welcome to join us for Office Hours (OH). This forum offers the opportunity to receive updates to share across the district, connect with other districts to learn about their best practices, and ask questions about the work.
Schedule: Takes place on the 2nd Tuesday of the month, 1:00 - 2:00 pm PT
Coordinators Corner
This is a space for educators to bring scenarios and / or questions to the Foster Care and McKinney-Vento state coordinators. There is no presentation or agenda.
Schedule: Takes place on the 3rd Thursday of each month during the school year 1:30-2:30 pm PT
Newsletter
The Foster Care newsletter is sent to state points of contact after each OH and includes:
- Office Hours meeting slide deck
- Links referenced
- Q & As (questions and answers) from the meeting
- Important updates and the topic for the following month
- Past newsletters can be found in the archive on ODE's
Key Messages webpage by entering 'Foster' in the search box
Support Requests
Due to the high volume of incoming requests for support across the state, we have recently implemented an inquiry tracking system to ensure all requests receive a thorough and timely response. We encourage district contacts to complete the
McKinney-Vento / Foster Care Program Support Request Form for Foster Care related questions or concerns, such as services, district responsibilities, rights of students, etc. The form allows districts to provide context and assist in the preparation and prioritization of responses.
Districts can also email requests and schedule a time to connect via the
Foster Care Booking link.
Foster Care Resources