Students in Foster Care
Per the Every Student Succeeds Act of 2015, 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 Foster Care Liaisons / Points of Contact
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 experiencing houselessness.
Each school district 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 district on the unique needs of students in Foster Care, and engaging with community organizations and agencies to ensure that students and families are receiving adequate services under ESSA/ESEA. See
ODE's ESSA webpage for more details.
- District contact information is due at the beginning of each school year (see
Updating District Contact Information below for further details).
Roles / Responsibilities
Foster Care Point of Contact / Liaison
Each district Foster Care POCs / Liaisons must:
- Collaborate with caseworkers, Resource parents, Tribes, and community partners;
- Train school staff on their role in supporting students in Foster Care; and
- Engage with ODE on matters of professional development and technical assistance (see
Office Hours information below).
District
Districts are responsible for maintaining current information as staff changes occur and for ensuring Points of Contact are aware of their role.
ODE
To maintain accuracy, ODE runs a monthly contact list report generated from the data entered into the 2024-25 SY
Continuous Improvement Plan (CIP) Budget Narrative (BN) Application and updates our list accordingly. If you have submitted an update not yet reflected, please let us know.
2024-25 Foster Care Contact Lists
List Headers
HL - Homeless Liaison
HDA - Homeless District Administrative Contact
FC - Foster Care
FCT - Foster Care Transportation
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
Office Hours take place on the 2nd Tuesday of the month, 1:00 - 2:00 pm PT
-
Zoom Registration is required, and attendance is
limited to state education contacts
-
Emails that do not belong to a district are subject to removal (contact us if you have a question about participation eligibility)
Newsletter
The Foster Care newsletter is sent to state points of contact within two weeks 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
- The ODE
Federal Programs team sends a weekly Office Hour reminder on multiple topics to subscribers of the
Title I-A newsletter
Contact us
If you need additional information or support, you may contact the Foster Care team by email: fostercare@ode.oregon.gov or
Schedule a time to connect via the
Foster Care Booking link.
Foster Care Resources
Foundational Knowledge