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Foster

The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) of 2015, included significant amendments to Title I, Part A designed to provide school stability and immediate enrollment to children in foster care.  The Title I foster care provisions apply to ALL children in foster care enrolled in schools in the educational agency.

  • “Foster Care” means 24-hour substitute care for all children placed away from their parents or guardians and for whom the child welfare agency has placement and care responsibility.
  • Includes placements in foster family homes, foster homes of relatives, group homes, emergency shelters, residential facilities, childcare institutions, and pre-adoptive homes.
  • A child in foster care regardless of whether the foster care facility is licensed and payments are made by the State, Tribal, or local agency for the care of the child, whether adoption subsidy payments are being made prior to the finalization of an adoption, or whether there is Federal matching of any payments that are made. (45 C.F.R. § 1355.20(a)).
  • Reauthorizes and amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA)
  • Requires States to report on achievement and graduation rates for children in foster care
  • Removed “awaiting foster care placement” from the definition of a homeless child or youth under the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act
  • Includes new foster care provisions that complement requirements in the Fostering Connections Act.

For more information concerning services or enrollment for children in foster care, please contact:

Mr. Matthew Orchard, Foster Liaison-Director of Human Resources and Student Service

305 Valley View Drive, West Plains, MO 65775

Phone: 417-256-6150  Fax: 417-256-8616

Email: matthew.orchard@zizzers.org