Our Foster Youth Services Coordinating Program (FYSCP) is designed to improve academic achievement, reduce discipline problems, and reduce truancy and dropout rates among foster youth.

Need for Services

• Foster youth have critical needs which often go unmet.
• Over 75 percent of foster youth students’ work is below grade level.
• 50 percent are retained at least one year in school.
• Students typically move more than once a year and attend 9-10 different schools before they turn 18.
• A high percentage of students qualify for special education services; however, their high mobility rate interferes with their timely and appropriate placement.
   

Services Provided by the Grant

• Acquire health and educational records for youth residing in foster care placement.
• Provide educational mentors for foster youth who face multiple school challenges including advocacy, academic support, and referrals for tutoring.
• Offer staff development training on Special Education, AB 490 and other laws that benefit foster youth.
• Provide technical assistance to districts by supporting academic goals for foster youth as identified in Local Control Accountability Plans (LCAP).
• Provide educational support by participating in Alameda County Social Services Agency Child & Family Team Meetings and Transitional Living Conferences and assistance with school enrollment, transition, and district graduation requirements.

Partial Credit Model Policy

One major barrier to high school graduation is schools’ failure to issue partial credits to foster youth who transfer schools mid-semester, despite laws requiring them to do so. California’s Partial Credit Model Policy: Improving the Educational Outcome of Foster Youth (pdf) provides guidance on how to issue and accept partial credits.

Federal and state laws require immediate enrollment even without proof of residency, medical, school or legal guardianship records, if a child lacks "fixed, regular and adequate housing." This includes children who have been displaced by disasters.

The McKinney-Vento Act exists to ensure the educational rights and protections for children and youth experiencing homelessness, and protect the rights of students to enroll and/or stay in school even when housing becomes uncertain.

The district protects the dignity of families in transition by following McKinney-Vento district procedures (including confidentiality), especially if a child is living in a shelter, motel, vehicle, trailer or on the street, in an abandoned building, campground or any other inadequate accommodation, including "couch surfing"(having no permanent address), or living doubled up (or tripled up) with friends or relatives due to loss of housing, economic hardship or an extremely limited income in an area with a severe shortage of affordable housing.

KEY INFORMATION

• Enrollment within 24 hours
• Free/Reduced Meals
• Remove Barriers to Education
• Provide School Supplies, Transportation, Support Service Referrals
   

According to the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, you are homeless if you live:

• In a shelter (family, domestic violence, or youth shelter or transitional living program)
• In a motel, hotel, or weekly rate housing
• In shared housing with more than one family because of economic hardship or loss
• In an abandoned building, in a car, at a campground, or on the street
• In substandard housing (without electricity, water, or heat)
• With friends or family because you are a runaway or an unaccompanied youth

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

The National Association for the Education of Homeless Children & Youth  |  Foster Youth Education Toolkit  |  Foster Care Transition Toolkit   |  Homeless Liaison Toolkit   |  Homeless Education Information & Rights 

The Alameda County Office of Education (ACOE) assists SPaS schools and Alameda County schools and districts in addressing systemic barriers to improve student attendance and decrease student absenteeism, thus enhancing student academic achievement, college and career readiness, and social-emotional well-being.

Resources

Attendance Success Plan Worksheets   |  Attendance Works  |  Tiered Approach Strategies  |  Child Welfare & Attendance  |  Dropout Prevention  |  Truancy