Representatives Davis and Bass Introduce Legislation to Help Foster Youth Stay in School

Statement

In the ongoing national effort to provide better opportunities for the nearly 400,000 young people in the U.S. foster care system, Congressman Danny K. Davis (D-IL) and Congresswoman Karen Bass (D-CA) today introduced the "Education Stability for Foster Youth Act," legislation that would address some of the education challenges foster youth face when they enter the foster care system and are forced to change homes and schools or school districts.

Recent studies have found that school aged children in foster care experience on average over three placements, often forcing them to change schools when they change homes. Studies have consistently concluded that foster youth change schools more often than students not in the foster care system, and children who change schools frequently make less academic progress than their peers.

One of the biggest reasons foster youth face delays in enrolling in school when they are initially placed in foster care or when they change homes is lost or misplaced school records. A study in New York City found that 42 percent of foster youth experienced a delay in school enrollment while in foster care, and nearly half experienced a delay because of lost or misplaced records.

But the problem is not unique to New York City. Brian Morgantini attended at least ten schools, including four high schools, since he entered the Pennsylvania foster care system at four-years-old. The constant movements resulted in Brian graduating from high school with only a ninth grade English proficiency. When he applied for college, his prior schools had lost or misplaced many of his academic records, making the application process even more difficult.

"I had no choice but to switch schools," said Brian, who is now 20 and having problems enrolling in college because of issues he faced as a foster youth. "I don't want any more foster youth to have the negative experiences I went through."

The "Education Stability for Foster Youth Act" will address several of the issues that Brian faced as well as the thousands of young people like him by ensuring that foster youth can remain in their current school when they enter care or change placements, allowing immediate enrollment in a new school and prompt access to educational records, requiring local school districts and child welfare agencies to work together to ensure funding for transportation exists to allow students to remain in the school they know.

"We know that school mobility negatively affects educational outcomes for foster youth - diminishing access to academic content, academic supports, school enrichment opportunities, and participation in
extracurricular activities," stated Rep. Davis. "This legislation eliminates key obstacles faced by foster youth to improve educational stability and academic success of foster youth. Ensuring that youth
can remain in their current schools, requiring prompt transfer of relevant documents and credit, and designating a point of contact for foster youth are commonsense policies to improve educational
opportunity for foster youth."

"We need to support foster youth and not put up even more barriers when they are forced to change homes," said Rep. Bass. "As young people are going through dramatic changes that come with entering the
foster care system, allowing them to stay in the school that they know will give them needed stability and will encourage academic success."

In addition to addressing school stability and records, the legislation will assure points of contact for foster youth in both their schools and the child welfare system and will require the Departments of Education and Health and Human Services to report to Congress on the progress made in and remaining barriers to addressing educational stability.

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