Educational Improvement Initiative for Children In Foster Care

About the Program

Category: Human Services (Best in Category)

Year: 2010

The Educational Improvement Initiative aimed to improve educational continuity and stability for children in foster care in Catawba County, NC. The county focused on six specific initiatives. First it wished to establish a communication protocol and identify school designees in 44 schools in order to minimize school moves for foster children or facilitate their school record transfers. In addition, the county also coordinated a database to capture these students’ school progress or special needs. Officials began including educational information in school reports, which in turn raised awareness of the educational needs of children in foster care among child welfare and educational staff. This also led to a focus on the special education needs of children in foster care. Finally, the county established an Educational Advocate position at Catawba County Social Services to assure the coordination of transportation, school enrollment and information sharing. Results from these six initiatives include a reduction in the school move rate for children entering foster care in Catawba County from 24 percent to 6 percent in 2009, compared to the national average of 66 percent of children experiencing school moves. In addition, while 50 percent of children in care were behind their grade level educationally, after tracking educational progress, 79 percent of children in 2009 either maintained a passing grade or improved a letter grade in the subject area of need.