Students in Foster Care Need Adults Who Are Actively Involved in Their Education

Photo via Gates Foundation on Flickr

Imagine going through school without an adult to consistently look out for you. Children rely on involved adults to make education decisions on their behalf and ensure that schools meet their needs. Adults have roles that range from routine to critical—from signing field trip permission forms, to ensuring a child is in the correct grade, classes and school, to making sure credits transfer when a child changes schools, to protecting the child’s rights to special education services and due process protections in the school discipline context. 

Unfortunately, children in foster care—especially those living  in residential facilities such as group homes, residential treatment facilities, and hospitals—often have no adult in their lives to serve this role.

Federal special education law—the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act—has long recognized the importance of ensuring that a child has an active, involved decision maker known as a “surrogate parent.” That law authorizes courts and school districts to appoint surrogate parents for children in foster care when there is no parent, guardian or foster parent to serve in that role. In addition, Pennsylvania and California have adopted Juvenile Court Rules which direct juvenile court judges to appoint “Educational Decision Makers” (EDMs) or “Educational Representatives” for children who need them. Yet, even with these laws and rules in place, many students in foster care—and particularly those in residential settings—continue to have no adult to represent them in the education process.

A study of education for youth in residential facilities in Pennsylvania, conducted by Education Law Center-PA in 2009-2010, found that students in residential placements often had no legally authorized adult to inform decisions about what school they would attend or what services they would receive. At that time, the majority of caseworkers surveyed reported that courts rarely or never appointed surrogate parents, and 45% of the caseworkers reported that they acted as surrogate parents for children—despite the fact that federal special education law expressly prohibits them from acting in this role.  

Creating Change for Children in Pennsylvania

“Donna”¹ is an 18-year-old student in foster care in Philadelphia who spent the past several years bouncing between 14 residential placements and seven 7 hospitalizations. Although Donna was already deemed eligible for special education services, there was no adult in her life charged with acting as a parent and making education decisions for her. As a result, Donna did not receive the individualized instruction she needed to help her succeed in school, and she fell even farther behind.

To ensure that Donna and thousands of other children in foster care who are placed in residential facilities have an active, involved adult representing them in the education process, Education Law Center-PA and Juvenile Law Center filed a Complaint with the Pennsylvania Department of Education in February 2013.

As a result of this Complaint, the state Department of Education committed to change its monitoring procedures, issue policy guidance, and hold trainings throughout the Commonwealth to inform school districts of their obligations to make sure all children in care with special education needs have a surrogate parent or EDM. The State also directed the School District of Philadelphia to review the cases of all children in foster care in Philadelphia, or otherwise placed in residential settings within the District, to ensure that an appropriate adult is serving as a special education decision maker for each child.    

What Can You Do To Help?

If you are an educator, case worker, child advocate, judge, or other professional working with a child in the foster care system, ask questions to identify the adult who has been signing any Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) and making education decisions for the child. If a child in foster care appears to lack a legally authorized decision maker, raise this issue in family court.  If the child is or may be eligible for special education, you can also contact the special education coordinator in your school or district to inquire about appointing a surrogate parent. 

For more information, visit the Legal Center on Foster Care and Education’s series on special education decision making. 

¹ Name has been changed to protect privacy.