This Michigan Educator Resource Guide for Understanding and Implementing LEA Stability for High School Youth Experiencing Foster Care is comprehensive. In addition to B.I.D.s, LEAs can “check in with youth to find out if they need support advocating with school staff, including teachers and coaches, to avoid unnecessary consequences” as a result of challenges due to foster care placement. (p. 5) There are also tips regarding attendance support, trauma-informed practices, and school discipline. Id. 

The Children’s Bureau (CB), within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, released an Information Memorandum (IM) in 2023 regarding interagency collaboration between child welfare and educational agencies to support the academic success of children and youth in foster care, including federal law, state and local POCs, data sharing and reporting, school enrollment and  school stability, B.I.D.s, transportation, and social emotional well-being.

Attendance Works has various resources on increasing attendance - including template Success Plans and toolkits for educators.

There are various federal programs that might be available to support youth at-risk of dropping out of school, including the TRIO Programs and Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR UP). 

The National Dropout Prevention Center (NDPC) offers a wide range of resources and services to schools, districts, regional agencies, and states to improve graduation rates.  

In Kentucky, the Truancy Diversion Program uses a multidisciplinary team to assist students at risk of being charged with truancy because of too many unexcused absences. The team consists of judges, court staff, and school personnel who help students improve attendance and successfully engage in their educational experience.

In Washoe County, Nevada, Achievements Unlocked matches students in foster care with tutors and educational advocates, resulting in more students on track to graduate. This multidisciplinary team model changes the educational trajectory of students in foster care by providing advocacy, tutoring, mentoring, and case management to high school-aged foster youth. In addition to being paired with a tutor who comes directly to the foster home, each youth is also paired with an Educational Advocate (EA) to ensure educational services and interventions match the youth’s needs.

The Treehouse - Graduation Success Program in Washington State supports foster youth high school students through high school graduation. In this program, Education Specialists and Treehouse-trained mentors each support a caseload of about 20 high school students. They meet weekly with youth to coach them in education planning, building self-advocacy and problem-solving skills, and to support each youth in setting and making progress towards personally meaningful goals. The Education Specialist also ensures that students have access to needed resources, guide youth as they explore career options and map out their plans through high school graduation and beyond.  

Kids In School Rule (KISR!) is a multi-system collaboration between Cincinnati Public Schools (CPS), Hamilton County Department of Job and Family Services (JFS), Hamilton County Juvenile Court, Best Point Education & Behavioral Health, and the Legal Aid Society of Greater Cincinnati. KISR! provides a holistic web of supports to ensure the educational stability and success of students under JFS custody attending CPS using data-driven interventions. The partnership provides a host of supports to students in foster care including child welfare agency-based education specialists who liaison with caseworkers and school building based foster care liaisons. The education specialists use real-time data to track students’: attendance, discipline, grades, standardized test results, and graduation progress. The most recent data analyzed shows a decrease in disciplinary referrals. 

This program, piloted in Jefferson County, Colorado, was launched in 2021 to address the low graduation rate of students living in foster care. In this evidence-based intervention, specialists hired by the school district check in weekly with students in foster care, ensure that caregivers and caseworkers have timely information about students’ educational progress, and consult with teachers on supporting students’ success in trauma-informed ways. Students participating in the program demonstrated statistically significant improvements- including an increased likelihood for students to graduate with their class and fewer suspensions.  

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