Fostering Connections and Education: Funding Transportation

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• Fostering Connections and Education Funding
  Transportation
• Kathleen McNaught
• American Bar Association Center on Children and
  the Law
• Fostering Connections Resource Center - Webinar
  Series
• July 13, 2010

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Overview of Webinar

• Review of webinar features and QA tools
• Overview of Fostering Connections Resource Center
• Review of Fostering Connections law and education
  stability provisions of the Act
• Focus on addressing transportation to keep
  children in their current schools.
• Wrap-up

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Webinar logistics and QA

• Control Panel features
• Grab tab click on the arrows to open/close
  control panel throughout the presentation.
• Questions pane
• How to ask a question
• Type a question for presenters into the text box
  at the bottom of the question pane and hit SEND
• If we are unable to respond to you during the
  session, we will follow up after the presentation

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About the Fostering Connections Resource Center

• Mission The Fostering Connections Resource
  Center is dedicated to providing timely and
  reliable tools and information on all aspects of
  the Fostering Connections Act to ensure that
  state, tribal and local decision makers are
  well-informed about the new law and that they
  receive maximum support as they plan for and
  carry out its implementation.
• Supported through generous contributions of
• The Annie E Casey Foundation
• Casey Family Programs
• Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption
• Duke Endowment
• Eckerd Family Foundation
• Jim Casey Youth Opportunities Initiative
• Sierra Health Foundation
• Stuart Foundation
• Walter S. Johnson Foundation

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What does the Resource Center provide?

• Nonpartisan data and resources on each section of
  the bill
• A user-friendly website at www.fosteringconnection
  s.org serves as a central clearinghouse of
  customized tools and information, such as policy
  and budget analyses, an up-to-date list of
  federal guidance, implementation toolkits,
  research briefs, and examples of best practices
  and legislative approaches.  
• Individualized technical assistance 
• The Resource Center responds directly to
  questions from state and tribal leaders and can
  connect decision makers with other experts and TA
  providers
•  
• Monitoring of implementation activity
• Visitors to www.fosteringconnections.org can stay
  up-to-date on federal regulatory activity on
  implementation, events in the field,
  congressional oversight hearings and learn about
  best practices and state and tribal approaches to
  implementation
• Opportunities to communicate with experts and
  peers 
• Subscribe to mailing lists, join webinars and
  online discussion forums and stay informed about
  major events and conferences hosted by the
  Resource Center and its many collaborating
  organizations.

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Resource Center Networks Collaborating Partners

• Partners play a central role in the efforts of
  the Resource Center. The Resource Center hosts
  and manages six national networks of state-based
  stakeholders who help us stay abreast of key
  questions and concerns regarding implementation,
  identify best practices, and assist in the
  delivery and dissemination of tools and
  resources.
• Networks are managed by issue experts at the
  Resource Center who work with a leading partner
  organization
• Kinship/Guardianship Jennifer Miller/Childrens
  Defense Fund
• Education Madelyn Freundlich/ABA Legal Center for
  Foster Care and Education
• Adoption Kerry DeVooght/North American Council on
  Adoptable Children
• Health Marci McCoy-Roth/National Academy for
  State Health Policy
• Older Youth Barbara Langford/National Foster Care
  Coalition
• Tribal Madelyn Freundlich/National Indian Child
  Welfare Association
• More than 25 national organizations serving as
  collaborating partners
• We welcome the opportunity to feature resources
  by and contact information for state tribal
  organizations. Contact us at info_at_fosteringconnec
  tions.org

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Legal Center for Foster Care and Education

• Created by the ABA and the Juvenile Law Center
  and Education Law Center, in collaboration with
  Casey Family Programs, and, most recently, the
  Annie E. Casey Foundation.
• A national technical assistance resource and
  information clearinghouse on legal and policy
  matters affecting the education of children and
  youth in out-of-home care
• Website www.abanet.org/child/education
• Listserv, Conference Calls, Publications,
  Searchable Database

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Sweeping federal reforms for children and families

• The Fostering Connections to Success and
  Increasing Adoptions Act (P.L. 110-351)
• Signed into law on October 7, 2008
• Most significant federal reforms for abused and
  neglected children in more than a decade

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Education Stability Provision of FC

• The childs case plan must include
• assurances that the placement of a child in
  foster care takes into account the
  appropriateness of the current educational
  setting and the proximity to the school in which
  the child is enrolled at the time of placement.

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Keeping Children Living in Their School
Communities

• This is best practice, even outside of the school
  context. School stability is added benefit.
• Need for targeted recruitment of resource
  families within school communities and
  boundaries.
• Examples from field
• GEO mapping
• Illinois- School Minder program

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Education Stability Provisions of FC

• assurance that the state or local child welfare
  agency has coordinated with appropriate local
  education agencies to ensure that the child
  remains enrolled in the school in which the child
  was enrolled at the time of placement.
• If remaining in the same school is not in the
  best interest of the child, assurances by the
  State agency and the local education agencies to
  provide immediate and appropriate enrollment in a
  new school, with all of the education records of
  the child provided to the school.

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Topics Not the Focus of this Call

• How to determine best interest
• School Selection for Students in Out-of-Home
  Care This brief provides a framework for for
  assessing best interest when selecting a school
  for students in out-of-home care.
  http//www.serve.org/nche/downloads/briefs/school_
  sel_in_care.pdf
• Reminder cost of transportation CANNOT be a
  factor in determining best interest.
• Immediate Enrollment in a new school
• Decision making and dispute resolution
• Liaisons and points of contact in the agencies

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How Many Children Will Need Transportation?

• Remember Not all children in care will require
  transportation to remain in their same
  school.
• Total of children in care
• minus not yet school age minus
  graduated/left HS
• minus placed within the school
  boundaries
• minus in their BI to be immediately
  enrolled in new school
• minus covered under McKinney Vento
• minus have transport. in IEP
• EQUALS of children who may need
  transportation to remain in current school
  

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McKinney Vento

• McKinney Vento Homeless Assistance Act
• 42 U.S.C. 11431 et. seq.
• Purpose ensure that children and youth in
  homeless
• situations receive a free, appropriate public
  education, and
• remove obstacles that delay enrollment or prevent
  access.
• Student remains in school of origin if in best
  interest to do so or gains immediate access to
  new school.
• School of Origin defined - the school the child
  or youth attended when permanently housed or the
  school last enrolled.
• Best interest determinations must be made
• Once eligible applies for remainder of school
  year or for period of eligibility
• Transportation must be provided to remain in
  school

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McKinney-Vento and Foster Care

• Homeless children and youth means individuals
  who lack a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime
  residence and includes
• children living in emergency or transitional
  shelters
• children abandoned in hospitals
• Unaccompanied homeless youth
• children awaiting foster care placement
• No federal definition of children awaiting
• foster care placement (AFCP)
• up to states to determine

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MV and FC Resources

• State AFCP Chart
• For a list of all states with an AFCP definition,
  please see http//www.abanet.org/child/education/p
  ublications/afcp_chart_5_11_10.doc
• Q A Overlap between MV and FC
• For a factsheet detailing the overlap of the two
  laws, please see
• http//www.abanet.org/child/education/publication
  s/qa_fc_and_mv_overlap_final.pdf
• Two Issue Briefs
• Clearing the Path to School Success for Students
  in Out-of-Home Care - This brief provides basic
  information about the McKinney-Vento Act and
  Fostering Connections Act and provides case
  studies to outline the overlap of these laws in
  providing for school success.
• When Working Together Works - This brief is
  designed to help educators and child welfare
  advocates work together to support the academic
  success of children and youth in out-of-home
  care. The brief offers practical, proven
  strategies for implementing the Fostering
  Connections and McKinney-Vento Acts
  collaboratively.

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Summary Comparing McKinney-Vento to Fostering
Connections

• McKinney-Vento Act (Education Law NCLB)
• Requires school districts to ensure school
  stability, provide transportation to school of
  origin, pendency in school of choice while
  disputes are resolved, immediate enrollment, help
  of school liaisons to enroll, access to Title I,
  comparable services etc.
• Fostering Connections (Child Welfare Title IV-E)
  
• Requires caseworkers to consider proximity and
  appropriateness of prior school in placing
  children AND to ensure school stability unless
  remaining in same school is not in childs best
  interest. Transportation is permissible CW cost
  no liaisons, no clear mandate on Education
  HOWEVER, they have a duty to cooperate to ensure
  stability.

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Special Education transportation in an IEP

• When a child in care is eligible for special
  education services under the IDEA, he/she must
  have an Individualized Education Program (IEP)
  developed that outlines the childs education
  needs and services, including related services.
• Related services are services that will allow the
  child benefit from his/her special education
  program.
• Transportation is an allowable related service in
  an IEP, as long as the IEP team determines it is
  necessary for the child to benefit from the
  special education program.
• Therefore, while the inclusion of transportation
  as a related service in an IEP might help support
  school stability, the core reason for that
  transportation to be included must be related to
  the special education needs of the child.

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Focus for Today

• Children who it is in their best interest to
  remain in the school enrolled at the time of
  placement
• AND
• Continuing that enrollment will require some form
  of transportation.

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Big Picture

• Education stability requirements apply to all
  children in care, not just IV-E eligible kids
• If child welfare agencies must ENSURE children
  stay in their current school, (and it is in their
  best interest to do so), then it follows that
  they are ultimately responsible to ENSURE, when
  it is needed, that transportation is provided.
• Costs must be addressed can be through Child
  Welfare or Education funding alone, or
  collaboration across agencies to fund this
  transportation.
• Fostering Connections requires collaboration
  across agencies. Intent is that collaboration
  occur around the issue of transportation.
• The dependency court has the ability to ensure
  school stability for children in care, including
  ensuring child welfare agency has a documented
  plan for education stability, and ensuring
  transportation is provided when necessary.

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Some Examples of Additional Transportation
Needed, but No Additional Cost

• Child moves within same school district to
  different school, but transportation exists
  across district for other reasons.
• Child moves to new school district, but can cross
  street or be dropped at a bus stop close by to
  access old districts existing transportation
  system.
• Adding a bus stop to a preexisting bus route.
• School district bus routes converge
• Example Louisiana
• Adult in the childs life whose existing commute
  complements the childs transportation need

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Example of Transportation that Does Require
Additional Costs

• Foster parent, relative or other significant
  adult provides transportation but needs
  reimbursement for mileage
• Agency provides youth or caretaker bus passes or
  other public transportation vouchers
• Agency contracts with private transportation
  company to provide bus/van/car
• School reroutes, or adds bus to fleet to
  accommodate new transportation need

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What FC Says about Transportation Costs

• The term foster care maintenance payments
  includes reasonable travel for the child to
  remain in the school in which the child is
  enrolled at the time of placement.

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IV-E Transportation Reminders and Issues

• REMINDERS
• Use of IV-E dollars applies only to IV-E eligible
  children (although case plan requirement to
  ensure school stability applies to ALL children
  in care)
• Permissible use of Administrative OR Maintenance
  Dollars (although to ensure child stays in same
  school is a requirement)
• Requires state to fund match for IV-E eligible
  children
• No federal reimbursement to support
  transportation for non IV-E eligible children.
• ISSUES
• What about other transportation costs related to
  remaining in school at the time of placement?
• How can reimbursements be calculated?
• How is all of this working in states?

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Administrative Cost AND Maintenance Cost

• Oct 2008 FCSIAA added school transportation to
  foster care maintenance payment definition.
• July 2010 Fostering Connections Program
  Instruction
• Clarified these costs include initial placement
  in care as well as subsequent placements.
• Clarified that payment can be paid to the childs
  provider, or a separate payment directly to the
  transportation provider.
• Clarified that transportation for a child to
  remain in their school of origin is also an
  allowable Title IV-E administrative cost (CWPM
  8.1B).
• Guidance confirms that this transportation is
  allowable under either cost. This would allow
  for greatest flexibility for the states to
  achieve education stability for children.

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Administrative Cost or Maintenance Cost?

• For both maintenance or administrative
• Only can be used for IV-E eligible children.
• To find out what percentage of children are IV-E
  in your state check here
• http//cwla.org/advocacy/childreninfostercarerepo
  rt08.pdf
• Differences between maintenance and
  administrative costs
• Maintenance match rate varies by state between
  50 and 83 Administrative rate for all states
  is 50
• For your state maintenance match rate check here
• http//aspe.hhs.gov/health/fmap11.pdf
• Before the ARRA bump, 23 states had FMAP rates
  between 50 and 55 these states may prefer to
  claim as administrative costs.

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Maintenance Payments

• Transportation for reasonable travel for the
  child to remain in the school in which the child
  is enrolled at the time of placement is an
  allowable separate item of expense under IV-E
  maintenance.
• The cost of local transportation associated with
  providing food, clothing, shelter, daily
  supervision, school supplies, and a childs
  personal incidentals is allowable and presumably
  included in the basic title IV-E foster care
  maintenance payment.
• CWPM 8.3B, QA 4

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Transportation to Extra Curricular Activities

• other transportation associated with the childs
  attendance at his/her school of origin is an
  allowable administrative cost under Title IV-E
  because such transportation is related to case
  management and therefore necessary for the proper
  and efficient administration of the title IV-E
  state plan CWPM 8.1B
• cost of transportation to and from extra
  curricular activities that substitute for daily
  supervision is also allowable and presumed to be
  included in the basic title IV-E foster care
  maintenance payment. CWPM 8.3B Q4.

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How to Calculate Reimbursements

• Can you use IV-E dollars to reimburse other
  entities that provide transportation for the
  child?
• Short answer is yes, BUT
• When using IV-E dollars, must be able to connect
  directly to the IV-E eligible child.
• May need to devise formulas for determining cost
  per child
• Much will depend on how your state designs and
  structures your IV-E maintenance and
  administrative payments.

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Transportation Checklist Answers You Need to
Know about Your State

• TRANSPORTATION GENERALLY
• How many school aged foster children do we have?
• What percent are placed within school boundaries?
• What percent are placed at such far distances, or
  have other reasons for it not to be in best
  interest to remain in original school?
• What is our state MV policy and/or definition of
  AFCP?
• What of children in care with IEPs have
  transportation as a related service? Of those,
  what percent of those would address school
  stability?
• What are our state and school district policies
  for all students about transporting children
  within a school district? Between school
  districts? What about unique policies for
  children in care?

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Transportation Checklist Answers You Need to
Know about Your State

• IV-E SPECIFIC
• What of children in care are IV-E eligible?
• What is your state FMAP rate?
• How are your IV-E maintenance payments
  structured? Can transportation costs be added to
  core payment? Can a separate payment be made?
• How are your IV-E administrative payments
  structured? Does it make sense in your state to
  claim transportation costs as administrative or
  maintenance costs?
• Who will be actually providing the additional
  transportation needed to keep kids in their same
  schools? Will there be a number of methods used?
  
• When schools or other entities are providing the
  additional transportation, do you have a formula
  that allows for calculation of the specific costs
  for that IV-E eligible child?
• If you are in a IV-E waiver state, do provisions
  of your waiver impact how these payments can be
  calculated or made?

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Key Themes from our State Examples

• Collaboration is critical to success of laws and
  policies
• Flexibility is necessary to allow for most
  effective implementation
• Need to articulate clear responsibility for costs
  and in what circumstances
• Designation of additional dollars, beyond the use
  of IV-E, is necessary to serve all children in
  care who may need transportation

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Example Connecticut

• New school stability law effective July 1, 2010
  SB 31
• http//www.cga.ct.gov/2010/ACT/PA/2010PA-00160-R0
  0SB-00031-PA.htm
• When in the child's best interests to remain in
  his or her school of origin (SOO)
• DCF and the board of education for such SOO shall
  collaborate on a transportation plan for such
  child from the town in which the child is placed
  to such SOO.
• The DCF shall be responsible for any additional
  or extraordinary cost of such transportation
  beyond that to which the child would otherwise
  have access.
• The DCF shall maximize federal reimbursements
  under Title IV-E of the Social Security Act, as
  amended, for costs of transporting Title IV-E
  eligible children.
• The DCF and the board of education for the SOO
  shall consider cost-effective, reliable and safe
  transportation options.

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Connecticut cont

• Approximately 3 million dollars allocated in the
  state budget to support child welfare agencies in
  providing transportation to keep children in
  their same schools.
• State child welfare agency is developing an RFP
  to seek bidders for the transportation contract
  contract will require
• A transportation coordinator
• Various configurations of transportation must be
  provided, including buses with monitors various
  sized passenger vans, and private car options.

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Example Minnesota

• DHS Bulletin 10-68-05 issued June 14, 2010
• Education Stability for Children in Foster Care
• http//www.dhs.state.mn.us/main/groups/publication
  s/documents/pub/dhs16_150905.pdf
• Financial Claims for Transportation Costs
• Child welfare agency should work with foster
  parents to provide transportation
• Can be an increase in Difficulty of Care level
  of care
• Can be a separate payment to the foster parent
• Can be a separate payment to another provider
• Could be the local school district
• Allowing for retroactive reimbursement from Oct
  2008 will have data systems updated to allow for
  future electronic submissions

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Examples Butte San Diego Counties, CA

• Both are models of collaborative approaches to
  ensuring foster children and youth receive
  transportation, using a case-by-case strategy,
  and access McKinney-Vento funds when applicable.
  Otherwise, costs are distributed among many
  parties.
• In San Diego, the cost of transportation is
  usually covered by an equal split between the
  school district of residence and the school
  district of origin. Social workers coordinate
  transportation for individual foster children and
  youth, which may take the form of reimbursing
  foster parents for mileage, paying for public
  transportation, or allowing child welfare or
  school district personnel to provide
  transportation.
• Butte County relies on a 5-way cost sharing plan
  among the Butte County Office of Ed, the
  Childrens Service Division of the Department of
  Social and Employment Services, the foster family
  agency, the district of attendance, and the
  district of residency. The logistics are
  coordinated through a central person in the
  Office of Ed who determines the type of
  transportation necessary.

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Example Philadelphia, PA

• Department of Human Services (DHS), School
  District of Philadelphia, and Family Court
  collaborative
• Joint Protocol between DHS and School District
• Children placed in new home within 1.5 radius of
  school
• Foster parent/provider responsible for taking
  child to school
• Eligible for reimbursement
• Children placed outside of 1.5 radius of school
  District pays
• Public transit explored
• DHS submits request to guidance counselor to
  submit busing form (up to 6th grade)
• DHS submits request for counselor to provide
  transpass (7th grade and up)
• Emergency, overnight, respite, or temporary
  placements
• Child automatically remains in school of origin
• Complex cases
• Consultation with DHS Education Support Center

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Contact Information

• ABA Center on Children and the Law
• Legal Center for Foster Care and Education
• www.abanet.org/child/education
• Kathleen McNaught
• Project Director
• mcnaughk_at_staff.abanet.org

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We invite your questions

• The Resource Center is pleased to answer
  questions about any topic related to
  implementation. Please email questions to
  info_at_fosteringconnections.org
• The Resource Center can also broker or offer
  limited technical assistance to agencies. Again,
  please send inquiries to info_at_fosteringconnections
  .org.
• You can also contact the Legal Center for Foster
  Care and Education directly at ccleducation_at_staff.
  abanet.org.

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More than 500 state and national resources
available

• Fostering Connections Resource Center
• Visit www.fosteringconnections.org to access
  tools, analyses, and other information on each
  provision of the Act.
• Legal Center for Foster Care and Education
• Visit http//www.abanet.org/child/education/public
  ations/fosteringconnections.html to access
  numerous tools and resources related to state
  implementation of the education provisions of the
  Act.

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Thank you please come again

• Copies of this presentation, as well as an audio
  recording, will be available on
  www.fosteringconnections.org
• Next FCRC webinars August 10th at 1pm and August
  12th at 330pm on Tribal issues (presented by
  the Resource Center and the National Indian Child
  Welfare Association) Sign up at
  www.fosteringconnections.org
• Discussion forum We invite you to join a new
  LinkedIn Group Discussion Forum  Fostering
  Connections Implementation Working Group. You
  can find a user guide to LinkedIn and register
  for the Fostering Connections Group at
  http//www.fosteringconnections.org/resources?id0
  007
• The Fostering Connections Discussion Group offers
  subgroups on kinship, guardianship, adoption,
  older youth, education, health, training and
  Tribal topics.
• Contact us
• - Fostering Connections Resource Center,
  info_at_fosteringconnections.org
• Legal Center for Foster Care and Education,
  network partner
• mcnaughk_at_staff.abanet.org
• Madelyn Freundlich, Network Manager
  mdf_at_excalconsulting.com