Every Student Succeeds Act and Foster Youth as Students

The Every Students Succeeds Act (ESSA), signed by then President Obama in 2015, includes significant protections and supports for foster youth, who are an extremely vulnerable and underperforming population of students.  Leaning heavily on the mandates outlined within ESSA, Indiana has established a highly collaborative process between child welfare and education state-level agencies, and the local schools/corporations to help identify and provide increased stability for foster youth. 

Individuals participating in this webinar can expect the following:

• Learn about the specific requirements of ESSA as they relate to foster youth.
• Learn who the state points of contact are for foster youth at the Department of Child Services and the Indiana Department of Education, and have access to their contact information.
• Learn about requirements for local foster care points of contact within each school/corporation.
• Learn about collaborative process for determining educational best interest placement for foster youth.
• Understand the difference between the school of origin and transitional school/corporation, and their responsibilities in supporting foster youth through ESSA.
• Learn about resources to increase knowledge and application of ESSA to support foster youth.

Guest speakers, Melaina Gant, M.Ed, Department of Child Services, and Jeff Wittman, Indiana Department Of Education, will be sharing information about how to serve foster youth across Indiana in a manner that helps them to reach their unique potential.