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Foster Care Liaison Appointment Reminder |
Each school district and open-enrollment charter school in Texas is required to appoint at least one employee to act as an LEA Foster Care Liaison (TEC § 33.904). Both districts and open-enrollment charter schools must keep their LEA Foster Care Liaison's name and contact information updated in AskTED (Ask Texas Education Directory). It is important to take time before the start of each school year to ensure your LEA Foster Care Liaison’s contact information is up to date (and update during the school year, if the contact changes).
How to update information in AskTED:
Districts: Please submit the liaison information to your district’s AskTED administrator. Include the liaison’s name, email address and phone number.
Charter Schools: Please submit the liaison information to the TEA Charter School Division directly via (512) 463-9575 or CharterSchools@tea.texas.gov. Make sure you include the liaison’s name, email address, and phone number. This information will be added to the AskTED directory for you.
More information on the Foster Care Liaison requirement can be found on TEA’s Foster Care website or in the Foster Care and Student Success Resource Guide Chapter 5.
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Did You Know?
DFPS has an email address for obtaining Pre-K verification letters: prekverificationltrs@dfps.texas.gov. Send a message to this inbox if you need to verify Pre-K eligibility for a student currently or formerly in DFPS managing conservatorship. Please have the name of the student and date of birth for verifying the student. You can use the DFPS verification letter to determine the Pre-K eligibility for students in the Texas foster care system. For more information, please go to the Foster Care and Student Success Guide, Chapter 6 (pages 75-76).
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New Foster Care Resources: |
This document defines school of origin, related timelines, best-interest, and related scenarios for making school of origin determinations.
Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) requires designated points of contact for child welfare and education agencies to support school stability for students in foster care (i.e., education best-interest, transportation coordination). The Texas Department of Family Protective Services (DFPS) Educational Specialist serves as the Child Welfare Point of Contact for ESSA purposes. Similarly, the LEA Point of Contact for ESSA, in most instances, is the LEA Foster Care Liaison. This tool maps out the processes, expectations, and timelines for both the education and child welfare systems for communicating this information annually.
This Education-Best Interest Decision-Making tool maps out the processes and expectations for how child welfare and education systems are to work together to make education best-interest decisions, as required by ESSA. The chart describes a variety of child welfare scenarios, details regarding who and when the school will be contacted, what type of information will be collected and clarifies timelines for follow-up, and related information sharing to support collaborative educational best-interest decisions
ESSA requires an expedited dispute resolution process between education and child welfare for Foster Care related matters. This tool maps out the expectations for how child welfare and education systems should work together to resolve issues expeditiously, first addressing the matter locally and escalating to the state if an agreement is not reached. The dispute resolution process should be fair to all parties and reached in an expeditious manner.
Announcements:
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Foster Care & Education Summit:
We would like to bring the Foster Care & Education Summit to every Education Service Center region in the state. If you are interested in hosting or sponsoring this event, please email fostercareliaison@tea.texas.gov.
Foster Care Liaison Highlight:
TEA would like to highlight the great work that is taking place around the state within LEAs. Please consider nominating your district foster care liaison or ESC Foster Care Champion. We want to take the time to show appreciation to those who support our students in foster care. Please submit your nominations to fostercareliaison@tea.texas.gov.
Foster Care Office Hours:
This school year, TEA will offer Statewide Office Hours. The purpose of the office hours is to provide the LEAs with an opportunity to have open dialogue and conversation about foster care related matters. Topics of discussion will center on questions, concerns, issues, and effective practices to support LEAs with addressing the educational needs of students in foster care.
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