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As the school year comes to a close, we just wanted to say Thank You to all of you for your hard work and dedication to students in foster care. We know there have been challenges for our school districts this year, along with highlights, and we are grateful for you and all that you do. It’s been a privilege to work alongside our school districts and partners this year!
We want to make sure we are supporting you in the best possible way and have some exciting efforts underway over the summer for the 2023-2024 school year. Please remember to take a few minutes to fill out the Needs Assessment (below) so we can identify areas where we can better serve you.
We hope you have a well-deserved, relaxing, fun-filled summer break!
Needs Assessment
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As the Foster Care Education Program team begins planning for the 2023-2024 school year, we want to hear from the foster care liaisons and building points of contact! Those of you working with our students have valuable input and feedback that will help guide our work. Please take about 10-15 minutes to fill out the survey for us. We greatly appreciate it! |
Building Points of Contact
Building Points of Contact now posted on our website!
Under RCW 28A.320.148 each K-12 public school in the state must establish a building point of contact in each elementary school, middle school, and high school. These points of contact are responsible for coordinating services and resources for students in foster care.
Due to this requirement, we are now asking school districts to have their building points of contacts to provide information letting us know which district and school they are at.
Please review the excel document for your district and make sure that your Building Points of Contact are correct.
If you have any questions please reach out to Savanna Cavalletto at Savanna.Cavalletto@k12.wa.us.
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This is not for Foster Care Liaisons, just Building Points of Contact.
Remember, each school should have a building point of contact that is in the school. Having one building point of contact for numerous schools is not in line with the RCW.
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Enrollment File and CEDARS Report
At the beginning of each school year, we see a void in knowing who our foster care students are due to the lack of enrollment file. For some context to those of you who may be new in this position, at the beginning of each school year, (usually by October), each school district is required to submit to OSPI the current fall enrollment file (for all students). Once OSPI has that file, it can identify the foster care students through CEDARS. But until OSPI has that file, foster care students won't be identified through CEDARS and the report will show no results.
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To try to troubleshoot some of the issues the enrollment file creates, we ask you to pull your CEDARS report in the spring so you will have a general idea of who your students in foster care are. This will give you a base to have in the beginning of the next school year to work from to serve students.
Put a reminder on your calendar now and reach out to us if you have any questions.
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Youth Diversion Infrastructure Project - Flex Funds
The Youth Diversion Infrastructure Project (YDIP) is intended to support young people exiting Systems of Care get access to flexible funding quickly and efficiently when they are supported in finding a housing solution that is right for them!
We have partnered with five community partners in five counties (see Clark, Pierce, Spokane, Yakima, and Walla Walla) to be the Fiscal Administers of these funds that can be accessed by anyone in the community after doing a Certification training.
The training outlines the Housing Diversion/creative problem-solving approach that promotes key principles of youth-centered engagement, strengths-based Motivational interviewing, and Trauma-informed Care. The goal is to get as many folks trained up in a community who may be supporting a young person in transitioning out of a System of Care so that they don’t experience homelessness!
- YYA eligibility:
- young people under the age of 25 who are in need of safe & stable housing; AND
- who have exited or are currently/imminently exiting a system of care.
- Systems of care include:
- child welfare systems/foster care;
- juvenile detention/rehabilitation;
- adult detention/jail;
- in-patient & outpatient behavioral health facilities;
- select OHY-funded programs (HOPE Centers, Crisis Resolution Centers, Transitional Living Facilities (16+), Housing Stability for Youth in Courts, System of Care grants);
- psychiatric hospitals/mental health crisis centers/substance rehab centers;
- ERs for a behavioral health crisis
- Broad list of allowable expenses for flexible assistance so long as 1) there is a direct line between that cost and a housing solution, and 2) the housing solution can be implemented within 30 days (flexibility here as needed).
- Anyone who attends the Youth Prevention & Diversion Certification training can access the fund
- Once a Fiscal Administrator receives a Fund Request from the online portal, they will notify the provider with 24 hours that the request is received and if there is additional clarification/documentation is needed; the average processing time from YDIP’s sister
- Diversion is intended to be a fast, light-touch, low-barrier approach, and hence, this project does not focus on wraparound supports BUT we don’t discourage Fiscal Admins and Requester agencies to explore these as needed and non-conditionally to accessing the YDIP Flex Fund.
Treehouse: Ask an Advocate
This is a space for Social workers, Treehouse employees and other community partners to drop in and ask educational questions for students experiencing foster care. The goal is to create a community discussion around education barriers for fosters and how to resolve them. We will also help direct providers on making a referral if direct intervention is necessary.
Taking place every other Friday from 12:00p.m. to 1:00 p.m.
· June 9th
· June 23rd
· July 7th
OSPI Foster Care Education Office 360-725-6505| fostercare@k12.wa.us
Stacey Klim, Foster Care Program Supervisor | stacey.klim@k12.wa.us
Savanna Cavalletto, Foster Care Program Specialist | savanna.cavalletto@k12.wa.us
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