Resources

Foster Care

The foster care provisions of Title I under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) require state educational agencies (SEAs) and local educational agencies (LEAs) to work with child welfare agencies to ensure the educational stability of children in foster care.

The legislation places emphasis on the need to provide educational stability for children in foster care, as well as on collaboration between SEAs, LEAs, and child welfare agencies to ensure that students in foster care have the same high-quality educational opportunities to achieve at the same high levels as their peers. These provisions emphasize the importance of limiting educational disruption by keeping children who move in foster care (due to entering the foster care system or changing foster care placements) in their schools of origin, unless it is determined to be in their best interest to change schools. These provisions also ensure that if it is not in their best interest to remain in their schools of origin, children in foster care are enrolled in their new schools without delay.

North Carolina Foster Care Program Contact Information