Foster Youth Resources for Education
In October 2006, the first center focused on the educational needs of foster youth with disabilities to be funded by the US Department of Education opened its doors. DREDF’s Foster Youth Resources for Education (FYRE) trains and provides follow up technical assistance and advocacy support to foster caregivers, family members, older foster youth, child welfare workers, and dependency personnel in Alameda County, California. The education advocates at FYRE work collaboratively with the Alameda County Office of Education’s Foster Youth Services program, local education agencies and the Alameda County Social Services Agency.
Clearinghouse on Foster Youth and Transition
Nearly half of all foster children require—and have a right to receive—special education and related services to succeed in school. However, most of these young people lack advocates or caregivers who are knowledgeable about their rights or can help them receive an appropriate education and plan for their transition to adult life, post-secondary education, and employment.
This Clearinghouse offers a variety of selected resources to help foster parents, kincare providers, child welfare workers, educators, CASAs and other professionals to provide effective services and supports for children with disabilities in foster care.
The Clearinghouse on Foster Youth and Transition is made possible through the generous support of the California Department of Rehabilitation. To suggest additional resources or give us feedback on the Clearinghouse, please send an email to Cheryl Theis at ctheis@dredf.org.
Resources by Subject Area
- Education
- Higher Education
- Transition
- Fact Sheets, Policy Briefs, and Reports
- Rights and Legislation
- Vocational Rehabilitation (Voc Rehab)
Resources by Stakeholder Group
- Child Welfare Workers and Advocates
- Educators
- Foster Youth
- Justice System Professionals
- Foster Parents and Kin Caregivers
Education
- ABA Legal Center for Foster Care & Education
- Alameda County Foster Youth Alliance Education Resources
- Career Planning Begins with Assessment: A Guide for Professionals Serving Youth with Educational and Career Development Challenges, National Center of Workforce Development and Youth (2009)A comprehensive overview of what effective vocational assessment includes to ensure that the transition planning process is driven by assessment.
- National Center on Educational Outcomes
- Casey Family Programs Providing Effective Financial Aid Assistance to Students from Foster Care and Unaccompanied Homeless Youth (2009) This guide provides important information for anyone who helps youth from foster care and unaccompanied homeless youth complete their FAFSA which now has new questions (55-60) pertaining to students in or from foster care and unaccompanied homeless youth. This guide will be most useful for financial aid professionals, independent living coordinators, guidance counselors, financial aid counselors, ETV staff, social workers and advocates who are helping youth to secure the maximum allowable financial aid.
Higher Education
- Americans with Disabilities Act Questions and Answers: Section 504 and Postsecondary Education
- College for Foster Youth: State of California Foster Youth Success Initiative (FYSI)
- Colleges with Programs for Learning Disabled Students
- FYSI College Liaisons Contact List (2008)
- Hopes and Hurdles: California Foster youth and Financial Aid, The Institute for College Access and Success (PDF) (2009)
- Postsecondary Education referrals for students with disabilities, Team of Advocates for Special Kids (TASK) (June 5, 2008)
- Scholarship and Grants, The Orphan Foundation of America (2010)
The Orphan Foundation of America offers some great services to foster youth aging out, including scholarships for college and vocational training, funding for summer internships, care packages to youth, mentoring, and support. Their funding has helped students study abroad and access similar programs often not available to former foster youth with limited resources.
Transition
- California Connected by 25: Efforts to Address the K-12 Educational Needs of Transitioning Foster Youth (PDF) (2009)
- Employment Information Sheet, National Information Center for Children and Youth with Disabilities (PDF) (NICHYC) (March 2006)
- Indicator 13 Checklist (for evaluating IDEA 2004 compliance with transition requirements) (PDF)
- Model Transition Plan for Youth with Emotional Disability, National Center on Youth Transition (PDF) (2009)
The TIP approach is an evidence-based program model that stresses the importance of providing access to appropriate services, engaging young adults in their own future planning process, and utilizing services that focus on each individual’s strengths. - Moving from Preschool to Kindergarten, Indiana Resource Center for Autism (2009)
- Navigating Rough Waters: Addressing the Transition Needs of Foster Youth with Disabilities in School – a training (Power Point)
- Technical Assistance on Transition and the Rehabilitation Act, PACER Center (2010)
- Top Ten Things to Think About as You Prepare for Your Transition to Adulthood, LD Online (2009)
- Time for Reform: Aging Out and On Their Own, Pew Charitable Trusts (PDF) (2007)
- Transition to Adult Living: An Information and Resource Guide (PDF) (2007)
- Transition Checklist, Colorado Department of Education (PDF) (2009)
- Transition Club (2009)
The Transition Club, formerly FYI3.com.is part of the Foster Youth club. More than 20,000 young people transition out of foster care every year. If you are starting to think about life after foster care, then FosterClub’s Transition Club can help you get ready for success - The Transition Planning Process, National Center on Secondary Education and Transition (2009)
- Youth with Disabilities Aging Out of Foster Care: Issues and Support Strategies, IMPACT (PDF) (2005/2006)
Fact Sheets, Policy Briefs, and Reports
- California Foster Care Education Law Fact Sheets (PDF) (October 2008)
- California’s Emancipating Foster Youth: A Compilation of Statistics
- California State Brochure – SSI for Foster Youth with Disabilities (PDF) (April 2008)
- Child Care Trends Research Brief: Youth who “Age Out” of Foster Care (PDF) (December 2002)
- Coming of Age: Employment Outcomes for Youth Who Age Out of Foster Care Through Their Middle Twenties, Urban Institute (April 2008)
- Educational Stability and Continuity Fact Sheet, ABA Legal Center for Foster Care & Education (PDF) (2007)
- Forum Project – Foster Care and Children with Disabilities overview (PDF) (February 2005)
- Foster Youth Deliver Recommendations From First Statewide Career Development Summit, Reuters (January 2008)
- Fostering a New Future for California’s Children, California Blue Ribbon Commission on Foster Care (PDF) (2009)
- How Foster Care Works, Howstuffworks
- National Council on Disability Report – Youth with Disabilities in the Foster Care System: Barriers to Success and Proposed Policy Solutions (February 2008)
- What Works Transition Research Synthesis, National Secondary Transition Technical Assistance Center (NSTTAC)
Rights and Legislation
- Building the Legacy of IDEA 2004: Transition changes in the 2004 reauthorization
- California Health Care Rights of Children in Foster Care, Health Consumer Alliance (PDF) (April 2006)
- The Youthhood – The Government Center, University of Minnesota (2009)
A discussion of laws and regulations impacting youth with disabilities as they become adults.
Vocational Rehabilitation (Voc Rehab)
- California Department of Rehabilitation County Offices
- The California Transition Council’s “The Provision of Transition Services to Department of Rehabilitation Consumers Q&A“
- California Department of Rehabilitation – Getting Started page
- Rehabilitation Services, Heath Resource Center (2009)
For Child Welfare Workers and Advocates
- Advokids: A Resource for California Foster Children and their Advocates
- Blueprint Tools for Caseworkers, Legal Center for Foster Care and Education
Goal 1 (PDF)
Goal 2 (PDF) - Career Planning Begins with Assessment: A Guide for Professionals Serving Youth with Educational and Career Development Challenges, National Center of Workforce Development and Youth (2009)
A comprehensive overview of what effective vocational assessment includes to ensure that the transition planning process is driven by assessment. - Fostering a New Future for California’s Children, California Blue Ribbon Commission on Foster Care (PDF) (2009)
- Graduation Requirements and Diploma Options for Students with Disabilities: What Families and Advocates Need to Know
- HEY Housing Guide for Transitioning Youth, Honoring Emancipated Youth (PDF) (2009)
- Non-Degree Postsecondary Options For Individuals with Disabilities & Pathways to Employment: Non-Degree Postsecondary Options For Individuals with Disabilities (Part II) HEATH Resource Center (2009)
- The National Collaborative on Workforce and Disability for YouthCreated in 2001, NCWD is composed of partners with expertise in education, youth development, disability, employment, workforce development, and family issues. Funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP), the NCWD is housed at the Institute for Educational Leadership in Washington, D.C. It offers a range of technical assistance services to state and local workforce investment boards, youth councils, and other workforce development system youth programs.
- The Orphan Foundation of America offers some great services to foster youth aging out, including scholarships for college and vocational training, funding for summer internships, care packages to youth, mentoring, and support. Their funding has helped students study abroad and access similar programs often not available to former foster youth with limited resources.
- Casey Family Programs Providing Effective Financial Aid Assistance to Students from Foster Care and Unaccompanied Homeless Youth, Casey Family Programs (2009) This guide provides important information for anyone who helps youth from foster care and unaccompanied homeless youth complete their FAFSA which now has new questions (55-60) pertaining to students in or from foster care and unaccompanied homeless youth. This guide will be most useful for financial aid professionals, independent living coordinators, guidance counselors, financial aid counselors, ETV staff, social workers and advocates who are helping youth to secure the maximum allowable financial aid.
- DREDF Sample letter of introduction to an Instructor in a College Setting (2009)
- Scholarship and Grants, The Orphan Foundation of America (2010) The Orphan Foundation of America offers some great services to foster youth aging out, including scholarships for college and vocational training, funding for summer internships, care packages to youth, mentoring, and support. Their funding has helped students study abroad and access similar programs often not available to former foster youth with limited resources.
- Transition Services Information for Parents, The National Association of Parents with Children in Special Education (2009)
Educators
Foster Youth
- Americans with Disabilities Act Questions and Answers: Section 504 and Postsecondary Education
- Going to College – A Resource for Teens with Disabilities (2009)
- Knowing Your Options: What to do and Where to Go – Awareness of Postsecondary Options, HEATH Resource Center (2009)
- The National Collaborative on Workforce and Disability for YouthCreated in 2001, NCWD is composed of partners with expertise in education, youth development, disability, employment, workforce development, and family issues. Funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP), the NCWD is housed at the Institute for Educational Leadership in Washington, D.C. It offers a range of technical assistance services to state and local workforce investment boards, youth councils, and other workforce development system youth programs.
- The Orphan Foundation of America offers some great services to foster youth aging out, including scholarships for college and vocational training, funding for summer internships, care packages to youth, mentoring, and support. Their funding has helped students study abroad and access similar programs often not available to former foster youth with limited resources.
- Child Welfare Information Gateway Resources for Youth Transitioning to Adulthood
- U.S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights Students with Disabilities Preparing for Postsecondary Education: Know Your Rights and Responsibilities (May 2004)
- Top Ten Things to Think About as You Prepare for Your Transition to Adulthood, LD Online (2009)
- Transition Club (2009)
The Transition Club, formerly FYI3.com.is part of the Foster Youth club. More than 20,000 young people transition out of foster care every year. If you are starting to think about life after foster care, then FosterClub’s Transition Club can help you get ready for success - When You Turn 18: A Legal Survival Guide (2021)
- The Youthhood – Where teens prepare for life after high school
- The Youthhood – The Government Center, University of Minnesota (2009)
A discussion of laws and regulations impacting youth with disabiiities as they become adults.
Justice System Professionals
For Foster Parents and Kin Caregivers
- Graduation Requirements and Diploma Options for Students with Disabilities: What Families and Advocates Need to Know
- Manual for Grandparents-Relative Caregivers and their Advocates, Legal Services for Prisoners with Children (PDF) (2002)
- Providing Effective Financial Aid Assistance to Students from Foster Care and Unaccompanied Homeless Youth, Casey Family Programs (2009) This guide provides important information for anyone who helps youth from foster care and unaccompanied homeless youth complete their FAFSA which now has new questions (55-60) pertaining to students in or from foster care and unaccompanied homeless youth. This guide will be most useful for financial aid professionals, independent living coordinators, guidance counselors, financial aid counselors, ETV staff, social workers and advocates who are helping youth to secure the maximum allowable financial aid.
Providing Effective Financial Aid (PDF)
Providing Effective Financial Aid (HTML) - Transition Services Information for Parents, The National Association of Parents with Children in Special Education (2009)