For most families, back-to-school means buying supplies, organizing backpacks, and coordinating bus schedules. That’s not the case for 12,000 children in Pennsylvania’s foster care system.
At CASA Youth Advocates serving Delaware and Chester counties, we see the impact of stability (or lack thereof) on educational progress and achievement for children in foster care. Kids like Trevor*, whose recent placement change resulted in four weeks of missed learning while his records and Individualized Education Plan (IEP) were transferred from one school to another. Or Thomas*, whose undiagnosed hearing loss led to significant gaps in his educational progress, as he moved between three school districts in a single year, not remaining in any one school long enough for the concerns to be assessed and addressed.
Their stories are not unusual. Children in the foster care system often experience frequent placement moves and with each disruption, they can fall behind their peers. One study of children in foster care found that each school change can cost them four to six months of academic progress. Because placement changes often force children to move schools, this instability can quickly compound learning loss. Many children enter foster care already facing significant educational challenges. The Education Law Center notes that children in foster care are twice as likely to need special education services, 40%, compared to just 19% of their peers.
While there are laws to protect these students, rights on paper do not always result in transferred school records, notice of a recognized disability or ensuring that a child has a voice when adults are making decisions for them. Those gaps can have significant consequences for children already navigating enormous disruption.
At CASA, we train and support community volunteers to advocate for children who have experienced abuse or neglect. Many have histories of serious trauma before entering foster care. That trauma can be compounded by separation from family, placement changes, and disruptions at school. For more than half of the children we serve, a CASA volunteer is also legally authorized to make educational decisions for them. That can mean signing school paperwork, requesting an evaluation, participating in IEP meetings or simply noticing when a child’s needs are being overlooked.
Pennsylvania has a strong framework to promote education stability for students in foster care — including protections under the federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) which gives children the right to remain in the same school during their time in foster care— but the reality is often more complicated. Frequent placement changes can be driven by geographic location of available foster homes. Combined with the significant educational needs of many foster youth, these transitions can expose administrative cracks and logistical failures.
We see what can happen when a child has someone consistently paying attention during these transitions. There are successes of this individualized approach with youth like Allison*. Thanks to the support of her CASA volunteer, Allison spoke up and told the judge she wanted to stay at her local public school. The alternative was placement in a long-term residential facility with an education program. She has since graduated from high school and is now enrolled in college.
Another CASA volunteer unearthed a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder in past records of a young child who was receiving frequent school suspensions. Once the district got the records, the child was evaluated and connected with supports that met their needs.
These are only a handful of stories demonstrating that while policy, legal requirements and rights are critical, they best serve kids when paired with individualized attention and advocacy navigating the educational system in foster care.
So, this fall, while families across Pennsylvania are preparing to return to the classroom, children in foster care should not be paying academically for circumstances they did not create. Schools, child welfare agencies, and courts must work together to ensure that records move quickly, transportation is secured, educational needs are identified and every child has a consistent adult taking notice when something falls through the cracks.
Educational stability is more than keeping a child in the same school. It is protecting their relationships, their progress and their chance to move forward. For children whose lives have already been disrupted by circumstances beyond their control, school should be the one place where starting a new year doesn’t have to mean starting over.
BIO: Leigh Anne McKelvey is a licensed social worker and executive director of CASA Youth Advocates, which serves children and youth involved in the child welfare system in Delaware and Chester counties. She lives in Glen Mills, Pennsylvania.
*Names have been changed to protect the privacy of the individuals featured in this article.
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