What information will the school provide?
The Roosevelt County Human Services Department is required by law to develop two reports: the court report for the dispositional hearing and the permanency plan. Both require that information from Corey’s school be included.
The permanency plan must include:
- The name of the school where Corey is enrolled,
- Any special education programs in which he is or was enrolled,
- His grade level, and “all the information that is available concerning the child’s grade level performance”, and
- “A summary of all available education records relating to the child that are relevant to any education goals included in the education services plan prepared [for the court report for the dispositional hearing.]”
On an ongoing basis, what information might the school provide?
The assigned caseworker is responsible for facilitating and coordinating service delivery to the child and family and overseeing the case plan for Corey and his family. It is important they have as much communication with school staff as is practical and as is needed to carry out her role.
So I could be hearing from the Martins, the Sanders and Jeanne Carter regarding Corey? That feels like a lot!
Foster care regulations assign foster parents the responsibility to “advocate for the child with the child’s school system.” But the caseworker or the child's parent may function as the child’s education advocate. A strong education advocate for Corey might be contacting the school quite often. But this person can also regularly monitor Corey’s progress, keep problems from developing and keep school staff informed of any event in Corey’s life that may affect his behavior or attitude in school.
If communication with the Martins, Jeanne Carter and the Sanders is demanding too much of Corey’s teacher’s time, a communication plan can differentiate roles and clarify the process.
How is this report prepared?
Here is an example for Corey's situation at the Roosevelt County Human Services Department:
Jeanne Carter, the primary caseworker from Roosevelt County HSD, notifies your school principal of the upcoming dispositional hearing for Corey Sanders and delivers a court order. The principal assigns Corey’s teacher and the school social worker to meet with Jeanne to discuss Corey’s educational status and recommendations for his educational programming. The classroom teacher reviews Corey’s records and gathers the most recent grades and scores from the most recent standardized tests. The school social worker prepares the report, adding in a summary of an educational evaluation completed by Corey’s former school from the previous year and including a recommendation for counseling within the school to support his educational progress as he adjusts to his new setting. The school social worker then forwards the report to the court via Jeanne, the caseworker.
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