February 2015

TEXAS BLUEPRINT IMPLEMENTATION

TASK FORCE FINAL REPORT

Hon. Robert Hofmann, 452nd D ist r i c t Court , Cha i r Sarah Abrahams, Systems Improvement Analyst , Texas S trateg ic Consulti ng , Casey

Fami ly Programs Joy Bask in , D i rector o f Lega l Ser v ices , Texas Assoc iati on of Schoo l Boards Hon. A lyce Bondurant , Ch i ld Protecti on Court o f North Texas Edna Butt s, D i rector, Intergovernmenta l Re lati ons and Po l i cy Overs ight , Foster Care

L ia i son, Austi n Independent School D ist r i ct Cathy Cockerham, Tra in ing D i rector, Texas Court Appo inted Spec ia l Advocates Lor i Duke, C l in ica l Professor, Ch i ldren’s R ights C l in ic , The Univers i ty o f Texas School o f

Law Maya Guerra Gamble , Att orney at Law Jenny H inson, D iv i s ion Administ rator for Permanency, Texas Department of Fami ly and

Protecti ve Ser v ices Hon. Cathy Morr i s , Ch i ld Protecti on Court o f South Texas Wanda Peña, Senior D i rector, San Antonio F ie ld Offi ce, Casey Fami ly Programs Michael Redden, Executi ve D i rector, New Hor izons Ranch and Center, Inc . Jess ica Sheely, S tudent , McCombs School o f Bus iness , The Univers i ty o f Texas Ian Spechler, S taff Att orney, D isabi l i ty R ights Texas Ju l ie Wayman, D i rector o f Dropout Preventi on and At-R isk Programs, Texas Educati on

Agency

TASK FORCE MEMBERS

TASK FORCE STRUCTURE

Texas Blueprint Implementation Task Force

Data and Information

Sharing Workgroup

School Stability Workgroup

Training and Resources Workgroup

DATA WORKGROUP ACTION PLAN

Activity 1. The exchange of aggregate data between agencies is routine and used to determine how children in foster care fare educationally and to evaluate improvement in those education outcomes over time

Benchmark 1.0By August 31, 2013, develop better understanding of the collection, organization, and application of data within agencies.No correlating Blueprint Strategy but underlying purpose of work group and needs to be addressed before moving forward with other priorities.

Action Steps: Due Date: Responsible Party Progress Update1. Develop understanding of mechanics of TEA and DFPS agency

data systems, including structure, data input, why collected, use of data, access to data, and other relevant aspects.

July 24, 2013 Workgroup Completed

2. Determine the type of data collected by each system. July 24, 2013 Workgroup Completed3. Identify how exchanged data is currently being used within each

agency. August 31, 2013 Workgroup Completed and ongoing. Revision to

MOU includes data use language.

4. Obtain list of commonly used data elements and their definitions from each agency.

October 10, 2013 Nina Taylor Completed

5. Identify data elements currently exchanged between agencies and frequency of exchange, such as, but not limited to:

a. Disciplinary actionb. Leaver statusc. Special educationd. Attendancee. Gifted and Talented

October 10, 2013 Nina Taylor Completed

6. Assess if there are any barriers to collecting or sharing data.a. Explore whether collection of unique student id number

by DFPS and use in data request will facilitate data exchange.

September 30, 2013 and ongoing

Workgroup Completed Completed. DFPS will request that field for unique student ID will be added to IMPACT update.

7. Document overview of TEA and DFPS agency data systems, including structure, data input, why collected, use of data, access to data, and other relevant aspects, including:

a. the type of data collected by each systemb. list of commonly used data elements and their definitions

from each agency

August 31, 2014 Workgroup/Laura Marra/Brock Boudreau/Nina Taylor

In progress

TEXAS BLUEPRINT RECOMMENDATIONS STATUS BY ISSUE AREA

14

9

53

16

6

1

7

4

5

2

7

11

16

1

6

2

1

2

6 6

Completed In Progress Outstanding

TASK FORCE ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Texas Blueprint

Tools

Agency Resources

Data Training

Legislative

HB 2619, SB 832, SB 833, SB 1404 (83rd Session)

Considerati on of educati onal needs and goals during Permanency and Placement Review Hearings

Att orneys and guardians ad l item must be knowledgeable about children’s educati onal needs and goals

Educati on Decision Maker provisionsPublic Educati on Informati on Management System (“PEIMS”) indicator

code added to identi fy children in foster careTEA required to develop parti al credit policy for students in foster care

and other transiti on supportsSchool districts and open-enrollment charter schools to report the

identi ti es of foster care l iaisons to TEA.Excused school absences due to court-ordered appointments and

acti viti es related to Child Protecti ve Services (“CPS”) cases

LEGISLATIVE

February 2013 – Texas’ fi rst Foster Care and Educati on Summit att ended by approximately 200 judges, school distr ict and educati on service center representati ves, DFPS and Texas CASA staff , and state level advocates

August 2013 – “Enhancing Att orney Advocacy for Well-Being Outcomes for Foster Chi ldren,” Nati onal Associati on of Counsel for Chi ldren, Atlanta

February 2014 – “Conti nuous Qual ity Improvement for Courts and Chi ld Welfare: Col laborati on to Improve Outcomes,” nati onal onl ine webinar by DFPS, TEA, and the Chi ldren’s Commission

June 2014 – “Do You Know Who Is Authorized To Make Educati on Decisions for the Kids on Your Docket?,” Disabi l ity Rights Texas, Chi ld Welfare Judges Conference, Bastrop

July 2014 – “Educati on Issues for Students in Foster Care,” TASB Summer Leadership Insti tute, San Antonio and Fort Worth

TRAINING

Foster Youth Educati on Judicial Checklist Educati on chapter in the Texas Child Protecti on Law Bench BookTEA Foster Care and Student Success web page Foster Care and Student Success Resource Guide Children’s Commission Educati on websiteDFPS intranet educati on web pageTexas CASA Educati on Advocacy Toolkit Back to School Jurist in Residence Lett erDFPS Kinship Quarterly and Educati on Newslett ers, Getti ng

Ready for School Lett er “To the Administrator Addressed” Lett ers issued by TEA related

to Foster Care and Student Success

TOOLS

Amended DFPS and TEA MOU to allow for greater fl exibility in data exchange

Determined 2012-2013 school year data will serve as baseline year for data

Formulated cross tabs about subsets of the populati on of students in foster care

The Casey Family Programs Shared Learning Collaborati ve and the Georgetown University Center for Juvenile Justi ce Reform Informati on Sharing Certi fi cate Program, selected Texas teams to parti cipate in nati onal programs aimed at enhancing the exchange of aggregate data between DFPS and TEA

DATA EXCHANGE

DFPS devoted signifi cant staff ti me

at the state and regional levels

changed policy, practi ces, and residenti al contracts

modifi ed its court report template

created form 2085-ETexas CASA

hosted online webinars regarding educati on

developed its Educati on Advocacy Toolkit

TEA dedicated a ½ FTE for a Foster

Care Educati on and Policy Coordinator

included informati on on students in care in PEIMS Data Standards and TEA Student Att endance Accounti ng Handbook

incorporated the foster care l iaison positi on into the Ask TED system

TASB devoted substanti al ti me and

resources faci l itated communicati on with

school districts

AGENCY RESOURCES

ChallengesComplicated topics in short

ti meframeResource allocati onUnderrepresentati on of

rural populati ons on workgroups

Diffi culty with long term parti cipati on of youth in care

Multi -tasking projects

SuccessesCollaborati onMulti ple stakeholder

perspecti vesRegular meeti ngs

helped maintain momentum

Workgroup structureProducti vity

LESSONS LEARNED FROM PHASE I

Create a standing Foster Care and Educati on Committ ee of the Children’s Commission, of a durati on to be determined by the Children’s Commission, to meet quarterly, approve educati on-related initi ati ves, and monitor progress on collaborati ve projects.

TASK FORCE RECOMMENDATIONS

Encourage cross-system, multi-disciplinary, and diverse membership from child welfare, education, youth, and advocacy stakeholders on the Foster Care and Education Committee.

Define a shared mission Appoint Workgroups, as needed Continue the Data Workgroup, continue to focus on school

stability and training with a narrower focus Explore the impact of Foster care Redesign on educational

stability Fostering Local Collaboration

TASK FORCE ISSUES TO CONSIDER

THANK YOU