Solving The Data-Sharing Puzzle:

A “How To” Guide for Cross-System Collaborations Between Child Welfare & Education

Effective Models To Improve Well Being Outcomes

Maura McInerney, Esq. Education Law Center

January 19, 2012

http://www.abanet.org/child/education/

Legal Center for

Foster Care & Education

A joint project of the ABA, Education Law Center, Juvenile Law Center in collaboration with Casey Family Programs, Annie E. Casey Foundation & Stuart Foundation.

A national technical assistance resource and information clearinghouse on legal and policy matters affecting the education of children and youth in out-of-home care

Website: www.abanet.org/child/education

Data: The Key to Change …..

Only one third receive high school diploma in four years;

Twice as likely to drop out – Philadelphia study: 75.2% of youth in care dropped out of high

school in 2005

2-4 times as likely to repeat a grade – California study: 83% of children in care in Los Angeles were held

back in school by the third grade

Significantly below their peers on standardized tests– lower reading levels and lower grades in core academic subjects

While 70% of foster youth dream of attending college, 7-13% gain access to any higher education programs and 2% obtain bachelor’s degrees.

What Sharing Data Can Do For You

Indentify systemic problems Develop effective policies & priorities to

– Improve education outcomes– Increase accountability of systems

Target funding (e.g., school stability) – Increase and target $$ for specific goals

Educate and facilitate collaboration among multiple systems: Education, Child Welfare, Juvenile Justice, Employment, Job Training, Vocational, etc.

What Sharing Student-level Data Can Do:

Identify individual educational needs of child Track child over time and through systems Trigger prompt intervention Inform other decisions (e.g., placement and

transition goals) Enhance and improve delivery of services to

individual child

What Child Welfare Can Learn from Education Data

Are we meeting our legal mandates for ensuring attendance and school stability?

What do we need to change: Is there a correlation between educational failure and type of placement, length of placement, multiple school moves, lack of education advocate, emotional/behavioral problems, failed adoption; impact of school discipline, improve transition planning re education issues.

What is the impact of: – Prompt enrollment, school stability, trauma-

informed curriculum; positive behavioral supports Longitudinal data: track children through school AND

across systems – employment, medical etc.

Child Welfare Agencies: Well-being & Permanency Outcomes

Identify changes made in performance and practice since previous Statewide Assessment such as initiatives/strategies implemented by the State and ensure compliance with requirements of Fostering Connections, CFSRs, AFCARs

**Provide quality assurance results or other data about educational assessments and services (how educational needs are assessed; inclusion of educational needs in the case plan and documentation in the child's record; what services the agency provides, role of bio and foster parent)

What Education Can Learn By Sharing Data

What are the barriers to educational success for this student population? Are they promptly enrolled, approriately placed?

Are there disproportionate referrals to alternative education or cyber programs? Are they able to equally access vocational technical programs, challenging courses etc.?

How can schools address common barriers and improve outcomes through new policies, procedures etc.

Are additional services/supports needed (e.g., credit recovery) Improve collaborations with child welfare & expand access to

child welfare-based services Teacher development training Curriculum changes

What Child Welfare Can Learn From Sharing Data

School attendance and prompt enrollment School stability School placement & access to services Educational achievement & progress School discipline placements Special Education issues Graduation Rates

What Courts Can Learn From Sharing Data

Percentage of hearings where the child’s education was addressed Number of school transfers while under court jurisdiction Percentage of children in each type of school placement while under court jurisdiction Percentage of children attending school Percentage of children whose GPA declined or improved while under court

jurisdiction Percentage of children whose attendance rate declined under court jurisdiction Percentage of children under court jurisdiction ages 0-3 referred to Early Intervention Percentage of children under court jurisdiction ages 0-3 enrolled in Early Intervention Percentage of children under court jurisdiction receiving special education services Percentage of children under court jurisdiction that referred for evaluation for spec ed. Percentage of children suspended from school and impact on living placement Percentage of children expelled from school & impact on placement Percentage of children who graduate from High School/GED programs Percentage of children accepted into a higher education program

Look at Your System:What Data Is Being Collected, By Whom and to What End?

What is Education Collecting? What is it Sharing?What is Child Welfare Collecting? What is it Sharing?What Are Courts Collecting? What is it Sharing?

What is the purpose of the data collection? Where/how is the information maintained? How is it currently being used? What child welfare data relates to the educational outcomes

of children in care? How could current data be revised/expanded to improve

educational outcomes for children in care? How could it be shared across systems?

What Could Systems Collect/Share

Type of educational placement: public school, residential settings (on-site school, homebound etc.)

School completion rates: Drop out, years to complete high school; reasons for dropping out and at what age

Credit Issues: Document problems with credits, obtaining high school diploma

Transition Readiness: level of education, life skills training, transition plans.

What Could The Systems Collect/Share

School Mobility: Whether living placement resulted in school change & re-enrollment

Special Ed: Early intervention; evaluations requested/conducted; special education services delivered as child moves; type of learning/devp’l disability; decisionmaker

Early Childhood Education: Participation in Headstart/other programs: what age/how long

Discipline: Suspensions, expulsions, alternative education for disruptive youth

What is Education Already Collecting

All States Collect Data– NCLB: No Child Left

Behind / IDEA Electronically Maintained Student Specific

Identification Numbers

Each State May Collect– Additional Data (e.g.,

discipline info, links to other agencies)

No Child Left Behind Act: What is It?

Seeks to improve educational performance and eliminate achievement gaps between groups of students.

Requires States to implement accountability systems at the state, school district and school level.

Strongly endorses use of longitudinal data:

– “Each State may incorporate the data from assessments into longitudinal data systems that link student test scores, length of enrollment and graduation records over time.”

– U.S. Dept. of Ed provides funding to states to develop systems to link records over time OR to identify best educational practices. See http://ies.ed.gov/funding/

Data Already Collected Under NCLB

Attendance: Days “absent without excuse” and days enrolled in school

School Enrollment: Tracks student mobility, enrollment delays & grade level designation at time of enrollment

Academic Progress* Standardized scores Special Education* Disability & Services Program Template: Participation in remedial &

other programs (Title I, HS)

* = May be separate data system in your state

“Student” Level Data

Gender Race/Ethnicity Student Status – Court placed “or” alt ed. Economic status (Free/Reduced Lunch Program) Educationally Disadvantaged under Career and Technical Education

programs Plan 504 Indicator/Special Ed LEP Participation/English Proficiency/Language

Breakdown/Language/ Home Language Code Courses – Advanced courses only Grade retention Expected Graduation, Graduation Status Code & Type of Diploma   Expected Post Graduate Activity  

What Does Each State’s Data Already Tells Us

Number of times children change schools Attendance Grade retention & eligibility for supplemental

education services State test proficiency in core subjects Special Education & LEP participation Participation in specific remedial programs Graduation status & expected post-secondary Drop out & graduation rates

What Could Education Collect

“Prompt” Enrollment (FL example) Truancy Rates under State Law School Performance (e.g., San Diego) Special Education – (evaluation requested) Academic Progress – expanded definition Program Data – vocational & ESY Course enrollment (beyond AP courses) Credit transfers Discipline placements in school On-time graduation rates & higher ed data

What’s Happening In YOUR State

Data Quality Campaign– http://www.dataqualitycampaign.org/survey_result

s/index.cfm

Education Commission of the States– http://mb2.ecs.org/reports/Report.aspx?id=913

Data Sharing Action Plan

Step I: Identify Subset of Children Step II: Child Welfare System’s Data Step III: Education’s Data: Can Education

disaggregate non-student specific data using:– Social security nos. (matched with student IDs) – Residency codes – already in Education system– Address/name cross match– Other system

Step IV: Can data be shared across systems? What agreements? What are the barriers?

Step V: Can longitudinal data track these children over time & after they age out?

Barriers to Sharing Data & Information Across Systems: Real & Perceived

Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act42 U.S.C. § 5101 et. seq.; § 5116 et. seq.

Purpose: Provides guidance to states related to their child protective services systems, including: reporting, investigating, supporting collaboration among agencies, and specifying confidentiality and information sharing.

Allows for information sharing in two ways:– When a state statute* authorizes the sharing of child welfare

information with the school system– When school system has a need for limited information to

protect the child from abuse and neglect.

*Supports and enhances collaboration among agencies, including linkages with education systems

Sharing Information:Real & Perceived Barriers

Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act20 U.S.C. § 1233g; 34 CFR Part 99

Purpose: to protect privacy interests of parents and students regarding the students’ education records

Parent’s have the right to share or refuse to share records

Exceptions to parental consent

What Education Records Can Be Shared with Child Welfare:

Non-student specific data Directory Information If It qualifies as an education record,

– Need parent consent Parental Consent Form (common practice: time of placement)

– OR falls under FERPA exceptions to consent (court order is one of the exceptions)

FERPA Definitions

Education records: Records that are directly related to a student and maintained by an educational agency or institution, or by a party acting for the agency or institution. See 34 CFR § 99.3

Parent : Natural parent, a guardian, or an individual acting as a parent in the absence of a parent or a guardian.

FERPA CONSENT NOT REQUIRED:Non-personally identifiable Information

Student is identified by non-personal identifier – Identifier itself is not a scrambled Soc. Sec.

unless such identifiers are protected by written agreements reflecting generally accepted confidentiality standards within the research community; and

– cannot be linked to an student by anyone who does not have access to the linking key;

– data file is populated by data from education records in a manner that ensures that identity of any student is not easily traceable.

FERPA Exceptions (15)

Directory Information (subject to Opt-out)– name, address, phone, date and place of birth,

participation in officially recognized activities and sports, and dates of attendance.

Law Enforcement Exception: disclosure to state and local authorities within department of juvenile justice

Emergency Exception: Disclosure to “appropriate parties” in connection with “emergency” to protect health and safety of student or other persons;

Judicial order or subpoena: Comply with court order **– With notice of disclosure to parent/student

NEW FERPA Amendments

Expanded Studies Exception 34 C.F.R. §99.31(a)(6)):– Permits education agencies and certain specific listed

persons (e.g., the Comptroller General of the U.S.) to disclose PII without parental consent to organizations conducting studies for or on behalf of the school entities to develop, validate, or administer predictive tests; administer student aid programs; or improve instruction.

– “In the absence of parental consent or a court order, the School District shall provide student-specific education records to DHS for the purpose of analysis, study and review in order to improve instruction to these students in collaboration with the School District.”

NEW FERPA Amendments

The regulations also add a new and quite broad definition of “education program”:– [A]ny program that is principally engaged in the

provision of education, including but not limited to early childhood education, elementary and secondary education, postsecondary education, special education, job training, career and technical education, and adult education, and any program that is administered by an educational agency or institution. 34 C.F.R. §99.3.

 

NEW FERPA Amendments

Expanded Audit or Evaluation Exception – Permits state and local education agencies and the other specifically listed

persons to designate an “authorized representative” to release PII in connection with “an audit or evaluation of Federal or State supported education programs, or for the enforcement or compliance with Federal legal requirements that relate to those programs.” 34 C.F.R. §99.35(a)(1).

– “Authorized representative” is “any entity or individual” so designated to perform these functions. 34 C.F.R. §99.3. This may include a child welfare agency. See 76 F.R. at 75618.

“DHS is hereby designated as an authorized representative of the School District to perform an audit for evaluation for the purpose of evaluating programs administered by the District that involve and/or impact children known to the Department .” 

FERPA Compliance Tips

Parental Consent Form– Must notify parent of what they are sharing

and with whom, for what purpose & duration – Writing must be clear & user friendly

Court Order– MUST be specific (not CW determines educat.) – Individualized (CANNOT be blanket order)– Reflect notice to FERPA parent– May limit scope of education records or use

FERPA definition

FERPA MOU Language

“The School District shall provide student-specific education records (PII) to DHS concerning all children known to DHS for whom (1) the District receives written parental consent or (2) a court order  or subpoena has been issued authorizing the disclosure of education records to DHS.”  

FERPA: Proposed Amendments

Create a limited exception to parental notification and consent requirements permitting disclosure to child welfare where a student has been adjudicated dependent, the agency has legal custody of the child in out-of-home care, and the child’s parent or eligible student has received written notice of the proposed release

Permit redisclosure where a child welfare agency obtains education records pursuant to § 99.31(17) to redisclose records to foster parents, group home caseworkers, and other individuals responsible for the education, care or treatment of the student.

FERPA: Proposed Amendments

Amend “eligible student” definition in 34 C.F.R. § 99.3 to include youth who meet the McKinney-Vento definition of “unaccompanied youth”

Include IDEA parents in the definition of parent under FERPA.

Expand research exception to include child welfare education obligations.

Data Sharing Information To Improve Educational Outcomes

Education Driven Child Welfare Driven Joint Research Common Data System

Accessed by Multiple Agencies (with varying levels of accessibility)

Building Political Will

Cost of NOT sharing information– Anecdotal evidence, statewide data

Better Access = Better Outcomes: Examples– Child welfare, Educational, Permanency & Life

Ensure privacy & compliance w/ fidelity Ensure compliance with state mandates

– Fostering Connections/McKinney/CFSRs It WILL Reduce Costs: Cost of dropout (prison,

crime, drugs) & reduce time in foster care

MOU Sharing Aggregated Data

MOU sets forth– Purpose and limitations of disclosure (expected

use) & duration– Who will access information and how– Emphasize NON- PII data– Technological security protections/firewalls– Retention of records– Governance – Funding

Sharing Individual Student Data

MOU sets forth– Purpose and limitations of disclosure (expected

use) & duration– Who will access information and how– Court order, consent or other exception

referenced– Confidentiality protections– Protects against redisclosure to 3rd parties– Technological security protections/firewalls– Retention of records– Governance & Funding

Examples of Data Collection & Information Sharing

Washington State Utah West Virginia Pima County, AZ California

– Los Angeles Education Coordinating Council

– San Diego– Fresno

Data-Sharing Systems

Data Exchange– Match students

using common identifiers such as address DOB student ID numbers

Data Warehouse– Link the systems at

the state or local level

– Each agency reports to common system

– Differing levels of access

SACWIS: Washington State

SACWIS database amended to include:– Enrollment dates– Attendance– School placement/type of enrollment– GPA– Performance– Credits

West Virginia, Data Matching

Snapshot data match Proficiency across wide array of subjects

– Enrollment delays & attendance– Special education services– School stability rates– Standardized tests– GPA– Graduation Rates

Data Exchange & Warehouse: Florida

All agencies maintain their own system link to common data warehouse

Access Issues Exchange protocols Depth of Information Built over time

Web-Based Data SharingSan Diego, CA

Foster Youth Student Information System– Stores health, education & placement information– Updated daily & provides immediate access– Ed. records of all students in dependent care & in

delinquency system– Includes who holds ed rights, standardized test

scores, academic achievement etc.– Authorized users BROAD

Access SELECTED information

Foster Focus, Sacramento CA

Data Sharing of Individualized Student Information – Database tracks foster students' grades, credits,

course schedules, residential history, shot records, attendance, IEPs, the name of the child's social worker and other information.

– 21 school districts across CA, including some of the largest – Orange County and San Francisco Unified – are contracting with SCOE to use the system.

How Can We Do This?

Tools– Solving the Data Puzzle:

http://www.abanet.org/child/education/publications/solvingthedatapuzzle.pdf

– Mythbusting: Breaking Down Confidentiality and Decision-Making Barriers to Meet the Education Needs of Children in Foster Care  Author: Kathleen McNaught www.abanet.org/child/education

Funding Opportunities

Contact Information

Maura McInerneyEducation Law Center

mmcinerney@elc-pa.org www.elc-pa.org

1315 Walnut Street Suite 400Philadelphia, PA 19107

215-238-6970 Ext. 316