Ensuring Educational Stability for Children in Foster Care in Maine

Overview

New Requirements under Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), as amended by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) of 2015, highlight the need to provide educational stability for students in foster care, with particular emphasis on collaboration between SEAs, SAUs and child welfare agencies to ensure that students in foster care have the opportunity to achieve at the same high level as their peers. These provisions emphasize the importance of limiting educational disruption by keeping students who move into foster care (due to entering the foster care system or changing placements) in their school of origin, unless it is determined to be in their best interest to change schools. These provisions also ensure that, if it is not in their best interest to remain in their schools of origin, students in foster care are enrolled in their new schools without delay. In implementing these provisions, SEAs, SAUs and child welfare agencies must ensure compliance with other applicable laws, such as Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VI), the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (Section 504), among others. 

Taken in totality, these provisions promote greater stability for students in foster care so that they can continue their education without disruption, maintain important relationships with peers and adults, and have the opportunity to achieve college-and-career readiness.

What is the definition of a student in foster care?

Students who are in:

24-hour substitute care, placed away from their parents or guardians, and for whom DHHS has placement and care responsibilities. Foster care includes, but is not limited to, placements in the following: foster family homes, foster homes of relatives (also known as "formal kinship care"),  group homes, emergency shelters, residential facilities, childcare institutions, preadoptive homes, and trial reunifications with their parents while DHHS retains placement and care responsibility.

Please note: the 2015 reauthorization of ESSA removed "awaiting foster care placement" from the definition of students experiencing homelessness under the McKinney-Vento Act. Students awaiting foster care placement are not considered McKinney-Vento, unless they meet other definitions provided under McKinney-Vento.

Who can I contact?

DHHS has Regional Points of Contact (OCFS POC) that can be located here. Each school district has a District Point of Contact (SAU POC) that can be found here. 
 

What are the educational rights of students in foster care under Title I, Part A, Educational Stability Provisions?

Ensures students in foster care have the right to a Best Interest Determination (BID) to determine the students' best interest to either stay enrolled in their school of origin or enroll in their school of residence, regardless of transportation costs. Ensure students in foster care have the right to immediate enrollment, even if the new school does not have the documentation typically required for enrollment.

Laws

• Non-Regulatory Guidance Ensuring Educational Stability for Children in Foster Care

Annual Training

Foster Care Point of Contact Orientation 2025

• 2025 Annual Foster Care Training for Point of Contacts [Video] [Slide Deck]
• 2024-2025 Foster Care Exit Quiz
• 2023 Maine DOE/OCFS Annual Foster Care Training Passcode: %=60URB3 (Zoom recorded webinar)

Sample Best Determination Forms

• Best Interest Determination fillable
• Sample-BID School Placement
• Sample-BID Criteria

Resources

• Joint Maine DOE/DHHS Webinar (35 mins)
• Joint Guidance Maine DOE/DHHS & Child Welfare District Map (PDF, 1.04MB)
• Foster Care Points of Contact by school district
• DHHS Points of Contact for Education


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