Dear Chief State School Officers,
I am pleased to share, attached and online, Non-Regulatory Guidance: Ensuring Educational Stability and Success for Students in Foster Care. This guidance, a joint effort between the U.S. Department of Education (ED) and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), reflects our best current thinking on the program requirements for the educational stability provisions for students in foster care in Title I, Part A of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA). This updated guidance is designed to answer frequently asked questions from State educational agencies (SEAs), local educational agencies (LEAs), and key partners concerning ESEA’s educational stability requirements and to support SEAs and LEAs and their human service agency counterparts in ensuring that students in foster care receive the necessary resources to thrive academically. Thank you to all who provided input to us as we drafted this guidance, and ED extends a special thanks to our HHS colleagues for the spirit of collaboration they brought to this work.
We appreciate your sharing this resource with your teams and for your continued dedication to the educational success of all students.
If you have any questions or require further assistance, please reach out at fostercare@ed.gov.
Best,
Adam Honeysett
Managing Director,
State and Local Engagement
Office of Communications and Outreach
U.S. Department of Education
