On any given day, there are approximately 16,000 school-aged children and youth in Texas schools who are in foster care. Texas children and youth in foster care comprise a small percentage of the total student population yet face unique challenges that greatly impact success in the school environment. Before entering foster care, children and youth may have lived in chaotic home environments, experienced physical or emotional trauma, attended school sporadically, or had parents or family members who were unable to meet their physical and emotional needs.

When CPS, the child protection division of the Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS), becomes involved with a child or youth due to abuse or neglect allegations, it seeks to ensure a child or youth’s safety. If the child or youth cannot safely remain with a parent, a court awards legal custody of the child or youth to DFPS. DFPS seeks a relative or foster home to ensure the child or youth’s safety and well-being. A judge oversees the case while a child or youth is in foster care. A child or youth may be in foster care temporarily or for a longer period of time, depending on the court’s findings. Once in foster care, children and youth may experience several placement changes until they are placed in a permanent home. Unfortunately, more often than not, placement changes are accompanied by a change of school.

When children can't live safely at home and an appropriate non-custodial parent, relative, or close family friend is currently unable or unwilling to care for them, the court can give temporary legal possession to CPS and that agency temporarily places these children in foster care.

Foster care settings include:

• Kinship Caregiver homes;

• Foster family homes;

• Foster family group homes;

• Residential group care facilities; and

• Facilities overseen by another state agency.

Foster care is meant to be temporary until a permanent living arrangement is found and CPS no longer has legal custody of the child. However, for some children, it can become permanent. CPS strives to ensure quality services for children in foster care. However, children in foster care may have to change placements several times while in foster care due to a variety of factors, such as licensing standards violations, court rulings, or changes in the foster home or facility. CPS consistently works towards increasing placement options to better match the needs of each individual child.

State law requires each school district and open enrollment charter school to appoint at least one employee to act as liaison to facilitate the enrollment in or transfer to a public school of a child in the district who is in the conservatorship of the state.

Fruitvale ISD Foster Care Liaison: Cesily Peeples