School Stability and Enrollment

School Selection for Out-of-Home Students
Tips for Prompt and Proper Placement
School Selection for Children in Out of Home Care

The Legal Center for Foster Care and Education and the National Center for Homeless Education provide a framework for homeless education liaisons, educators, child welfare caseworkers, and other child welfare advocates. It is meant to help them assess best interest when selecting a school for students in out-of-home care. The brief focuses on students “awaiting foster care placement” under the McKinney-Vento Act. It also discusses school selection and school stability for all children and youth in out-of-home care.

Two federal laws give children and youth in out-of-home care certain rights to stay in one school for stability, despite changes in their living placement. These are the The McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act and the Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act.