Promoting school connections for youth in child welfare Joan Rock, Implementation Coordinator Kristen Hayden-West, Implementation Coordinator Jessica Strolin-Goltzman, Co-Principal Investigator & Director Jesse Suter, Co-Principal Investigator & Evaluator

Grantee Program University & state partnership serving all of Vermont 2 DEPT FOR CHILDREN & FAMILIES AGENCY OF EDUCATION VERMONT JUDICIARY COLLEGE OF EDUCATION & SOCIAL SERVICES UVM DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL WORK

Project Description VT-FUTRES will develop and implement effective multi- disciplinary policy and practice interventions for improving educational stability and outcomes of middle and high school youth in foster care. The core of this grant is the Rock the GRADES toolkit based on the evidence-informed strategies developed by Joan Rock a Vermont child welfare resource coordinator (RC) and a team of representatives from education, courts, and child welfare in

Goals Goal 1: Refine and implement the evidence-informed intervention and toolkit Rock the GRADES. Goal 2. Build local multi-disciplinary capacity to improve educational stability and academic achievement for middle and high school youth in foster care Goal 3. Engage youth in sharing their experiences to positively influence infrastructure development around educational stability Goal 4. Facilitate the cross-system collection and use of data on educational stability and outcomes of youth in foster care

Goal 1: Rock the GRADES: Generate multi-disciplinary networks (Goal 2) G Recruitment and retention R Access transportation when necessary A Data for decision making D Educate local communities E Screening for success S VT’s tools and strategies for improving educational stability of foster youth

Activities, Outputs, and Outcomes ActivitiesOutputsOutcomes Rock the GRADESRock the GRADES toolkit and training curriculum Increase educational stability Endless Dreams trainings12-15 trainers certified to deliver Endless Dreams curriculum Reduce number of school days missed during transition Statewide trainings for multi- disciplinary partners Endless Dreams trainings (2) delivered Increased # of coordinated services plans Website and iPhone app Support bench cards RCs collect & share educational stability data on all youth in foster care Improve youth & parent engagement in plans Develop educational stability data collection RCs collect & share educational stability data on all youth in foster care Increased awareness of importance of educational stability Collaborate with AOE to analyze educational outcomes data iPhone app used by RCsIncreased skills, knowledge, and capacities of multi- disciplinary providers Establish youth teams and engage youth in sharing experiences through video & social media Social media and/or videos created and shared by youth leaders State policy recommendations and changes

7 Evaluation Design & Questions VT Region Youth Did trainings improve knowledge & was info used? Were changes to state policy adopted? What strengths & needs do regional leaders report? Do “early adopters” show improvements sooner (group comparison)? What are educ. stability rates? Do rates increase over time? Attendance? Records received? How often do youth have coordinated plans? Multi-level longitudinal design

Opportunities Close relationships Rock the GRADES has been piloted in VT Strong foundation State trying to use data Appreciation for information shared Personnel have iPhones Challenges Many new personnel Existing resources are hard to find Data systems not integrated nor complete Many in residential Wealth of initiatives Lack of connectivity

Sustainability & Dissemination Plans Sustainability Building professional awareness, knowledge, and skills at all levels of the child welfare, education, and court systems. The curriculum is being infused into the core training for social workers and foundation training for new resource families. Educational screening will prioritize educational success as important outcome for youth in foster care. Ed. stability data will be collected and reviewed regularly. Dissemination Website, e-newsletter, twitter, iPhone app Journal articles & book chapters Presentations at state and national conferences 9

Our Questions How are workers convening multi-disciplinary child team meetings early enough in the case to include the team in the best interest determination process? Do you have any tools or resources you would recommend for Rock the GRADES toolkit? What examples of successful data collection and use can you share? Do you have questions / surveys for educators and social workers re: behaviors & perceptions about education of youth in child welfare?

Thank you! vtfutres.org