SENATE DOCKET, NO. 400        FILED ON: 1/13/2009

SENATE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 41

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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In the Year Two Thousand Nine

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An Act relative to educational stability for foster children..

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
 

SECTION 1.  (a) Notwithstanding the provisions of any general or special law to the contrary, the commissioner of the department of children and families, in consultation with office of the child advocate and the secretary of education, shall develop a statewide plan for the educational stability of children placed in foster care. 

(b)  The plan shall take into account: (i) the number of school aged foster children in the Commonwealth; (ii) the feasibility of extending the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11431 et seq.), as it relates to school stability, to foster children in the Commonwealth, including whether foster children can continue their education for the duration of the academic year in the school they were enrolled in before entering foster care if determined to be in their best interest; (iii) the loss of learning time due to changing schools during the academic year; (iv) procedures for transferring academic and other records expediently when a foster child is placed in a new schools; (v) the need to designate for each child a foster care education advocate to facilitate placement, records transfer, calculation of credits earned, and other transition issues; (vi) funding and transportation issues arising from foster children remaining in their schools of origin, including any issues that have arisen under the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act; and (vii) federal, state and local funding sources for transportation of students to their school of origin. 

(c)  The plan shall identify strategies for promoting educational stability for foster children and shall include recommendations for administration and legislative actions, including but not limited to legislation that requires local school districts to adhere to different residency requirements for relocated foster children. Not later than 12 months after the effective date of this act, the plan shall be filed with the clerks of the senate and house of representatives, the joint committee on children, families and persons with disabilities, and the joint committee on education.