FERPA

The Uninterrupted Scholars Act was signed into law by President Barack Obama on Monday, paving the way for easier access to the education records of foster youths by their caseworkers. “The records of foster youth could not be easily obtained by the agency with custody of them, and that made no sense whatsoever to us,” said Sen.

Time continues to wind down toward the end of 2012, which is also the deadline to get an agreement on federal budget and tax policy before America goes over the so-called fiscal cliff.

The day before Congress went into summer recess on August 3rd, Representative Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) sat down with FMC’s Daniel Heimpel to discuss her experience as a foster mother, the formation of the Congressional Caucus on Foster Youth as well as the Uninterrupted Scholars Act.

On August 2nd, Sens. Mary Landrieu (D-La.), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Mark Begich (D-Ala.), Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), Al Franken (D-Minn.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) introduced  the Uninterrupted Scholars Act. The bill would amend education policy that currently precludes many adults and institutions from access to an individual student’s records.

WASHINGTON D.C. –  Down on Capitol Hill, the air is hot, wet and gummy. With recess around the corner and the political parties settling in for a bitter election cycle, few bills of substance are moving or being introduced, save a seemingly small tweak to privacy laws that promises to dramatically change the educational cards for students experiencing foster care.

The Congressional Caucus on Foster Youth brought National Foster Care Month to an end with a day of events yesterday: -Foster Youth Shadow Day, during which about 40 “alumni” of the foster care system shadowed a member of the House of Representatives that hailed from their state.

by Stephanie Ludwig and Anna Jacobi Despite bureaucratic roadblocks, states and counties across the United States are managing to broker two unwieldy systems- foster care and education- to mine data that will clarify the educational status of children and youths in foster care.

By: Orville Thomas “It makes all the difference if they want to share. It’s easier if they’re not inclined to share. They say FERPA and it ends the conversation.”- Dr. Bernard James of Pepperdine University describing school districts and their interaction with FERPA, the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act.

Records for foster youth are often lost as they are moved around. A game-changing database called Foster Focus is helping social workers and school administrators assist the needs of foster youth by keeping all of their records – from residential history to school documentation – in one place.