| Community Budget Issue Requests - Tracking Id #1487 | |||||||||
| Linking Foster Care and Education: Improving Outcomes for Foster Children | |||||||||
| Requester: | Joseph Durso | Organization: | Community Based Care of Seminole, Inc. | ||||||
| Project Title: | Linking Foster Care and Education: Improving Outcomes for Foster Children | Date Submitted | 1/13/2005 2:51:27 PM | ||||||
| Sponsors: | Campbell, Constantine, Fasano, Posey | ||||||||
| Statewide Interest: | |||||||||
| This is a three year pilot project that can be implemented regionally and eventually statewide. It will allow for increased communication between School Districts and the government mandated private child welfare system. | |||||||||
| Recipient: | Community Based Care of Seminole, Inc. | Contact: | Joseph Durso | ||||||
| 605 Crescent Executive Court, Suite 428 | Contact Phone: | (407) 333-8256 | |||||||
| Lake Mary 32746 | Contact email: | joseph.durso@cbcseminole.org | |||||||
| Counties: | Seminole | ||||||||
| Gov't Entity: | Private Organization (Profit/Not for Profit): | Yes | |||||||
| Project Description: | |||||||||
| Unfortunately, children in foster care in this country are less likely to graduate from high school and less likely to go to college than a child who has not been abused or neglected to the point where their safety required removal from their family. The same is true for children in foster care in Florida. If we are going to improve educational outcomes for foster children, then we must reinvent how the Child Welfare System and the Educational System communicate and coordinate services to these children. Current practice in this state places the responsibility for coordinating educational outcomes for foster children with the dependency case managers. Unfortunately, this approach requires the school system to interact with dozens of case managers. The case managers find themselves attempting to coordinate with a variety of school personnel from Guidance Counselors, to school social workers. This lack of a coordinated response to children's educational needs is directly contributing to poor educational performance by foster children. Some of the shortcomings produced by the lack of a coordinated effort are: 1. The school system does not know that the child has undergone a removal episode which may be impacting educational progress. 2. Dependency case managers are unaware of a developing educational issue because school system staffs are unsure of who to contact. 3. Both school system staffs and dependency case managers are engaging behavioral health services for the same child unaware of what the other party is doing. This leads to uncoordinated and sometimes unnecessary duplication of services. 4. Dependency case managers do not have the information they need to advise parents who have lost temporary custody of their children about the educational progress of their child. The same difficulty exists in attempting to inform the Dependency Court of the educational progress of the child. 5. There is no immediate centralized clearinghouse for problem resolution or information sharing. This project is intended to address the issues above and will allow the case managers to coordinate through a central point which will increase efficiency in bringing services to children and increase the effectiveness of those services. In addition, it will allow the school system to react and serve these disadvantaged students in a way that will allow them to continue education without falling behind. This will be a pilot program that will be coordinated through the local school board, the CBC organization and service providers. CBC of Seminole will provide half the funding through fundraising and contract funds for the three year period and is asking that the state legislature provide the other half. After the three year period, it is fully expected that CBC of Seminole will have a fundraising apparatus and financial efficiencies in place that will allow it to fund the program entirely. | |||||||||
| Is this a project related to 2004 hurricane damage? | No | ||||||||
| Measurable Outcome Anticipated: | |||||||||
| Community Based Care of Seminole believes that the first step in improving educational outcomes for foster children is to place a full-time dependency professional within the school administration to coordinate the flow of information and serve as the focal point for problem resolution. This professional coupled with a strong process negotiated between CBCS and the Seminole County School System can ensure that critical information gets to where it is need when it is need; can ensure prompt resolution of issues that arise from either system; can ensure that both systems are fully aware of the services being provided to the child and can allow for monitoring the child's progress after receiving services. | |||||||||
| Amount requested from the State for this project this year: | $90,000 | ||||||||
| Total cost of the project: | $60,000 | ||||||||
| Request has been made to fund: | Operations | ||||||||
| What type of match exists for this project? | Local | ||||||||
| Cash Amount | $90,000 | ||||||||
| Was this project previously funded by the state? | No | ||||||||
| Is future-year funding likely to be requested? | No | ||||||||
| Was this project included in an Agency's Budget Request? | No | ||||||||
| Was this project included in the Governor's Recommended Budget? | No | ||||||||
| Is there a documented need for this project? | Yes | ||||||||
| Documentation: | Federal Child and Family Service Review | ||||||||
| Was this project request heard before a publicly noticed meeting of a body of elected officials (municipal, county, or state)? | No | ||||||||
| Is this a water project as described in Section 403.885, Laws of Florida? | No | ||||||||