The Department for Community Based Services (DCBS) will make every effort to ensure a child’s educational stability and will document those efforts. Federal law requires that those efforts include:
- Agency attempts to ensure the child can remain in the same school that they attended prior to removal;
- Documentation around educational assessments and services to support the child’s educational needs; and
- The appropriate transfer of school records when a change in schools is necessary.
DCBS recognizes schools may have legitimate interest in reports of abuse or neglect of school aged children.
The child’s needs are assessed at every case conference. Case plan objectives and action steps are developed accordingly. The SSW encourages the child’s parent, guardian, or custodian to permit the inclusion of the child’s teacher, school social worker, and any other identified educational supports in case plan conferences/family team meetings (FTM). The SSW advises the parent(s), guardian(s), or custodian(s) of their right to approve the foster parent(s) to co-serve as a parent with respect to educational decisions and release of the child’s educational records. 1
DCBS does not authorize children in out-of-home care (OOHC) to be home-schooled without court authorization, except for homebound programs that are administered by a public or private school. DCBS does not authorize children in OOHC to enroll in non-accredited educational programs that are not recognized by the Kentucky Department of Education (KDE).