Availability of Foster Care Webpages,Protocols/Procedures,Contact Information,and Training: A Content Analysis of State Educational Agency Websites

Abstract

There is an educational achievement gap for students in foster care (SFC). The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) provides educational protections aimed at improving school stability and outcomes for SFC. This brief presents a summative content analysis of the availability of foster care webpages, protocols/procedures, contact information, and training on state educational agency (SEA) websites (N = 51) and compares findings by SFC percentages in each state. Availability of protocols/procedures and resources varies greatly by state, with most providing only some required or recommended by ESSA. One-way ANOVA results suggest states with higher percentages of SFC are more likely to have publicly available resources. SEAs can improve the availability of these resources to better facilitate collaboration and student outcomes.

Keywords

content analysis achievement gap collaboration educational policy at-risk students

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Barrat

V. X.

Berlinder

Felida

N. J.

(2015). Arizona’s invisible achievement gap: Education outcomes of SFC in the state’s public schools. WestEd.

Berger

L. M.

Cancian

Han

Noyes

Rios-Salas

(2015). Children’s academic achievement and foster care. Pediatrics, 135(1), e109–e116. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2014-2448

Bronfenbrenner

(1979). Ecology of human development: Experiments by nature & design. Harvard University Press.

Bronfenbrenner

(1994). Ecological models of human development. In Husen

Postlethwaite

T. N.

(Eds.), International encyclopedia of education (2nd ed., Vol. 3, pp. 1643–1647). Pergamon / Elsevier Science.

Chuang

Lucio

(2011). Interagency collaboration between child welfare agencies, school, and mental health providers and children’s mental health service receipt. Advances in School Mental Health Promotion, 4(2), 4–15. https://doi.org/10.1080/1754730X.2011.9715625

Clemens

E. V.

(2014). Dropping out and into sight: Graduation and dropout rates for Colorado SFC: 5-year trend analysis (2007–08 to 2011–12). University of Northern Colorado.

Clemens

E. V.

Lalonde

T. L.

Sheesley

A. P.

(2016). The relationship between school mobility and SFC earning a high school credential. Children and Youth Services Review, 68, 193–201. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2016.07.016

Edwards

Wildeman

(2018). Characteristics of the front-line child welfare workforce. Children and Youth Services Review, 89, 13–26. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2018.04.013

Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). (2015). 20 U.S.C. § 6301.

10.

Garstka

T.A.

Lieberman

Biggs

Thompson

Levy

M. M.

(2014). Barriers to cross-systems collaboration in child welfare, education, and the courts: Supporting educational well-being of youth in care through systems change. Journal of Public Child Welfare, 8, 190–211. https://doi.org/10.1080/15548732.2014.888697

11.

Hsieh

H. F.

Shannon

S. E.

(2005). Three approaches to qualitative content analysis. Qualitative Health Research, 15(9), 1277–1288.

12.

Krauss

S. M.

Day

Farber

Wallis

(2025). A landscape scan of research on the K–12 education of young people in the United States who experience foster care, incarceration, and/or homelessness. https://www.stephaniemaliakrauss.com/_files/ugd/fd22f9_6d55d52dff66460b8e351e5ccf317b40.pdf

13.

Krippendorff

(2019). Content analysis. SAGE, https://doi.org/10.4135/9781071878781

14.

Lietz

C.A.

Zayas

L.E.

(2010). Evaluating qualitative research for social work practitioners. Advances in Social Work, 11(2), 188–202. https://doi.org/10.18060/589

15.

National Center for Education Statistics. (2024a). High school graduation rates. Condition of Education. U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences. https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator/coi

16.

National Center for Education Statistics. (2024b). Teacher turnover: Stayers, movers, and leavers. Condition of Education. U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences. https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator/slc

17.

Noonan

Matone

Zlotnik

Hernandez-Mekonnen

Watts

Rubin

Mollen

(2012). Cross-system barriers to educational success for children in foster care: The front line perspective. Children and Youth Services Review, 34, 403–408. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2011.11.006

18.

O’Higgins

Seeba

Gardner

(2017). What are the factors associated with educational achievement for children in kinship or foster care: A systematic review. Children and Youth Services Review, 79(2017), 198–220. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2017.06.004

19.

Olsen

R. F.

de Montgomery

C. J.

(2018). Revisiting out-of-home placed children’s poor educational outcomes: Is school change part of the explanation? Children and Youth Services Review, 88, 103–113. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2018.03.005

20.

Pears

K. C.

Kim

H. K.

Buchanan

Fisher

P. A.

(2015). Adverse consequences of school mobility for children in foster care: A prospective longitudinal study. Child Development, 86(4), 1210–1226. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.12374

21.

Ryan

J. P.

Jacob

B. A.

Gross

Perron

B.E.

Moore

Ferguson

(2018). Early exposure to child maltreatment and academic outcomes. Child Maltreatment, 23(4), 365–375. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F1077559518786815

22.

U.S. Department of Education & U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2016). Non-regulatory guidance: Ensuring educational stability for children in foster care.

23.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2023). 45 C.F.R. § 1355.20 – Definitions. Federal Register, 88 Fed. Reg. 66,708. https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-45/subtitle-B/chapter-XIII/subchapter-G/part-1355/section-1355.20

24.

U.S. Department of Education & U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2024). Ensuring educational stability and success for SFC: Non-regulatory guidance.

25.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Administration on Children, Youth and Families, & Children’s Bureau. (2025). The AFCARS dashboard. https://acf.gov/sites/default/files/documents/cb/2023-afcars-dashboard-printable.pdf

26.

U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO). (2014). HHS needs to improve oversight of Fostering Connections Act implementation. https://www.gao.gov/assets/670/663655.pdf

27.

U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO). (2019). Foster care: Education could help states improve educational stability for youth in foster care. https://www.gao.gov/assets/710/701532.pdf

28.

Villagrana

K. M.

(2023). Facilitators and barriers of effective interprofessional collaboration between child welfare and school professionals [Doctoral dissertation, Arizona State University]. ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global.

29.

Villagrana

K. M.

(2025). Promoting educational equity for children and youth in foster care: Barriers to interprofessional collaboration. Families in Society. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/10443894251315960

30.

Wiegmann

Putnam-Hornstein

Barrat

V. X.

Magruder

Needell

(2014). The invisible achievement gap part 2: How the foster care experiences of California public school students are associated with their education outcomes. WestEd.

31.

Zorc

C. S.

O’Reilly

A. L. R.

Matone

Long

Watts

C. L.

Rubin

(2013). The relationship of placement experience to school absenteeism and changing schools in young, school-aged children in foster care. Children and Youth Services Review, 35, 826–833. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2013.02.006