[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5876 Introduced in House (IH)]

112th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 5876

To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to provide 
   educational stability for children in foster care, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 31, 2012

    Mr. Davis of Illinois (for himself and Ms. Bass of California) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
   Education and the Workforce, and in addition to the Committees on 
Financial Services and Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently 
   determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such 
 provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to provide 
   educational stability for children in foster care, and for other 
                               purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Increasing Educational Stability for 
Children in Foster Care Act''.

SEC. 2. STATE AND LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY PLAN AND REPORT 
              REQUIREMENTS.

    (a) State Plan.--Section 1111(b)(8) of the Elementary and Secondary 
Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6311(b)(8)) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``and'' at the end of subparagraph (D);
            (2) by redesignating subparagraph (E) as subparagraph (F); 
        and
            (3) by inserting after subparagraph (D), the following:
                    ``(E) how the State educational agency will comply 
                with the requirements of part J and the State's plan to 
                ensure such compliance; and''.
    (b) State Report Card.--Section 1111(h)(1)(C) of the Elementary and 
Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6311(h)(1)(C)) is amended--
            (1) in clause (i), by striking ``and status as economically 
        disadvantaged,'' and inserting ``status as economically 
        disadvantaged, and status as a child in foster care (defined in 
        section 1602(1)),''; and
            (2) in clause (vi), by inserting before the semicolon the 
        following: ``(disaggregated by status as a child in foster care 
        (defined in section 1602(1)), except that such disaggregation 
        shall not be required in a case in which the number of students 
        in such category is insufficient to yield statistically 
        reliable information or the results would reveal personally 
        identifiable information about an individual student)''.
    (c) State Report to Secretary.--Section 1111(h)(4) of the 
Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6311(h)(4)) 
is amended--
            (1) by striking ``and'' at the end of subparagraph (F);
            (2) in subparagraph (G), by striking the period and 
        inserting ``; and''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(H) beginning not later than school year 2012-
                2013, information on the achievement of students and 
                the graduation rates described in clauses (i) and (vi) 
                of paragraph (1)(C), respectively, including the 
                disaggregated results for the category of students with 
                status as a child in foster care (defined in section 
                1602(1)).''.
    (d) Local Educational Agency Plan.--Section 1112(b)(1) of the 
Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 is amended--
            (1) by striking ``and'' at the end of subparagraph (P);
            (2) in subparagraph (Q), by striking the period and 
        inserting ``; and''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(R) how the local educational agency will comply 
                with the requirements of part J that relate to the 
                local educational agency and describe the local 
                educational agency's plan to ensure such compliance.''.
    (e) Reservation for Homeless Children and Youth and Other At-Risk 
Children.--Section 1113(c)(3) of the Elementary and Secondary Education 
Act of 1965 is amended--
            (1) by striking ``and'' at the end of subparagraph (B);
            (2) in subparagraph (C), by striking the period and 
        inserting ``; and''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(D) children in foster care (defined in section 
                1602(1)), including by designating an individual 
                employed by the agency to serve as a point of contact, 
                as described in 1601(d)(1), for the child welfare 
                agencies responsible for such children enrolled in the 
                local educational agency.''.

SEC. 3. EDUCATIONAL STABILITY OF CHILDREN IN FOSTER CARE.

    (a) In General.--Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education 
Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.), as amended by this Act, is 
further amended by adding at the end the following:

       ``PART J--EDUCATIONAL STABILITY OF CHILDREN IN FOSTER CARE

``SEC. 1601. EDUCATIONAL STABILITY OF CHILDREN IN FOSTER CARE.

    ``(a) Obligations To Collaborate With Child Welfare Agencies.--
            ``(1) In general.--Each State educational agency receiving 
        assistance under part A shall collaborate with the State child 
        welfare agency to develop and implement a plan to ensure that 
        the following occurs, for each child in the State, when the 
        child moves to a new school attendance area as a result of 
        being placed in foster care (as described in section 1602(1)), 
        changing foster care placements, or leaving foster care:
                    ``(A) Attendance at a school of origin.--
                            ``(i) In general.--The child enrolls or 
                        remains in the child's school of origin, unless 
                        a determination is made that it is in the 
                        child's best interest to attend a different 
                        school.
                            ``(ii) Limitation.--A child who leaves 
                        foster care shall only be entitled to remain in 
                        the child's school of origin for the remainder 
                        of the school year.
                    ``(B) Immediate enrollment.--When a determination 
                is made regarding the school that it is in the best 
                interest of a child in foster care to attend, the child 
                shall be immediately enrolled in such school, even if 
                the child is unable to produce records normally 
                required for enrollment, such as previous academic 
                records, immunization and medical records, a birth 
                certificate, guardianship records, proof of residency, 
                or other documentation.
                    ``(C) Records transfer.--Any records ordinarily 
                kept by a school, including records of immunizations, 
                health screenings, and other required health records, 
                academic records, birth certificates, evaluations for 
                special services or programs, and any individualized 
                education programs (as defined in section 602 of the 
                Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 
                1401)), regarding a child in foster care shall be--
                            ``(i) maintained so that the records 
                        involved are available, in a timely fashion, 
                        when a child in foster care enters a new 
                        school; and
                            ``(ii) immediately transferred to the 
                        enrolling school, even if the child owes fees 
                        or fines or was not withdrawn from previous 
                        schools in conformance with local withdrawal 
                        procedures.
            ``(2) Implementation.--Each State educational agency 
        receiving assistance under part A shall ensure that the plan 
        described in paragraph (1) is implemented by the local 
        educational agencies in the State.
    ``(b) Credit Transfer and Diplomas.--Each State that receives 
assistance under part A shall have policies for ensuring that--
            ``(1) a child in foster care who is changing schools can 
        transfer school credits and receive partial credits for 
        coursework satisfactorily completed while attending a prior 
        school or educational program;
            ``(2) a child in foster care is afforded opportunities to 
        recover school credits lost due to placement instability while 
        in foster care; and
            ``(3) a child in foster care who has changed secondary 
        schools can receive a secondary school diploma either from one 
        of the schools in which the child was enrolled or through a 
        State-issued secondary school diploma system, consistent with 
        State graduation requirements.
    ``(c) Transportation.--Not later than 1 year after the date of 
enactment of the Increasing Educational Stability for Children in 
Foster Care Act, the State educational agency shall enter into an 
agreement with the State agency responsible for administering the State 
plans under parts B and E of title IV of the Social Security Act to 
ensure that children in foster care, and children leaving foster care, 
who are attending their schools of origin receive transportation to and 
from those schools, in accordance with subsection (a)(1) and with 
section 475(1)(G) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 675(1)(G)). The 
agreement shall include a description of the following:
            ``(1) How foster care maintenance payments will be used to 
        help fund the transportation of children in foster care to 
        their schools of origin.
            ``(2) How children who leave foster care will receive 
        transportation to maintain their enrollment in their schools of 
        origin for the remainder of the academic year, if remaining in 
        their schools of origin is in their best interests.
    ``(d) Points of Contact.--
            ``(1) Local educational agencies.--A State that receives 
        assistance under part A shall ensure that each local 
        educational agency in the State designates an individual 
        employed by the agency to serve as a point of contact for the 
        child welfare agencies responsible for children in foster care 
        enrolled in the local educational agency and to oversee the 
        implementation of the local educational agency requirements 
        under this section. A local educational agency's point of 
        contact shall not be the individual designated as its local 
        educational agency liaison under section 722(g)(1)(J)(ii) of 
        the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, unless such 
        individual has the capacity, resources, and time to perform 
        both roles.
            ``(2) State educational agencies.--Each State educational 
        agency receiving assistance under part A shall designate an 
        individual to serve as a point of contact for child welfare 
        agencies and to oversee the implementation of the State 
        educational agency requirements under this section. A State 
        educational agency's point of contact shall not be the 
        individual designated as the State's Coordinator for Education 
        of Homeless Children and Youths under section 722(d)(3) of the 
        McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, unless such individual 
        has the capacity, resources, and time to perform both roles.

``SEC. 1602. DEFINITIONS.

    ``In this part:
            ``(1) Child in foster care.--The term `child in foster 
        care' means a child whose care and placement is the 
        responsibility of the agency that administers a State plan 
        under part B or E of title IV of the Social Security Act (42 
        U.S.C. 621 et seq., 670 et seq.), without regard to whether 
        foster care maintenance payments are made under section 472 of 
        the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 672) on behalf of the child.
            ``(2) School attendance area.--The term `school attendance 
        area' has the meaning given the term in section 1113(a)(2).
            ``(3) School of origin.--The term `school of origin' means, 
        with respect to a child in foster care, any of the following:
                    ``(A) The public school in which the child was 
                enrolled prior to entry into foster care.
                    ``(B) The public school in which the child is 
                enrolled when a change in foster care placement occurs.
                    ``(C) The public school the child attended when 
                last permanently housed, as such term is used in 
                section 722(g)(3)(G) of the McKinney-Vento Homeless 
                Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11432(g)(3)(G)), if such 
                child was eligible for assistance under such Act before 
                the child became a child in foster care.''.
    (b) Guidance.--Not later than 90 days after the date of enactment 
of this Act, the Secretary, in collaboration with the Secretary of 
Health and Human Services, is directed to issue guidance on the 
implementation of part J of title I of the Elementary and Secondary 
Education Act of 1965, including how State and local agencies will work 
together to ensure that transportation for children in foster care is 
provided to the school of origin.

SEC. 4. AMENDMENT TO MCKINNEY-VENTO HOMELESS ASSISTANCE ACT.

    Section 725(2)(B)(i) of the of the McKinney-Vento Homeless 
Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11434a(2)(B)(i)) is amended by striking ``are 
abandoned in hospitals; or are awaiting foster care placement'' and 
inserting ``or are abandoned in hospitals;''.
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