[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 170 (Sunday, December 30, 2012)]
[House]
[Pages H7450-H7453]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
UNINTERRUPTED SCHOLARS ACT
Mr. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and
pass the bill (S. 3472) to amend the Family Educational Rights and
Privacy Act of 1974 to provide improvements to such Act.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
S. 3472
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 ``Uninterrupted Scholars Act
(USA)''.
SEC. 2. FAMILY EDUCATIONAL RIGHTS AND PRIVACY.
Section 444(b) of the General Education Provisions Act (20
U.S.C. 1232g(b)) (commonly known as the ``Family Educational
Rights and Privacy Act of 1974'') is amended--
(1) in paragraph (1)--
(A) in subparagraph (J)(ii), by striking ``and'' after the
semicolon at the end;
(B) in subparagraph (K)(ii), by striking the period at the
end and inserting ``; and''; and
(C) by inserting after subparagraph (K), the following:
``(L) an agency caseworker or other representative of a
State or local child welfare agency, or tribal organization
(as defined in section 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and
Education Assistance Act (25 U.S. C. 450b)), who has the
right to access a student's case plan, as defined and
determined by the State or tribal organization, when such
agency or organization is legally responsible, in accordance
with State or tribal law, for the care and protection of the
student, provided that the education records, or the
personally identifiable information contained in such
records, of the student will not be disclosed by such agency
or organization, except to an individual or entity engaged in
addressing the student's education needs and authorized by
such agency or organization to receive such disclosure and
such disclosure is consistent with the State or tribal laws
applicable to protecting the confidentiality of a student's
education records.''; and
(2) in paragraph (2)(B), by inserting ``, except when a
parent is a party to a court proceeding involving child abuse
and neglect (as defined in section 3 of the Child Abuse
Prevention and Treatment Act (42 U.S.C. 5101 note)) or
dependency matters, and the order is issued in the context of
that proceeding, additional notice to the parent by the
educational agency or institution is not required'' after
``educational institution or agency''.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
Tennessee (Mr. Roe) and the gentleman from California (Mr. George
Miller) each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Tennessee.
General Leave
Mr. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all
Members have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their
remarks on S. 3472.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Tennessee?
There was no objection.
Mr. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
I rise today in support of S. 3472, the Uninterrupted Scholars Act.
The bill amends the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974,
better known as FERPA, to give child welfare agency caseworkers access
to the educational records of foster children. This is an important
bill that will help improve the quality of education for children in
foster care.
{time} 1730
In 2008, Congress passed the Fostering Connections to Success and
Increasing Adoptions Act, which tasked
[[Page H7451]]
child welfare agencies with ensuring that children in foster care are
enrolled in school. In carrying out this important mission, agencies
are required to consider educational stability when identifying foster
care placements and coordinate with local school districts to ensure
that young people stay in their current school when placed in foster
care or are immediately enrolled in a new school if that is in their
best interest.
Over the last 4 years, student privacy law has made it difficult to
properly implement the educational stability provisions of the
Fostering Connections law. For example, child welfare agents are unable
to access student education records in a timely manner, if at all, to
properly monitor student progress and coursework, or to get students
enrolled in the proper courses if a transfer of schools is necessary.
The Uninterrupted Scholars Act will correct these challenges. By
allowing direct--and limited--access to the education records of foster
kids, caseworkers can follow the students' education in a timely manner
and help ensure greater success in school.
The Committee on Education and the Workforce--and this Congress--
understands the importance of maintaining strong student privacy
protections and supports the provisions included in FERPA. It is our
responsibility to ensure a student's personal information, such as
academic progress, placement or disciplinary records, is not shared
with anyone other than officials directly involved in the student's
education.
For children in foster care, child welfare agents have a
responsibility to look out for the education of their students and have
a direct need to have access to these important records. The bill
before us today narrowly grants caseworkers access to these important
records.
Mr. Speaker, S. 3472 is a narrow, but critical, step in helping
children in foster care receive a better education. I urge my
colleagues to support this bill and reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of this bipartisan legislation
to help foster children succeed in school.
The Uninterrupted Scholars Act will make a real and immediate
difference in the lives of foster children across this country.
I want to thank Congresswoman Bass and Senator Landrieu for their
support of this legislation, the Senate for sending this legislation
back to the House, Chairman Roe for managing this on the floor, and
Chairman Kline for agreeing to have this legislation come to the House
today.
In thanking Congresswoman Bass, I want to recognize her not only as
the author of this legislation, but for her leadership both here in
Washington and in the State legislature in our State of California when
she served there on behalf of these young people to make sure that they
would have a better opportunity at success.
Foster children are some of the most at-risk students. As a group,
they miss more school than their peers, are more likely to drop out,
and take longer to finish when they do graduate. Throughout their young
lives, they may change care placements multiple times. Each placement
means adjusting to a new family and often a new community, new friends,
and a new school.
Each move can put their educational success in jeopardy. That's
because the caseworkers who advocate for them as they move from one
school to another often do so without critical information. Though
current law rightly requires foster care caseworkers to include
children's education records in their case plans, another Federal law
limits the ability of caseworkers to access those records in a timely
manner.
Without access to a foster child's school records, caseworkers are
limited in their ability to advocate for the child's educational needs,
especially as they move from one school to another or from one family
to another. Without these records, caseworkers don't have the necessary
information to make important and informed decisions about placement,
wraparound services, and credit transfers among schools. That means
that those vulnerable children do not get the services that they need.
This red tape creates unnecessary hurdles for educational successes for
many foster children. And if there's one thing foster children don't
need in life, it's additional hurdles to jump. They have plenty of
hurdles confronting them every day as they try to succeed within the
system.
This legislation before us today makes narrow changes to FERPA to
allow foster care caseworkers to do a better job on behalf of these
young people. I urge my colleagues to support this legislation, and I
reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. ROE of Tennessee. I have no speakers at this time. I continue to
reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. With that, I yield 5 minutes to
Congresswoman Bass of California, one of the authors of this
legislation, and again thank her for her advocacy on behalf of foster
children and foster families.
Ms. BASS of California. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support
of S. 3472, the Uninterrupted Scholars Act, a bill that will help
foster children achieve educational success.
First, I want to thank Chairman Kline and Ranking Member Miller for
their support of this bill and their ongoing dedication to improving
outcomes for foster youth throughout the Nation. I would also like to
extend my sincere appreciation and respect to Senator Landrieu. I am
proud to work alongside the Senator, who is a tireless advocate for
foster youth and families both domestic and worldwide.
Throughout 2012, the Congressional Caucus on Foster Youth has
traveled the country and visited five States on a nationwide listening
tour. We heard from youth, families, and community leaders about the
best practices and challenges facing the child welfare system.
In Miami, Florida, at the invitation of Congress Members Alcee
Hastings and Frederica Wilson, we learned about a commonsense, no-cost
legislative fix that would have a significant and positive impact on
hundreds of thousands of foster children across the country.
After we returned to Washington, I joined my fellow cochairs of the
congressional caucus--Representatives Marino, McDermott, Bachmann, and
a number of other members of the caucus--to introduce the bipartisan
Uninterrupted Scholars Act. This bill will address the concerns raised
in Florida by providing youth with the support they need to avoid
problems like inappropriate course placement and lost credits upon
changing schools. Specifically, it will simply allow caseworkers to
access transcripts for foster youth while maintaining important privacy
protections.
Children in foster care are among the most educationally at-risk of
all student populations. Because of the abuse and neglect foster youth
have experienced in their young lives, they often face physical and
emotional challenges that interfere with their learning and negatively
impact their educational outcomes. For example, the average child in
foster care goes to three to five high schools.
Existing Federal law requires that child welfare agencies include
educational records in their case plan and work with school districts
to improve the educational experiences and outcomes for children in
foster care. However, the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, or
FERPA, unintentionally creates a harmful barrier that prevents child
welfare caseworkers from being able to quickly access school records
necessary to help meet the educational needs of students in foster
care. This can lead to significant delays that contribute to
inappropriate class placements, enrollment delays, repeated classes,
delayed graduation, and even dropouts.
The story of young Jasmine is an example of stories we heard during
the listening tour. When Jasmine was placed in foster care on an
emergency basis, her mother's whereabouts were unknown and the child
welfare agency caseworker was unable to obtain consent from any parent.
Without timely access to the child's education records, the caseworker
could not evaluate whether it would be in Jasmine's best interest to
remain in the same school. Jasmine moved to a new school, which had
different graduation requirements. She received no credits for her
coursework from the prior school and had to repeat some of the same
classes.
[[Page H7452]]
She fell a full year behind and eventually dropped out of the school.
In my district, the Los Angeles Department of Children and Family
Services is currently responsible for the placement and care of over
15,000 foster youth. The sheer size of this youth population--larger
than most States--as well as the 82 different school districts within
L.A. County, make it particularly challenging to proactively address
student needs without direct access to educational records.
Another example from the listening tour when we were in L.A. is
Vanessa, a fifth grader who has a similar story. She was transferred
from L.A. Unified to another school district over 50 miles away while
relocating to a new foster home. Her records did not follow. Therefore,
she was placed in a fourth grade classroom, a full grade level below
her actual skill level and age. She consistently cried at meetings with
teachers. She eventually advocated for herself and her classes were
transferred, but in the meantime she missed 2 months of fifth grade.
The Uninterrupted Scholars Act would help avoid situations faced by
young Jasmine and Vanessa by allowing child welfare caseworkers, who
have the legal responsibility for a foster child's care and welfare,
timely access to their educational records.
{time} 1740
At the same time, this bill protects and preserves the educational
privacy rights of students and parents that we all want to safeguard.
In the words of Mary Cagle, the director of Legal Services at the
Florida Department of Children and Families, this bill ``fixes an
existing conflict in Federal law. It's so simple, so easy, so clear.''
The Uninterrupted Scholars Act is endorsed by dozens of nationwide
organizations, including the National Foster Parent Association, the
National School Boards Association, the Child Welfare League of
America, and many others. Today I stand with my bipartisan, bicameral
colleagues in the Congressional Caucus on Foster Youth to ask for your
support, as well.
We have a responsibility to foster youth, children whom we have
removed from their parents' care, youth whom we promised to keep safe
and help to succeed. The Uninterrupted Scholars Act will help us keep
this promise.
Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman
from Washington, Congressman McDermott, a strong supporter of this
legislation and an advocate on behalf of foster children.
(Mr. McDERMOTT asked and was given permission to revise and extend
his remarks.)
Mr. McDERMOTT. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to endorse the
amendments to S. 3472. But in talking about this, I want to talk about
the process by which we got here. Nothing ever goes as fast in the
House of Representatives as we want it to. And I want to commend my
colleague, the ranking member on the Education committee, George
Miller, for his historic leadership on child welfare issues. He got
here in the '70s, and there was nobody looking after kids. Nobody.
There was no focus anyplace in the Congress. So he took it on. He had
hearings and hearings and hearings and hearings. And that brought about
the bill that passed in 1980. It was called the Adoption Assistance and
Child Welfare Act of 1980.
Now when I got here as a child psychiatrist, I looked around and saw
there was some stuff to do, and I wrote the Fostering Connections Act,
which I authored and passed in the 2008 Congress with strong bipartisan
support with the intent of improving the lives of kids in foster care.
We continued to look for a way to make this system really function. And
through the 1980 act, the law gave the power to shift resources from
temporary out-of-home care toward either providing services to a child
or his or her family or finding other permanent adoptive homes.
One of the key provisions of the Fostering Connections Act was to
better provide for educational stability. What we found was that kids
constantly were moved, their records were lost, and there were long
delays. And the single thing that gives them a real chance to make it
in society, that is, an education, was being denied by the bureaucracy
that sort of thought, well, this is just, we'll get the records there
when we get the records there.
So it's fitting that the ranking member on the Education and
Workforce Committee is here to help guide this current legislation
making it easier for foster kids to succeed academically through the
House today.
Why is education important? Well, if you go to the same school, you
know the people, you find a teacher, you find a teacher who might be
interested in you when a parent wasn't interested in you, or you had no
one else in the world that was interested in you, but you found a
teacher, and that's what the educational system has done to hundreds
and hundreds and hundreds of foster kids.
Now, we thought, well, we'll just write into Fostering Connections a
change in Federal policy which would make sure that youth maintain some
kind of continuity within their school when they're forced to move from
home to home.
It says that a State welfare agency must coordinate with educational
agencies to ensure that a child remains in the school in which he or
she is enrolled at the time of placement. If remaining in the child's
school of origin is not in his or her best interest, that State must
ensure the child is immediately enrolled in a new school without
waiting weeks or months for paperwork.
Now, with Fostering Connections, it seems like a simple thing to say
that kids ought to continue in the same school. As with any law we
pass, there is always this implementation period. As a result, it has
taken us several years to figure out the problems and the barriers to
successfully implementing this particular provision. Many teachers and
school administrators are still unaware of these provisions. Many
schools lack any coordinator or coordinating entity to facilitate
cross-agency collaboration to serve the best interests of the child.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman has expired.
Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. I yield the gentleman an additional
1 minute.
Mr. McDERMOTT. In addition, we have evidence that the Family
Education Rights and Privacy Act currently hinders child welfare
agencies in their efforts to meet the educational needs of kids in
their care. Child welfare agencies have difficulty in obtaining the
school records of foster kids. Students miss school for long periods of
time waiting for school records to be transferred.
We know that education is a predictor for future adult success. Yet
too many children and foster youth are unable to get this start because
of the barriers in our system. This piece of legislation is an attempt
to break down those barriers and make it work more smoothly.
The passage of the Uninterrupted Scholars Act will help ensure that
needed coordination and help to ensure foster care youth succeed
academically. This bill will have enormous positive impact for
thousands of children in the foster care system. I encourage my
colleagues to support it.
Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. I want to thank the gentleman from
Washington for his leadership.
I would like to yield 4 minutes to the gentlewoman from Texas.
Ms. JACKSON LEE of Texas. I want to thank the gentleman from
California both for his longstanding leadership and the history of his
emphasis on how important our children are.
As a founder and chair of the Congressional Children's Caucus, I'm
delighted to have joined with my colleague, Congresswoman Bass, and
various cochairs of the Foster Care Caucus on the bipartisan
legislation that the Uninterrupted Scholars Act is, and the bicameral
legislation, and to also add appreciation to Chairman Kline of
Minnesota and to Senator Landrieu for her leadership and partnership. I
know of her great interest on the issues of both domestic adoption and
international adoption.
Certainly, unfortunately, the system of foster care has many times,
when it has not been intended to, been, if you will, a place of
hopelessness. This legislation wants to provide a lifeline to foster
care children, particularly as they approach adolescence and high
school and going on to college, so that they can be taken out of the
abyss of hopelessness.
[[Page H7453]]
I've had the opportunity, of course, to be able to meet with foster
care children both in my district and here when they've lobbied on the
Hill, and their stories are both of passion and commitment to having a
future, a commitment to serving the Nation, a commitment to making a
difference. Why shouldn't they have the opportunity to make a
difference? Why can't they be considered just like those who have
different lifestyles, if you will, in terms of a family situation?
So this legislation says that they should have, as well, that kind of
orderliness. And if their orderliness comes through a social worker or
a caseworker who will have access to their records to be able to plan
for them the best format, whether it is to remain in a school, to
transfer to a school, when they cannot access that natural parent or
any other relative that would stand in for that child. There's nothing
more, if you will, desperate and disappointing than to be able to find
a child that has no hope, no one to turn to, and really wants to do,
wants to accomplish, wants to graduate from high school.
So I believe that the Uninterrupted Scholars Act is a very important
provision that reflects the laws that have been passed dealing with
privacy as it relates to records of children in postsecondary school
and the protection of those school records. This, in particular,
allows, let me say, an exception to release the student's education
records to a caseworker, State or local child welfare representative,
or tribal organization that has a right to access that student's case
plans. Again, that helps those students be able to have a lifeline.
{time} 1750
Just a week or so ago, there was an article in The New York Times on
three young people from Galveston, Texas. They were not necessarily
foster care children, but it is indicative of what happens to children
of less means. Part of their lack of success was their inability to
access the Internet, to get timely notices that they were supposed to
apply for a scholarship, to have their parents know that they were
supposed to modify their income sheet.
If you can imagine, we just went through Hurricane Ike, and this one
child's parents had received aid through Hurricane Ike. Well, they were
told that they didn't meet the scholarship standards because they made
too much money, and they didn't modify it to say that it wasn't money
that we made; it was aid because we were victims of Hurricane Ike.
This is similar to what happens to foster care children, and I am
very delighted that we have legislation that is common sense and that
we can attribute to the Foster Care Caucus, which we work closely with
as a Congressional Children's Caucus.
I want to thank Mr. Miller and Mr. Kline for their dedication and
commitment to the Nation's children. They are, in fact, a precious
resource, and the Uninterrupted Scholars Act is one element of saying
that they are important to us.
Let me again thank Congresswoman Bass and Senator Landrieu for their
leadership, as well.
Mr. ROE of Tennessee. I continue to reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such
time as I may consume.
The care and concern for foster children has been a bit of a relay
race for myself back in the late seventies and eighties, to Senator
Russell Long, to former Congressman Tom Downey, former Majority Leader
Tom DeLay, to Senator Landrieu, now Karen Bass from my State of
California, and Congressman McDermott before her.
We've tried to make sure that these young people, with a lot of chaos
in their life, far beyond any of their own doing, have a chance to
succeed. Clearly, the best chance to succeed is to see that they get a
good education and an opportunity to participate in American society
and in America's economy. This act, the Uninterrupted Scholars Act,
goes a long way toward helping their advocates make sure that they get
the best shot at the best education.
So I want to thank all the supporters of this legislation,
Congressman Roe and Congressman Kline, for their support and their
willingness to bring it to the floor of the House so we can send it to
the President of the United States.
Just before I conclude my remarks, Mr. Speaker, I want to take a
moment to recognize a cherished member of my staff who will be leaving
the committee at the beginning of January.
Ruth Friedman began her career with me as a fellow in my personal
office more than a decade ago. Because of her hard work and dedication
and unparalleled expertise, she rose to become my education policy
director on the committee.
Ruth holds a Ph.D. in clinical psychology and is one of the foremost
experts in early childhood policy. I can tell you that the children of
this country benefited every day from her work on the Education
Committee.
Ruth has spent her career fighting for the most vulnerable children
on issues like child welfare, juvenile justice, early learning, child
care, child abuse prevention and treatment. She has worked on countless
pieces of legislation successfully, including today's bill, and was
instrumental is passing the 2007 Head Start Reauthorization Act.
I want to thank Ruth for her extraordinary service to me, to the
committee, to the Nation, and to the Nation's children. Her advice and
counsel have been invaluable, and she will be sorely missed, but we
know that she has great accomplishments ahead of her.
Ruth, I want to wish you, Pete, and Dylan all of the best. Thank you
so much for all of your service to our committee on both sides of the
aisle, and certainly to this Nation's children.
With that, Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to support this
legislation, thank Congressman Roe for managing this bill on the floor,
and I yield back the balance of my time
Mr. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my
time.
I wish to conclude by saying, Ruth, congratulations, and thank you
for all the hard work that you have done for both sides of the aisle
and for the work you've done for the children of this Nation.
I also want to thank Senator Landrieu and Congresswoman Bass, who is
my next-door neighbor in the Cannon Office Building, and Ranking Member
Miller for the work you've done for many decades for the children of
this country, and Chairman Kline.
I will conclude by just saying I'm proud to sponsor the Uninterrupted
Scholars Act, and I urge my colleagues a ``yes'' vote.
With that, I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Roe) that the House suspend the rules and
pass the bill, S. 3472.
The question was taken.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
Mr. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I object to the vote on the ground
that a quorum is not present and make the point of order that a quorum
is not present.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further
proceedings on this question will be postponed.
The point of no quorum is considered withdrawn.
____________________