10-R363
2010 -- H 8109
Enacted 06/30/10
J O I N T R E S
O L U T I O N
CREATING A
SPECIAL LEGISLATIVE COMMISSION TO BE KNOWN AS "THE TASK FORCE ON THE
EDUCATION OF CHILDREN AND YOUTH IN THE CARE OF THE DEPARTMENT OF CHILDREN,
YOUTH, AND FAMILIES"
Introduced
By: Representatives Naughton,
Date Introduced: May 11, 2010
WHEREAS, In FY 2008
there were 10,763 children and youth active with the
Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF),
and of those there were 4,677 out-of-
home placements made, including placement at the
(Training School); and
WHEREAS, In FY 2008 a
subset of 1,332 youth were placed at the Training School, and
of these 238 were adjudicated and 1,094 were placed in
detention only; and
WHEREAS, Children and
youth involved with DCYF, especially those placed in out-of-
home settings including the Training School, often are
faced with significant educational
challenges, including being identified as in need of special
education services and/or at risk for
not completing high school; and
WHEREAS, Numerous national studies have shown that children and youth
in the
juvenile justice and child welfare systems move foster care
placements one to two times per year,
and those moves usually involve a change in educational
placement; and
WHEREAS, Studies further
indicate that frequent school changes negatively affect
students’ educational growth and graduation rates; and
WHEREAS, Even when
educational placement changes are in the best interest of the
child or youth involved, enrollment in the new educational
placement disrupts their academic
progress, important student records do not follow the child,
and appropriate credit for work
previously completed is not always given; and
WHEREAS, Residency
determination and funding for the education of children and
youth involved with DCYF are based on the location of the
out-of-home placement and not on the
determination of the child’s or youth’s best interest in terms of
educational placement; and
WHEREAS, Ensuring that children and youth in DCYF care enter school
ready to learn
and that they receive the supports they need while in
school to graduate on time maximizes their
chances of entering adulthood ready to lead productive lives;
and
WHEREAS, The Federal
Fostering Connections Act of 2008 recognizes the importance
of educational stability and success for children and
youth in foster care and places a greater
burden on each state to ensure the educational stability and
success of children and youth who are
placed in the state’s foster care system; and
WHEREAS, The General
Assembly of the State of
Plantations recognizes that ensuring the educational
stability and success of children and youth
involved with DCYF requires the collaboration and commitment
of not only DCYF, but also
numerous other partners, including the Rhode Island Department
of Elementary and Secondary
Education (RIDE), the Office of Higher Education,
local school districts, advocates who work
directly with youth, youth involved with DCYF, and the
families of youth involved with DCYF;
now, therefore be it
RESOLVED,
That a special legislative task force be and the same
is hereby created
consisting of twenty-one (21) members; one of whom shall be a
member of the House of
Representatives, to be
appointed by the Speaker of the House; one of whom shall be a member of
the House of Representatives, to be appointed by the
House Minority Leader; one of whom shall
be a member of the Senate, to be appointed by the
President of the Senate; one of whom shall be
a member of the Senate, to be appointed by the Senate
Minority Leader; one of whom shall be the
Director of the Department
of Children, Youth, and Families, or designee; one of whom shall be
the Commissioner of the Rhode Island Department of
Elementary and Secondary Education, or
designee; one of whom shall be the Commissioner of the Office
of Higher Education, or
designee; two (2) of whom shall be the co-chairpersons of the
Educational Stability
Subcommittee of the DCYF
Child Welfare Advisory Committee; one of whom shall be the
Executive Director of the
Urban League of Rhode Island, or designee; one of whom shall be the
Executive Director of the
Center for Hispanic Policy and Advocacy (CHisPA), or
designee; one
of whom shall be the Executive Director of the
Southeast Asians (SEDC), or
designee; two (2) of whom shall be appointed by the Chairperson of
the Rhode Island Association of School Committees,
provided that one of these shall be from an
urban district and the other from a suburban/rural
district; two (2) of whom shall be appointed by
the Chairperson of the Rhode Island Association of School
Superintendents, provided that one of
these shall be from an urban district and the other from a
suburban/rural district; two (2) of whom
shall be youth involved or formerly involved with DCYF and
who shall be appointed by The
Voice, the advocacy group
for youth in DCYF care; two (2) of whom shall be parents of children
involved with or formerly involved with DCYF and who shall be
appointed jointly by the
Chairpersons of the Parent
Support Network and the Parent Information Networks; and one of
whom shall be a foster parent who shall be appointed by
the Chairperson of the
Foster Parents’
Association.
Directors
of state departments, or their designees, shall serve as ex-officio members at
the
request of the chair of said task force.
In
lieu of any appointment of a member of the legislature to a permanent advisory
commission, a legislative study commission, or any commission
created by a General Assembly
resolution, the appointing authority may appoint a member of the
general public to serve in lieu
of a legislator, provided that the Majority Leader or
the Minority Leader of the political party
which is entitled to the appointment consents to the
appointment of the member of the general
public.
The
purpose of said task shall be to make a comprehensive study and make
recommendations for:
(1)
Identifying challenges to ensuring the educational stability and success of
children
and youth involved with DCYF from pre-K through college
undergraduates, including, but not
limited to, the following related issues:
(i) Determining when a child’s
and/or youth’s educational placement is not in their best
interest;
(ii)
Ensuring that transportation issues are addressed to assist in maintaining
educational
stability;
(iii)
Immediate transfer of student records and collaboration between schools on the
provision of student information when a student needs to move
schools;
(iv) Ensuring the portability of student credits and
graduation requirement expectations
when a student’s educational placement changes;
(v)
Identifying issues related to school residency and/or educational funding
issues
related to youth involved with DCYF; and
(vi) Issues related to ensuring the stability of educational
placements unless they are not
in the best interest of the child; and ensuring that
schools and school districts collaborate in
sending and obtaining the information and records necessary
when a child/youth moves schools;
(2)
Identifying and recommending to the General Assembly strategies to address the
above issues.
Forthwith
upon passage of this resolution, the members of the task force shall meet at
the
call of the Speaker of the House and the President of the
Senate and organize and shall select,
from among the legislators, a chairperson. Vacancies in
said task force shall be filled in like
manner as the original appointment.
The
membership of said task force shall receive no compensation for their services.
All
departments and agencies of the state shall furnish such advice and
information,
documentary and otherwise, to said commission and its agents as
is deemed necessary or
desirable by the commission to facilitate the purposes of this
resolution.
The
Joint Committee on Legislative Services is hereby authorized and directed to
provide
suitable quarters for said commission; and be it further.
RESOLVED,
That the commission shall report its findings and
recommendations to the
General Assembly no later
than March 22, 2011, and said commission shall expire on May 31,
2011.
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LC02587
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