Students in foster care face unusual educational challenges. It is our goal to provide students in foster care with educational stability and remove barriers to, and provide opportunities for, academic excellence for these students. In order to achieve this purpose, the district will work collaboratively with the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) and the Children's Division (CD) of the Missouri Department of Social Services. Schools, child welfare agencies, communities, and families must work together to provide the equitable opportunities, specialized services, and useful supports that are essential for students in foster care to be successful in school and in life.
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“Foster Care” means 24-hour substitute care for all children placed away from their parents or guardians and for whom the child welfare agency has placement and care responsibility.
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Includes placements in foster family homes, foster homes of relatives, group homes, emergency shelters, residential facilities, child care institutions, and pre-adoptive homes.
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A child in foster care regardless of whether the foster care facility is licensed and payments are made by the State, Tribal, or local agency for the care of the child, whether adoption subsidy payments are being made prior to the finalization of an adoption, or whether there is Federal matching of any payments that are made. (45 C.F.R. § 1355.20(a)).