Foster Youth Services

The mission of our Foster Youth Services Coordination Program (FYSCP) is to support the county's approximately 450 youth living in foster care to access their education and attain their educational goals. This support takes the form of collaboration with students and families, school and district staff, and other county agencies in order to remove barriers to educational access and expand educational opportunities.

In partnership with all of the agencies serving youth in the foster care system, the role of FYSCP is to provide resources and support to school staff and families in order to create a bridge that will help students succeed.

Contact Us

For general questions about the Sonoma County Office of Education Foster Youth Services Coordinating Program or education rights of youth in foster care, please contact:
Debra Sanders, Ed.D.
Foster and Homeless Youth Education Services Coordinator
Sonoma County Office of Education
dsanders@scoe.org
707-524-2661

Foster Youth Data

Foster youth data on enrollment, test performance, and more is available at the California Department of Education's Dataquest website. This Foster Youth Fact Sheet (pdf) explains how foster youth are doing in Sonoma County and some measures SCOE is taking to encourage Foster Youth success and help school districts.

Program Goals

By removing barriers that occur due to frequent changes in home placement, this program helps ensure that foster youth can benefit from uninterrupted educational access. Specific goals are to:

• Reach out to foster youth and their families and provide education-related support, such as helping them make contact with school districts and access educational resources.
• Coordinate, support, and expand foster youth tutoring programs.
• Strengthen relationships with partner agencies serving foster youth, including county departments, VOICES Sonoma, and Santa Rosa Junior College.
• Implement the Foster Focus software, which allows for the transfer of student information to expedite school enrollment.

School District Liaisons

District Foster Youth Education Liaisons support foster youth in their districts by:

• Facilitating immediate enrollment in school
• Ensuring the timely transfer of education records when a foster youth changes school placements
• Supporting academic achievement
• Encouraging school attendance and reducing truancy and drop-out rates
• Reducing incidents of student discipline problems and juvenile delinquency
• Communicating with foster youth and appropriate supporting individuals such as foster parents, education rights holders, social workers, and CASA in order to provide coordinated support to foster youth.
• Ensuring that foster youth receive the appropriate safeguards under: AB 490 (School Stability and Timely Transfer of Records) and AB 167 (High School Graduation Requirements)