Negligent Nanny State

SACRAMENTO, CA – California has the largest foster-care population in the country, exceeding 92,000 children.¹ Recently these children have taken center stage in an intensifying public-policy debate, as new research exposes the Nanny State as just another negligent parent.

Last month, the educational plight of California’s foster-care children was the subject of the first-ever statewide Education Summit. “Too often it is unclear who, if anyone, is responsible for ensuring the educational outcomes of children we take into our ‘charge’ when we bring them into our child welfare system,” according to summit participants.² Things don’t improve once children leave the California foster care system, either.

A new report from the Children’s Advocacy Institute at the University of San Diego School of Law finds that among California’s emancipated foster-care children, seven out of 10 don’t go to college, more than six out of 10 have no place to live, and most are unemployed. “Time after time, the state –
which has assumed the role of parent in these cases – turns her children out into the street at age 18 with no place to live, no means of supporting themselves, no safety net, and no hope for their future,” the report concludes.³

Every foster-care child deserves the chance to be a success, not just another statistic. Foster parents need every resource at their disposal to ensure their children can attend schools that best meet their individual needs. Last year, for example, Arizona adopted the country’s first scholarship program for foster-care children. Under the Displaced Pupils Choice Grant Program, any student placed in foster care at any time before graduating from high school or earning a GED is eligible for a scholarship worth up to $5,000 to attend a non-public school. Unfortunately, the program is capped at only 500 students each year. By building on existing state policy, California can—and must—do better.⁴

Under the California Chafee Grant Program, also known as the Education and Training Voucher (EVT), current and former foster-care youth are eligible for federal grants worth up to $5,000 annually for career and technical training or college courses at public, private, or independent schools in or out of state.⁵ Foster-care students in pre-kindergarten through grade 12 (PK-12) should have the same opportunity.

The Education Commission recommends a comprehensive approach to the education of foster-care children, one that is “integrated into the care of foster youths at every stage of [their] development….to promote school stability for these youth, give them access to the same academic resources and services as other children and prevent them from languishing in classrooms that fail to provide the type of education essential to their academic achievement.”⁶ Implementing a PK-12 Chafee Grant Program would be an important first step toward removing the barriers that prevent foster-care children from succeeding in school and in life. Such a program could also build on current state special-education policy.

Today, there are nearly 1,100 nonpublic schools and agencies certified by the California Department of Education’s Special Education Division.⁷ More than 13,500 special-needs students statewide attend private schools and facilities at public expense to receive necessary educational programs and services not provided by their local school districts according to the U.S. Department of Education.⁸ A California Pre-K-12 Chafee Grant Program would extend the same opportunity to foster-care students and help ensure that no matter where they lived, a quality school would be available to them.

California has let foster-care students down for long enough, but there is a solution. The Golden State should fire the Nanny State and put good foster parents in charge of their children’s futures instead.