Education Justice and Kinship Caregivers

Support for foster and systems-impacted youth

Expand existing project, program, or initiative (expanding and continuing ongoing, successful work)

Kinship caregivers are a vital resource to children involved with the child welfare system, but need education related resources and support. LA’s Department of Children and Family Services reported that 46% (6,800) of all children in LADCFS placement were residing with relatives. For every one of these children, an additional 14 (95,000) are estimated to be raised by their kin outside of the foster system (informal kinship caregiving). Informal kinship families are acutely underserved – they may not self-report due to social stigma or concern for the child’s wellbeing, but in so doing lose access to benefits they are eligible for. Informal kinship caregivers also struggle to navigate a complex education system without legal guardian status. School changes, mental health challenges, and behavioral difficulties are all associated with a turbulent home environment and require effective education advocacy.

This project will empower kinship caregivers to support the education rights of system-impacted youth in their care. Dedicated kinship caregivers and effective education programming are two powerful stabilizing forces in the lives of young people separated from their parents. This project brings the two together, ensuring caregivers are equipped to navigate the education system and enforce children’s education rights.
The project will offer LRLC’s TIGER Know Your Rights curriculum to kinship caregivers, providing resources on effective communication with school personnel, special education law, and their right to advocate on behalf of their children. Additionally, the project will connect kinship caregivers to LRLC’s free education advocacy, including brief legal advice and, if necessary, legal representation to address violations of children’s education rights.
The project will
·conduct outreach to kinship caregivers at 4-5 community medical clinics
·host 2 kinship caregiver education clinics at LRLC’s office or community partners
·train 10-20 kinship caregivers on education rights using a tailored version of the organization’s TIGER curriculum
·provide 30 kinship caregivers with resources on education rights to support their self-advocacy for education services and appropriate placement for children in their care
·provide kinship caregivers and children in their care direct advocacy if necessary to address violations of the children’s right to access an equitable education

System-impacted youth experience a range of challenges to their educational success. They are legally entitled to support and services which mitigate these challenges, including therapy for mental health and behavioral difficulties, and tutoring or academic support. However, kinship caregivers must advocate for this support to be implemented. Our vision for success encompasses the number of kinship caregivers educated, equipped, and empowered to advocate for education services for children in their care.
In the short term, kinship caregivers will receive instruction on education rights and LRLC’s resources to support education advocacy. Caregivers will be equipped with a detailed understanding of procedural and substantive roadmaps to enforce education rights. In the long term, youth with kinship caregivers will experience the benefits of an equitable education: a high school diploma and tools for college or post-education career success.

This project is an expansion of LRLC’s current programs supporting low-income Los Angeles families whose students have been denied equitable education access. The TIGER Program, which will conduct outreach to kinship caregivers and training on education rights, tracks its quantitative impact in a customized Salesforce database to assess the number of parents reached and trained in a given year. The program’s qualitative impact is frequently researched by Dr. Tisa Aceves, Special Education Professor at Loyola Marymount University. LRLC’s Education Advocacy Program, which will provide education rights resources, self-advocacy plans, and direct legal advocacy if necessary, tracks its quantitative impact in a separate client management database. The program tracks the outcomes secured for families receiving direct legal advocacy and the resources provided to families conducting self-advocacy, in addition to infrequent surveys and requests for feedback from participating parents.