Answer: No. As long as the children are still in the custody of the state, they are considered to be in foster care, and therefore not homeless. Under the Fostering Connections Act, “foster care” means 24-hour substitute care for children placed away from their parents or guardians and for whom the child welfare agency has placement and care responsibility. This includes, but is not limited to, placements in foster family homes, foster homes of relatives, group homes, emergency shelters, residential facilities, child care institutions, and preadoptive homes. A child is in foster care in accordance with this definition 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)). The Title I provisions in ESSA that provide children in foster care with educational rights, including the right to remain in the school of origin, would apply to the children in your example.
I have a question regarding children who have been in foster care and are still in the custody of the state, but are with parents for the 30 day trial period which the state does before they release a child from foster care. Would these children be considered homeless?
Mar 18, 2018 | Q and A