Foster Care Students

Because students in the foster care system do not come from the traditional home environment, they are coming to school requiring different types of strategies from the teachers.  Not only will these strategies be helpful for students in foster care but they are also great strategies who are not necessarily in foster care or in a similar situation.  These strategies are appropriate for all students in the classroom.

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Classroom Environment/ Culture Strategies

- Examine the student’s record for grades, attendance, and background information.
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- Spend some individual time in the first couple of days to encourage students, ensure they are adjusting well, and that they understand your willingness to help.

- Create referral procedures for new students who have difficulty adjusting.
- Form a “new student” group.

- Offer a welcome bag or backpack with school supplies and snacks.

- Keep snacks in the classroom for students who are so hungry they fall asleep.

- Respect students’ right to privacy. Everyone does not need to know about their living arrangements.

- Ensure that students do not feel singled out because of their living circumstances. 

Academic Strategies

- Provide clear, achievable expectations.

- Offer tutoring.

- Be flexible with assignments. Some tasks, such as projects requiring materials that students cannot afford, might be difficult or impossible for mobile students to complete.  Instead, offer several alternatives from which all students can choose.

- Create a portfolio to document the student’s work, personal characteristics, and preferred learning style. If the student must transfer, the portfolio offers the next teacher a quick, easy way to pick up where the former teacher left off. 

 - Offer after-hours (evening or Saturday) and off-site parent meetings.
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- Talk with parents about class expectations and the challenges of changing schools mid-year.

Curriculum Strategies

- Allow a variety of method and topic options for student assignments.

- Broaden the diversity of families depicted in the books and materials in the classroom to include homeless, foster, and other mobile family and youth situations.
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- Consider doing a unit on foster care during May.

Social Engagement Strategies

- Assign a peer mentor or buddy to facilitate an easier adjustment period for new students.
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- Connect the student with an adult mentor from the school or community. Offer older youth the option of choosing the person.