All foster youth, including those with IEPs, have the right to remain at their “school of origin” if it is in their best interest.
School of origin refers to the school that the foster child attended before they were removed from their home, the school in which the foster child was last enrolled, or any school the child attended in the last 15 months that the child feels connected to. [1]
Upon a change in residence, foster youth shall remain in their school of origin unless the student’s educational rights holder, in consultation with the student, determines it is in “the best interest” of the child to change schools.[2] A school district’s foster youth liaison may also make a recommendation to the educational rights holder on whether it is in the student’s best interest to leave their school of origin.[3]
The “best interest determination” (BID) shall consider, among other factors, the student’s special education rights under the IDEA, including “the opportunity to be educated in the least restrictive educational setting necessary to achieve academic progress.”[4] A BID can be made in an IEP meeting. For more information on the BID process, please review the California Department of Social Service’s All County Letter from March 10, 2021, available here: https://www.cde.ca.gov/ls/pf/fy/documents/bidjointletter.pdf.