Education

• Call in advance to let the secretary know you will be coming
• Introduce yourself over the phone
• Bring your court appointment with you
• Bring a picture ID (License)
• CPS schools are familiar with CASA Volunteers, other schools may not be. If the schools is not familiar with the CASA Volunteer role, take time to explain. You can use this.

• Ask for a student handbook
• Ask for online grade and assignment access
• Check attendance; deal with any issues that may be keeping the child from attending
• (For high schoolers) Check how many credits are needed to graduate from that school and how many credits the child has earned (see credit recovery below)

• Any recommendations should be put in writing
• Have school stamp and date the recommendation
• Keep a dated copy

• On your court entry the school of origin is cited; it is determined by where the parent resides
• The district the child comes from is responsible for paying for any additional services
• Note: the district does not have to let them back into the school from which they came (see suspensions/expulsions below)
• Legal Aid can be helpful (see below)
• May need to contact the superintendent of the school district

• Find out what is needed to graduate
• Know how many credits the youth currently has
• If the youth is behind, set up an immediate discussion with the vice principal or counselor
• Most schools have a recovery plan, that may include Saturday school, online work and other ways to catch up
• Kids in School Rule can be a great resource for youth in Cincinnati Public Schools

• JFS has placed 3 personnel in the CPS school to monitor all school-age children involved in JFS cases
• They are located in the CPS school
• Find out who the representative is for your child’s school and the contact information
• Contact them and introduce yourself
• Ask for school reports in advance to include in your court report
• They are a great resource for understanding the dynamics of the school and who to go to for what is needed

• A meeting can be requested if the child is struggling academically or if the child has behavior issues
• Meetings may be to discuss an IEP (individual education plans or 504)
• As a CASA Volunteer, you have the right to request a meeting
• CASA Volunteers should attend every school meeting; ask to be informed prior to scheduled meetings
• The child should be part of the meeting and the planning

• The CASA Manager (GAL) will request one of ProKids Parent Surrogates to attend the school meeting
• A Parent Surrogate will be requested for any school meeting that needs a “parent” signature
• The Parent Surrogate will remain on the case for as long as it is open
• The CASA Volunteer will update and inform the parent surrogate of the case and keep them posted on any new developments

• See school handbook for applicable regulations
• Review Chapter 11 in training Manual (Unit 4 Behavior Intervention Plan –Discipline)
• Call Team Child (see below) for guidance on legal rights of all involved
• Make sure the school hearing is on a date that works for you and the child; ask school to reschedule if it doesn’t
• Child is a full party participant in the school hearing
• Don’t assume that the child will not be allowed to come back earlier. If you can demonstrate that the child will not likely repeat the behavior (progress in therapy, for example) the child may be allowed back earlier then the suspended time frame.

• See school handbook for applicable regulations
• This may be used instead of suspensions and last up to 3 days
• You want your child in school as much as possible
• Speak with your CASA Manager about getting the child back in school ASAP
• Call Team Child (see below)

• Free resource through Legal Aid to access educational attorneys
• The JFS caseworker is the only party which can release the education information to Legal Aid but GALs and CASA Volunteers can request Legal Aid’s assistance, as well as JFS
• The team advocates for the child so they return to and remain in school
• You may call Legal Aid at  513-241-9400 for advice and for school-related questions  about suspensions and expulsions

Notify the school to send all written  information to home in Spanish

• School set up in home; needs to be monitored by an adult living in the home
• May not be the best program for foster children
• An alternative may be partial hospitalization (Children’s Home, St. Aloysius, for example)

• Residential care must create a school setting for their population
• When a child is ready to leave residential care, plans need to be put in place for school
• Start three months prior to leaving residential placement
• Team Child will recommend going to a “Alternative School” first instead of a regular school setting (such as Children’s Home,   St. Aloysius, Dohn School)