LAUSD First in the State to Track Post-Secondary Outcomes of Foster Youth

The Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) Board of Education has approved resolution establishing a data sharing agreement that will allow the state’s largest district to track foster youth post-secondary educational outcomes. More than one in ten foster youth, age 0 to 21 in California (7,427) attended an LAUSD school over the 2015-16 school year.

Cal-PASS Plus, the data system used by LAUSD, is a collaborative pre-K through post-secondary system of data created through leadership by and funding from the California Community College Chancellor’s Office and managed through a partnership between San Joaquin Delta College and Educational Results Partnership (Ed Results).

LAUSD’s current agreement in place with Cal-PASS Plus does not include specific provisions that allow for the sharing of information regarding foster care status, and does not capture data beyond high school. The new agreement will allow Cal-PASS Plus to link data between K-12, community college and university systems that enable the reporting of aggregate college outcomes for foster youth from LAUSD.

The resolution will allow LAUSD to gather aggregate level data about which foster youth are enrolling in college, how they perform, which factors support their success, and which factors impose barriers. Additionally, it allows LAUSD to collaborate with Ed Results to support the creation of reports on foster youth college and career trajectories that can inform policies and practices that support foster youth college and career success.

This effort to track foster youth outcomes through their transition from high school — the first of its kind in the state — was derived from recommendations of the L.A. Opportunity Youth Collaborative‘s Foster Youth College Advancement Project. The resolution was co-sponsored by Board Members Monica Garcia, Monica Ratliff and Dr. Ref Rodriguez. To view the meeting minutes, follow this LINK.