Supporting children and youth in care in the K-12 education system
Last updated on May 17, 2024
Children and youth in care may have needs that affect their ability to learn resulting from stressful events in their lives, including separation from family members and other trauma. Decisions on educational supports and services should be made with the needs and interests of the student at the center, in consultation with parents/guardians, the student where appropriate, and other members of the school-based team.
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There are a number of ways you can help meet the needs of students in care:
Working together, we can improve the educational outcomes and wellbeing of all children and youth in care.
Review our data and collaborative approaches throughout the system to provide wrap around services for children and youth in care.
- Children & Youth in Care: How Are We Doing? Is our annual data report. This report offers data on performance of children and youth in care and provides insights on what areas the system could focus on to improve their educational outcomes
- Aboriginal Report: How Are We Doing 2022/2023?
- The Joint Planning Guidelines (PDF) provides direction on what supports might be offered by each member of the team and how to work collaboratively to provide wrap around supports and improve educational outcomes of children and youth in care. Version française: Lignes directrices de planification concertée (PDF)
- A Guide for Sharing Information about Children & Youth in Care (PDF) clarifies what personal information can be shared between the education and child welfare sectors under the current legislation
- To support collaborative work at the provincial level, the Ministries of Education and Children and Family Development signed a Partnership Agreement (PDF) that focuses on improving educational outcomes of children and youth in care
- The First Nations Leadership Council, First Nations Education Steering Committee and the Province of B.C. signed the First Nations Children and Youth in Care Protocol (PDF) that outlines the commitment of all parties to improving educational outcomes of First Nations children and youth in care
Many evidence-based practices are proven to improve educational outcomes and well-being of students in care such as programs and initiatives to increase school attendance, connectedness and sense of belonging; tutoring and mentoring interventions to improve reading, writing and numeracy; extracurricular activities and Indigenous teaching and supports.
The Joint Planning Guidelines (PDF) contain tip sheets that can help you with designing specific strategies suitable for supporting children and youth that are in your classrooms or schools.
- The sheet for School-Based Teams (PDF) can help you with specific strategies on improving team-based supports
- Teachers (PDF) might find the tips and strategies to support children and youth in care in classrooms in care helpful
- For additional information on how to ensure children and youth in care are engaged in their learning in classrooms and schools check out Tips for Student Engagement (PDF)
- There are also Tips pages for Caregivers (PDF) and Child Welfare workers (PDF) that may provide guidance and understanding of their roles on the team
The Erase contains a wealth of information and resources on promoting student safety and wellbeing in schools and on-line. It also provides the information tailored for districts staff and Safe School Coordinators, including the link to available erase training. It is important for schools to be inclusive and safe spaces for students of all sexual orientations and gender identities (SOGI). Erase provides resources on integrating SOGI into school district policies and codes of conduct and classroom teaching for educators: SOGI 1 2 3.
Many children and youth in care experience stressful events and trauma of being separated from their families and communities. Compassionate learning is understanding what effects trauma has on learning and using strategies to support these students.
Providing staff resources and training on trauma informed practice and mental wellness is important for improving supports for children and youth in care. Based on the Compassionate Learning Communities Framework (PDF) the Ministry of Education and Child Care developed a series of free online Trauma Informed Practice Workshops. The Ministry of Children and Family Development has developed a Healing Families, Helping Systems guide that can help you implement trauma informed practice in your district.