Students in Foster Care Placement - Overview

Foster care, or out‐of‐home care, is the system that a child enters when a child cannot live safely at home and a court of law grants legal custody to the State of Texas. A child “in foster care” can be in either the temporary or permanent conservatorship of DFPS.

“Conservatorship” is a term also used in the Texas Education Code and by DFPS to describe the status of a child who is placed in DFPS legal custody by a court order. While a child is in foster care, DFPS may place the child in several different types of living arrangements. These include:

• Relative/kinship caregiver or ‘fictive kin’ (a close family friend)
• Foster family homes
• Cottage homes
• Residential treatment centers and emergency shelters
• Facilities overseen by another state agency
• Adoptive family
• Supervised independent living (SIL) arrangement
  
  

In an effort to provide educational stability, Deer Park ISD will provide enrollment and registration assistance, as well as other educational services throughout the student’s enrollment, to any student who is currently placed or newly placed in foster care (temporary or permanent custody of the state, sometimes referred to as substitute care).

Campus counselors will assist you accessing community resources and connecting you with appropriate district services based on your individual need. Services may include assistance with basic needs (food and clothing), school supplies, and transportation.

For more information on services for foster care students, contact the district’s foster care liaison, Sherri Dial, Coordinator of Support Services at 832-668-7261.