REFUGE HOUSE, INC.

PURPOSE:

To ensure every child in Refuge House's care achieves their full educational potential through educational stability and continuity, timely enrollment, advocacy in the special-education process, and coordinated support between Refuge House, caregivers, schools, DFPS, and the SSCC — anchored by the agency's Education Liaison function.

POLICY:

Refuge House believes that proper educational services provide a solid foundation for our children's futures. Refuge House provides support to our foster and adoptive families and to the children placed in their homes to help each child achieve their full educational potential, ensure educational stability and continuity, and ensure their educational needs are met. Educational stability is a critical factor when identifying every foster, kinship, and adoptive placement.

This policy applies to all Refuge House staff, foster parents, kinship caregivers, and adoptive parents. Where an SSCC provider manual or the T3C System Blueprint imposes a stricter requirement than the DFPS Minimum Standards, the stricter requirement controls.

EDUCATION LIAISON FUNCTION (T3C):

Refuge House maintains a designated Education Liaison as a required T3C Infrastructure Function (Function #5). The Education Liaison serves as the primary point of coordination between the agency and the child's school for educational planning, enrollment, special-education advocacy (ARD/IEP/ITP), and post-secondary transition. The function may be fulfilled through a dedicated position, a duty-based assignment to qualified staff, or contracted services, and is supported operationally by the Regional Youth Stability Coordinator (RYSC) and the Dallas Education Specialist, with the Case Manager Supervisor holding the duty-based role from a leadership standpoint.

For any child receiving treatment services, Refuge House designates and documents a liaison between the agency and the child's school in the child's record (26 TAC §749.1891(b); T3C System Blueprint Education Liaison function). Educational support is delivered through a trauma-informed (TBRI®) lens, recognizing that academic success is connected to felt safety and relational trust.

GOVERNING STANDARDS:

• Educational stability is a critical factor in placement matching; the school of origin and current district are considered at referral.
• Timely enrollment — school-aged children (pre-K–12) are enrolled in and attending an accredited Texas public, charter, or accredited home-school program within two school days of placement, unless a written exception is granted by the CPS/SSCC worker; children ages 3–5 attend public-school pre-K or Head Start where available (26 TAC §749.1891; DFPS 24-Hr RCC §§6100, 6500).
• Educational Portfolio — every school-aged child has a current Educational Portfolio (DFPS green binder) maintained as both a hard copy at the foster home and an electronic copy in Radius, updated at least monthly, within 30 days of any educational event, and reviewed comprehensively at least quarterly.
• Forms 2085 / 2085-E (Placement Authorization / Designation of Education Decision-Maker) are confirmed and provided to the school at enrollment and at the start of each school year.
• Special-education advocacy — Refuge House and caregivers participate in ARD/IEP/ITP meetings, support IEP implementation, ensure positive behavior supports that decrease negative disciplinary techniques, and provide required notices, including to biological parents when rights are not terminated (26 TAC §749.1893).
• ASD / developmental disability — the educational program encourages normalization and is appropriate to the child's intellectual and social functioning (26 TAC §749.1895).
• Early Childhood Intervention — children three or younger are referred to ECI and receive Texas Health Steps developmental screening within 30 days of placement when delay/disability is suspected.
• Post-secondary & vocational — youth 14+ are connected to vocational training, the State-Paid Tuition and Fee Waiver, and the Education and Training Voucher (ETV) program.
• Kinship caregivers meet the educational-services duties of 26 TAC §749.4489–§749.4491.

QUALITY ASSURANCE:

Educational stability, Portfolio currency, enrollment timeframes, and special-education participation are monitored through home visits, the Radius electronic Portfolio, and the agency's PQI process; gaps are escalated to the SSCC Permanency Specialist and regional DFPS Education Specialist.

REGULATORY ALIGNMENT:

• 26 TAC §749.1891 (agency educational responsibilities; §749.1891(b) Education Liaison for treatment services), §749.1893 (caregiver educational responsibilities), §749.1895 (ASD educational program); §749.4489–§749.4491 (kinship educational services)
• DFPS 24-Hr RCC Requirements (FY26) §§6100, 6110, 6200, 6210, 6300, 6400, 6500, 6700–6910; CPS Handbook §15000; DFPS Policy 4114.32; Texas Education Code §29.012; Section 504 / Section 508 Rehabilitation Act of 1973; IDEA
• SSCC provider manuals (OCOK §6.13, SFCS §3.1.2, Belong, 2INgage, EMPOWER, 4Kids4Families); T3C System Blueprint Education Liaison function and applicable Service Packages

RELATED POLICIES AND PROCEDURES:

• FC09-01.1 Educational Supports and Collaborating with School Systems Procedure
• T3C Professional Staffing Plan (Education Liaison — Infrastructure Function #5; RYSC)
• Education Liaison Job Description
• Admission Matching & Criteria for Child Placement (educational stability in matching)
• FC-YT Youth Transition Support (post-secondary, ETV, tuition waiver)
• Reasonable & Prudent Parent / Normalcy (extracurricular participation)

DEFINITIONS:

Education Liaison: the agency staff member (or contracted resource) designated to coordinate between Refuge House and the child's school; required for any child receiving treatment services per 26 TAC §749.1891(b) and the T3C System Blueprint.

Education Decision-Maker: the individual designated on Form 2085-E with authority to make educational decisions for the child.

Surrogate Parent: a person appointed to make special-education decisions for a child whose biological parent's educational rights are limited or terminated.

Educational Portfolio: the DFPS-issued record (green 3-ring binder + electronic copy in Radius) containing the child's educational documents.

This policy document establishes the governing principles for Educational Supports. The corresponding procedure document (FC09-01.1) operationalizes these principles. While policies require Board approval and remain relatively stable, procedures may be updated by the Executive Director to adapt to regulatory changes or operational improvements without requiring Board approval, provided such changes maintain alignment with the policy's intent.