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Description
California’s most recent efforts on school finance reform brought change from the base revenue limit to the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF). This change was initiated by Governor Jerry Brown to address inequitable educational conditions. Through the LCFF and the creation of the Local Control Accountability Plan (LCAP), California shifted from a central control to local control in guiding resources and services to underserved student groups. For the first time in California finance reform history, foster youth were designated money and resources to address educational parity. The implementation of the California Dashboard began to inform if the LCFF and LCAP efforts were producing desired results. Historically, foster youth have experienced barriers to academic achievement from trauma, placement instability and academic deficiencies. This research drew from a combination of methodological techniques including artifact analysis of LCAP documents from a purposeful sample of California school districts via grounded theory approach and in-depth interviews to address research questions related to educational equity for foster youth. Interviews were conducted with leaders in districts that demonstrated exemplar actions on behalf of foster youth. Data analysis revealed the following common themes regarding effective services for foster youth: (a) additional staff hires, (b) professional development, (c) interventions with an instructional or academic focus and (d) interventions with a focus on student support services. These findings potentially provide a blueprint for creating systems of support for foster youth in school districts to achieve educational equity with use of the LCFF money and LCAP documents.
