About ECC

The Los Angeles County Education Coordinating Council (ECC) was created by the Board of Supervisors in November 2004, and charged with raising the educational achievement of foster and probation youth throughout Los Angeles County.

Recognizing the significant and growing education achievement gap for youth in the care of the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) and Probation Department, two Education Summits were convened in 2003 and 2004 by the Children's Law Center of Los Angeles, county departments, schools, and advocacy organizations. More than 200 educators, child welfare and probation experts, advocates, community leaders, youth, and caregivers developed a set of recommendations for closing this unjust gap. The key recommendation of these summits was to establish a coordinating body that would provide oversight and accountability for raising the educational attainment of these youth.

The resulting ECC brings together, for the first time, the major stakeholders responsible for the educational performance of foster and probation youth. Its 24 members include the leadership of school districts with significant numbers of system youth, county departments, the juvenile court, city and county children’s commissions, advocacy and planning groups, community agencies, and youth and their caregivers.

The purpose of the ECC is to coordinate efforts across organizations and jurisdictions, encouraging networks of people to work together to expand best practices and fill the gaps in communities where little help or support for families is available, so that none of our children are left behind.

Since its creation, the ECC has reached out to hundreds of organizations, agencies, constituent groups and communities throughout Los Angeles, helping to overcome existing barriers to effectively working together, and building solid relationships with those who share responsibility for or have an interest in the education of system youth.  In 2005, the ECC developed a comprehensive blueprint for raising the achievement of DCFS and Probation youth.  The Blueprint, “Expecting More,” lays out the challenge for raising the educational achievement of foster and probation youth, the outcomes we want for these children and youth, and a plan for achieving them, based on current research and identified best practices. This Blueprint includes a set of basic agreements that the ECC and its partners must commit to if we are to achieve our goal and some short-term practical solutions in four priority program areas, including 12 recommendations and a set of suggested actions for accomplishing each. The plan also outlines the roles and responsibilities of all major stakeholders—individuals, groups, and systems—and ways for us to hold each other accountable.

As a body, the ECC is now engaged in championing the seven basic agreements outlined in the Blueprint, promoting needed partnerships, developing and coordinating new ideas for raising educational achievement, tracking indicators of success, monitoring and reporting progress, intervening when called upon, and problem-solving in order to implement the recommendations and actions suggested in the Blueprint.   

Some ECC Key Accomplishments
	Obtained a fee waiver from Los Angeles Universal Preschool (LAUP) for foster parents, parents whose children are under the auspices of DCFS, and teen parents in the foster care or juvenile justice systems. Established a pilot program within DCFS and Probation to fill available openings in State Preschool, Early Head Start, Head Start, and LAUP programs with foster children and the children of foster and probation youth. Developed a sample Educational Case Plan for DCFS and Probation youth and outlined the responsibilities of the departments, caregivers, and the court for implementing these plans. Secured a blanket order from the Juvenile Court permitting DCFS and Probation to share information on their youth with the seven school districts that are members of the ECC. To implement it, the ECC adopted a Collaborative Agreement to Share Educational Records of Foster and Probation Youth that outlines a protocol for sharing this information, along with a Student Records Request Form.  Completed data matches with Los Angeles Unified, Pasadena Unified, Pomona Unified and Montebello Unified School Districts, DCFS and Probation to determine which schools they attend and how they fare academically compared to other district students.  Obtained the signatures of the superintendents of seven school districts—LACOE, Lancaster, Long Beach, Los Angeles, Pasadena, Keppel Union, and Pomona —on a letter, drafted by the Association of Community Human Service Agencies (ACHSA) and the Children’s Law Center of Los Angeles, outlining AB 490 regulations.  The Association of Community Human Service Agencies (ACHSA) reported that, as a result of this letter, 87% of the youth in the care of its 80+ agencies are now enrolled in school within the required 3 days.  Collaborated with the Children’s Planning Council to develop, at the Board’s request, a set of “hard-hitting” recommendations for reforming the county’s juvenile justice system, including the strengthening of education programs for youth in juvenile halls and camps. Worked with LAUSD, DCFS and Probation on a training component for school staff (superintendents, principals, deans, school counselors, front office staff, etc.) on the needs of foster and probation youth.  800 school-based advocates have been trained on this curriculum to date. Facilitated significant expansion of academic mentoring programs in the Los Angeles and Compton Unified School Districts.  Five new Children Uniting Nations/MPLAY programs at LAUSD middle schools—Virgil, Gompers, Bethune, Drew and Markham—are scheduled to open this spring and will, collectively, serve 200 foster youth. The Children, Youth and Family Collaborative is now operating 20 academic mentoring programs in LAUSD and Compton USD elementary, middle and high schools, a 35% increase from 2006.

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The Challenge

Foster and probation youth lag far behind other youth in educational achievement, a fact that greatly diminishes their chances of becoming successful adults. Education is high on the list of goals for these youth, second only to relationships with people who care about them. They see education as their ticket to success, yet the statistics about how far their achievement lags behind that of other students are truly devastating.

Part of this achievement gap is a result of the abuse, neglect, exposure to violence, poverty, inadequate early care, and poor preparation for school that many of these youth experience before entering the dependency or delinquency systems. Another part results from isolation, the trauma of being separated from their families, frequent placement changes and, often, stigma and lowered expectations.
The rest can largely be explained by administrative problems these youth encounter once in the system—disruptive delays in transfers between schools, lost or misplaced records, absences for service-related needs, a lack of standard procedures across school districts for awarding credits, and difficulties enrolling in the classes required for graduation in overburdened school systems.

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ECC Membership

 

Public and Private Sector Supporters

Major support generously provided by:

W. M. Keck Foundation
Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors


Additional support provided by :

California Community Foundation
Casey Family Programs
Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services
Los Angeles County Interagency Operations Group
Los Angeles County Probation Department
Neil McDowell Trust
Stuart Foundation

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