Back-to-School in Illinois: What Every Foster Parent Should Know Before the First Bell Rings
- Foster Parent Education
- August 12, 2026
Back-to-School in Illinois: What Every Foster Parent Should Know Before the First Bell Rings
By Dr. Susan A. McConnell
For most families, back-to-school season is filled with excitement. New backpacks. Fresh notebooks. New teachers. New opportunities.
For children in foster care, however, the beginning of a new school year can also bring uncertainty, anxiety, and disruption. As foster parents, you have the opportunity to do far more than buy school supplies. You become your child’s advocate, encourager, and steady presence during one of the most important transitions of the year.
At Let It Be Us, we know that educational success is one of the strongest predictors of long-term stability for children who have experienced trauma. Every positive school experience helps build confidence, resilience, healthy relationships, and hope for the future.
As another Illinois school year begins, here are several things every foster parent should know.
1. Educational Stability Matters
One of the greatest challenges children experience in foster care is changing schools.
Research consistently shows that frequent school moves negatively affect academic achievement, attendance, graduation rates, and emotional well-being. In fact, students can lose months of academic progress every time they change schools. Under the federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), children in foster care have important protections designed to reduce these disruptions, including the opportunity to remain in their school of origin whenever it is in their best interest. Illinois schools and child welfare agencies are required to work together to support educational stability through transportation planning, immediate enrollment when a school change is necessary, and collaborative decision-making.
If your foster child experiences a placement change, ask questions early:
- Is remaining in the current school in the child’s best interest?
- Has a Best Interest Determination been completed?
- How will transportation be arranged?
- Who is the school’s foster care point of contact? Is there one?
2. Immediate Enrollment Is the Law
Children entering foster care often arrive with very little – sometimes not even school records. Fortunately, Illinois law and federal protections recognize that education cannot wait. Schools must enroll children in foster care immediately, even if records such as transcripts, immunization documentation, or other paperwork have not yet arrived. The receiving school is responsible for requesting those records from the previous school without delaying enrollment.
Every day in school matters. If you encounter enrollment delays, speak with your caseworker and ask to connect with your school district’s foster care liaison.
3. Ask for Help Early
Many foster parents don’t realize the number of educational supports available to children in care. Illinois DCFS offers educational assistance through its Office of Education and Transition Services (OETS), including:
- Educational advocacy
- School enrollment assistance
- Tutoring resources
- Special education support
- Homeschool guidance when appropriate
- High school completion assistance
- Postsecondary planning
- Career preparation
These resources exist because children in foster care often face educational barriers that require additional support. Asking for assistance is not a sign that something is wrong, it is one of the best ways to help your child succeed. We will list the contact information below:
Statewide Office Contacts
Chevelle Bailey
Deputy Director
Office of Education and Transition Services
1911 S. Indiana Avenue
Chicago, IL 60616
Phone: 312-328-2479
Email: Chevelle.Bailey@Illinois.gov
Stacy Fuoss
Administrative Assistant
Office of Education and Transition Services
406 E. Monroe, Station #23
Springfield, IL 62701
Phone: 217-557-2689
Email: Stacy.Fuoss@Illinois.gov
4. Build Relationships with the School
One of the most valuable things a foster parent can do is introduce yourself to your child’s teacher before problems arise. Share what is appropriate. Explain how you prefer to communicate. Ask how you can support the classroom.
Remember that trauma often affects attention, organization, emotional regulation, and behavior. What may appear to be defiance may actually be anxiety, fear, or difficulty managing emotions.
When schools and caregivers work together, children benefit, and teachers become partners instead of simply observers.
5. Focus on Progress, Not Perfection
Many children entering foster care have experienced interrupted schooling, chronic absenteeism, multiple school moves, or untreated learning challenges.
Some may arrive academically behind their peers.
That’s okay. Celebrate progress, effort, attendance, finishing homework, and reading. Children who have experienced trauma often need confidence before they can fully engage academically. Your encouragement matters far more than a report card.
6. Create Predictable Routines
Children heal through consistency. As school begins, establish routines that create a sense of safety. Simple routines can make an enormous difference:
- Consistent bedtime
- Morning checklist
- Homework routine
- Family dinner whenever possible
- Reading together before bed
- Preparing clothes and backpacks the night before
Predictability reduces anxiety. Children who know what to expect often feel more secure and better prepared to learn.
7. Watch for Emotional Stress
Back-to-school transitions can trigger memories of previous placements, losses, or difficult experiences. Watch for signs such as:
- Increased anxiety
- Trouble sleeping
- Irritability
- School refusal
- Headaches or stomachaches
- Withdrawal
- Behavioral changes
Great supportive conversations can start with: “What happened in your day today?” or “How can I help you?” Children who feel emotionally safe are much more likely to succeed academically.
8. Remember That You Are the Advocate
One of the greatest gifts foster parents provide is advocacy. And what you do next is extremely important …
- Attend conferences.
- Ask questions.
- Request meetings.
- Follow up on services.
- Celebrate successes.
- Advocate respectfully but persistently.
- No one knows your foster child quite the way you do.
- Your voice matters.
9. Take Advantage of Available Illinois Resources
Illinois offers excellent resources for foster parents throughout the school year. The Illinois State Board of Education provides guidance regarding educational rights for youth in care, school stability, transportation, immediate enrollment, and best-interest determinations.
The Illinois Department of Children and Family Services also offers educational specialists, advocacy services, tutoring support, workforce preparation, transition services, and post-secondary planning to help youth remain on track academically. Contact your caseworker for more information.
Don’t hesitate to use these resources, they exist to help your child succeed.
Final Thoughts
Every August offers the promise of a new beginning. As school buses return to the roads and classrooms fill with eager students, many families look forward to a fresh start. For children in foster care, however, the beginning of a new school year can bring a very different mix of emotions. Along with excitement may come uncertainty, anxiety, and memories of past disruptions. A new classroom may also mean a new home, new caregivers, new classmates, and another reminder that life has not always been predictable.
As foster parents, you have the remarkable opportunity to change that experience. Long before the first homework assignment or report card, you are creating something even more important … a sense of safety. Your calm reassurance on the first morning of school, your patience during homework time, your willingness to attend a school event, or your encouragement after a difficult day tells a child, “You are not alone. I am here, and I believe in you.”
School is about much more than academics. It is where friendships are formed, confidence begins to grow, trusted adults become mentors, talents are discovered, and dreams begin to take shape. Every positive experience helps a child build resilience and believe that the future can be different from the past.
As foster parents, you may never fully realize the impact of helping a child feel safe walking through the school doors on the first day.
One encouraging conversation.
One reassuring hug.
One teacher who understands.
One foster parent who refuses to give up.
Those moments change lives.
At Let It Be Us, we believe every child deserves not only a safe home but also every opportunity to succeed in school. Together, we can ensure that children in foster care begin this school year with hope, stability, and the support they need to thrive.
References
Illinois Department of Children and Family Services. Education Resources for Youth in Care. Education Resources for Youth in Care
Illinois Department of Children and Family Services. K–12 Education Services. K–12 Education Services
Illinois Department of Children and Family Services. Resources for Current Foster Parents. Resources for Current Foster Parents
Illinois State Board of Education. Youth in Care: Educational Stability Under ESSA. ISBE Youth in Care Resources
Legal Center for Foster Care & Education. Back-to-School Resources for Students in Foster Care. Back-to-School Resources
Illinois Department of Children and Family Services. Educating and Supporting Our Children: A Guide to Education for Children and Youth in DCFS Care in Illinois. Guide to Education for Children and Youth in DCFS Care in Illinois
Dr. Susan A. McConnell is the Founder and Executive Director of Let It Be Us, an Illinois licensed child welfare agency with the mission of providing collaborative, innovative solutions of effective recruitment and placement within Illinois foster care and adoption. Susan has an MBA from DePaul University and a Doctorate Degree in Social Work from the University of Southern California, where her work focused on permanency within child welfare. She is the Chair of the Permanency Committee of the Illinois Statewide Foster Care Advisory Council, appointed by the Director of the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) in 2017. She is also an adoptive parent with over 30 years of open adoption experience. She can be reached at susanmcconnell@letitbeus.org.
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