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Before you approach the school, you should establish a cordial and trusting relationship with the minor and his/her caregivers. Let them know that you intend to get in touch with the school to make sure that your minor is receiving all needed services. Some families become defensive and resentful of the intrusion. Use all the tact you have to maintain trust. Be sensitive to the family’s educational expectations, which may be different from your own.

Once you have established the cooperation (or at least acceptance) of the minor and caregivers, talk with the Child Welfare Worker, the attorney, and any other social worker who may be on the case to find out how much they know about your child's academic status. You may discover that one of them is already very involved with the school and can continue to play the role of advocate in that arena. You can then play a supportive role, keeping informed and getting copies of educational evaluations and report cards through the other person rather than going to the school directly for the records.

If no one else on the case is in regular contact with the school about your child’s performance, make an appointment to meet with your child’s teacher and/or counselor. Ask him or her how to gain access to the school records. If your child has moved several times, you may find that the school records are not complete. You may play a valuable role helping the teachers become aware of changes in your child’s school performance or attitude simply by helping them to obtain records from other schools.

If your child is performing significantly below grade level, if he/she is being disruptive in class and constantly getting in trouble, or if he/she is truant a lot, consider the possibility that he/she needs an educational evaluation and an I.E.P. As you learned in Training, the I.E.P. is the Individual Educational Plan created for a student that defines what special help he/she needs in each academic subject. If you have the slightest concern that an I.E.P. might be helpful for your child, call your Case Supervisor to learn how to proceed. Discuss your concern about your child’s education with others on the case, especially the CWW and the minor’s attorney. With luck, you will gain their support in arranging an educational evaluation through the school. Discuss the issue with your child’s teacher and make an appointment with the I.E.P. specialist for that school.

Your child will need an educational evaluation to see if he/she qualifies for an I.E.P. This involves expensive testing. You may need the help of your minor’s attorney and social worker to convince the school district that the educational evaluation is really necessary.

After the evaluation is complete, if the results indicate an appropriate level of need, the school will hold an I.E.P. meeting. This meeting reviews the plan specifically designed to help your child have the best possible chance for academic success, based on the results of the evaluation. The school principal, a parent or educational surrogate, and an administrator from the San Francisco Unified School District all must be in attendance. Classroom teachers and CASA volunteers attend as well. As a CASA, you are specifically listed in the educational code as a party qualified to serve as Surrogate Parent on the I.E.P. if there is no family member or professional already in that role.

Sometimes, even with a good evaluation, a good plan, and a good school, the child does not seem to improve. You may feel that more needs to be done for your child. Your CASA Case Supervisor can refer you to a consultant who specializes in advocating for students in the San Francisco Unified School District. Sometimes a child who is failing in one setting can succeed in another. There are many kinds of schools in the city; you can advocate to place your child into the one that most fully suits his/her needs, but you cannot know all the resources without the help of an expert.

—Libby Colman, Ph.D.