Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified School District recognizes that foster and homeless youth are our most vulnerable students, and as such they may require additional interventions and supports to ensure their academic and personal success.
Foster Youth
Every student in the Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified School District is ensured access to the same opportunities for academic achievement and supports, including children and youth in foster care. Foster youth have educational rights established through Assembly Bills 167, 216, and 490 to help eliminate barriers to education and ensure school stability. These rights are now part of California Education Code and are listed here. It is important for school staff to be fully aware of these rights as well as parent/guardians and foster youth themselves.
Who is a Foster Youth?
Foster youth are children with an open child dependency court case who are placed by and for whom the State agency has placement and care responsibility. This includes, but is not limited to, placements in foster family homes, foster homes of relatives, group homes, emergency shelters, residential facilities, childcare institutions, and pre-adoptive homes.
All children in foster care have a county caseworker. In Los Angeles County, the agency is the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS). Other counties have different agency names but provide the same services.
Homeless Youth
Who is Homeless?
The McKinney-Vento Homeless Education Assistance Act defines homelessness as anyone who is:
Homeless Youth Resources
WIN is a free mobile and web app designed to connect homeless or resource insecure youth ages 12-25, as well as families, adults and seniors, to essential services- all accessible without a referral. Developed by Our Community LA with guidance from our region’s unaccompanied youth, WIN users can search a database of over 2000 essential service providers and connect to 12 categories of resources. Click here to open the web-based version of WIN. It is also available for download in the app store on your iPhone or on Apple Play.
Findhelp.org - Search and connect to support. Financial assistance, food pantries, medical care, and other free or reduced-cost help can be found in your local community simply by entering your zip code.