Foster Care Points of Contact

LEA Foster Care Liaisons

Each school district and open-enrollment charter school in Texas is required to appoint at least one employee to act as a Foster Care Liaison. Both districts and open-enrollment charter schools must submit their Foster Care Liaison's name and contact information to TEA.

Liaison Duties

Facilitate the enrollment in or transfer to a public or open-enrollment charter school of any child in the district or area served by the charter school who is in the conservatorship of the state (TEC § 33.904).
Advocate for the needs of students in foster care.
Coordinate with various school personnel and departments to ensure the required supports, practices, and best-practice strategies for serving students in foster care are implemented within LEAs.
May coordinate with the Title I director, transportation director, McKinney-Vento Homeless liaison, dropout prevention/at-risk coordinator, special education staff, and other federal program staff to coordinate ESSA and other requirements for students in foster care within their LEAs.
May coordinate with individual campuses, community services agencies, caregivers, local colleges, and advocates involved with the child welfare system.

See Chapter Five of the Foster Care & Student Success Resource Guide for more information on Foster Care Liaison duties.

Foster Care Liaison Contact Information

Local Educational Agencies (LEA) must submit Foster Care Liaison contact information to TEA through AskTED. AskTED is a real-time public database where each school district and charter school's foster care liaison is listed.

Districts must submit their liaison information to TEA through the district’s AskTED administrator.
Charter schools must submit their liaison information to the Charter School Division at TEA directly via (512) 463-9575 or CharterSchools@tea.texas.gov. Include your liaison’s name, email address, and phone and fax numbers. This information will be added to the AskTED directory.

LEAs should review this information annually. Contact your district's AskTED administer or TEA's Charter School Division immediately if there are any changes.

You can view and download foster care liaison information in AskTED. Information is available by district, region, and county. For step-by-step instructions with pictures of how to view and download a current list of foster care liaisons in AskTED, please follow the guidelines for how to find the foster care liaison contact information in AskTED (PDF).

ESC Foster Care Champions

Every ESC has voluntarily designated an ESC Foster Care Champion to serve as a point of contact on foster care matters within their respective region. ESCs offer professional development courses and some may host collaborative forums and joint trainings with child welfare partners, known as Education Consortiums. Contact your local ESC to learn about opportunities, trainings, and supports that may be available or are currently being developed to address the education of students in foster care.

ESC Foster Care Champion contact information is maintained in AskTED. To locate the ESC Foster Champion in your region, visit the AskTED Regional ESC Search page, select 'Personnel' under Information Type and 'Foster Care Liaison' from the drop down box under Select Roles. The contact information of Foster Care Champions is also available here: ESC Foster Care Champions (PDF).

DFPS Regional Education Specialists

Each of the 11 Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) regions has a least one Education Specialist. These specialists act a liaisons between DFPS and local schools and LEAs within their region. The Regional Education Specialist is an excellent contact for building partnerships with the community and local child welfare system. Regional Education Specialists also serve as the point of contact for the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA).

Contact your DFPS Regional Education Specialist for assistance with: