University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses

The Universal Record Data Sharing System

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The Universal Record Data Sharing System

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Content RUNNING HEAD: UNIVERSAL DATA RECORD SHARING SYSTEM 1
The Universal Record Data Sharing System
Amanda Ricciardi, LCSW
Doctoral Capstone
In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree
Doctor of Social Work
Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work
University of Southern California
December 2019
RUNNING HEAD: UNIVERSAL DATA RECORD SHARING SYSTEM 2

Executive Summary
Each year more than six million kids receive treatment for severe mental, emotional, or
behavioral problems. Many of these problems lead children into the care and custody of the
foster care system. Each year more than 500,000 children enter into the foster care system in the
United States (National Center Brief, 2010). Once in this system these children are one of the
most vulnerable and academically at-risk populations in the United States. Foster youth are more
likely to change school multiple times, repeat a grade in school, have lower standardized test
scores, and also experience more disciplinary actions. The Universal Record Data Sharing
System (UDRSS) would make certain documents available to multiple individuals such as,
school transcripts, other types of educational records, demographic information, and physical
health records (such as school physicals and immunization records that are on file at the school
nurses office), to be shared electronically from school to school, district to district thus
increasing the continuity of care to education for these students.

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Table of Contents
I: Executive Summary………………………………...............pg: 2
II: Description of Social problem……………………………...pg: 4-6
III: Description about what is known about research…………..pg: 6-8
IV: Resulting Gaps in knowledge and impact………………….pg: 8-9
V: Description on Conceptual Framework/theory of change….pg: 9-13
VI: General description of proposed project……………………pg: 13-14
VII: Explanation of Design………………………………………pg: 14-15
VIII: Description of proposed impact…………………………….pg: 15-19
IX: How Proposed Solution will improve Grand Challenge……pg: 19
X: Stakeholders………………………………………………...pg: 19-20
XI: Evidence to show impact…………………………………...pg: 20-21
XII: Alternative pathways……………………………………….pg: 21-22
XIIII: Summary of Project Plans………………………………….pg: 22
XV: Implications of project……………………………………...pg: 23-25
XVI: Acknowledgment of risk…………………………………...pg: 25-26
XVII: Concrete Plan to move forward…………………………….pg: 26-27
XVIII: Appendix A-Logic Model………………………………….pg: 28
XVIIII: Appendix B- Gannt Chart…………………………………pg: 29
XX: Appendix C- Line Item Budget…………………………….pg: 30
XXI: Appendix D- Grant Proposal……………………………….pg: 31-41
XXII: References…………………………………………………...pg: 42-43

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Description of Social Problem: Prevalence and Incidence
Each year more than six million kids receive treatment for severe mental, emotional, or
behavioral problems (American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare, 2018). Many of
these problems lead children into the care and custody of the foster care system. Each year more
than 500,000 children are removed from their homes and placed into the foster care setting, after
they are removed from their biological homes, youth may change foster care placements
numerous times. With each new placement comes a new community and a different culture.
Each new placement also brings about a new school. These children suffer from the very system
that is supposed to be helping them (National Center Brief, 2010). Former foster youth are more
likely to become homeless, incarcerated, or dependent on services (Lips, 2007) Ensuring healthy
development for youth is one of the 12 Grand Challenges of Social Work presented by the
American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare.
Nationally, roughly half of all foster youth will spend at least one night in foster care,
with 20 percent staying longer than three years and nine percent staying for more than five (Lips,
2007). Children who are involved in the child welfare system tend to show marked elevations on
measures of risk for behavioral developmental problems compared with population norms
(Petersen, 2014). Foster children tend to move from school to school because of changing foster
homes causing a lack in the continuity of their educational experience. School transfers can
create a gap in a foster child’s learning cycle. Such factors that impede a foster child’s basic
knowledge and scholastic performance are frequent changes of foster homes, no adult being
available to help with homework, low expectations from social workers and teachers, and not
having a quiet place to study (Hedin, Hojer, and Brunnberg, 2011).
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Decades of research has shown that school mobility (moving from school to school) has
negative effects on children in the general population. While in the process of moving and
during the period of adjustment to a new school, children may miss out on instruction, causing
them to fall behind their non-mobile peers. A study has found that mobile students tend to be
about four months behind their peers in both reading and math achievement. Once in their new
school, it may take teachers time to establish the correct placement for the student, leading to
more time being spent without appropriate instruction. In particular, lack of records may
interfere with a teacher’s ability to provide students with the appropriate level of instruction and
services. Finally, school mobility might affect outcomes through the disruption of social
relationships (Pears, Hyoun, Kim, and Buchanan, 2015). When in school, more than one third of
youth-in-care will have experienced five or more school changes and are more than twice as
likely to experience school absence’s compared to non-foster peers. Between 30 and 50 percent
of youth in care are placed in special education programs, likely related to a learning disability or
emotional disturbance (Hedin, 2011). These frequent school transfers and disruptions in learning
take a serious toll on the child’s development, causing them to perform below grade level in such
areas as reading and math and repeat a grade they would have otherwise not had to repeat if they
did not switch schools (Lips, 2007).
History shows that children in foster care are more likely than other children to exhibit
high levels of behavioral and emotional problems. They are also more likely to be suspended or
expelled from school, and to exhibit low levels of school engagement and involvement with
extracurricular activities. Children in foster care are also more likely to have received mental
health services in the past year, to have a limiting physical, learning, or mental health condition,
or to be in poor or fair health (Child Trends, 2018).
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Truancy, or unexcused absences from school, have been linked to serious delinquent
activity in youth and significant negative behavior and characteristics in adults. Truancy has
been found to be related to substance abuse, gang activity, and involvement in criminal activities
such as burglary, auto theft, and vandalism. There has been found to be many correlates of
school truancy, these are such things as family factors: lack of guidance/supervision, domestic
violence, poverty, drug use, School factors: climate issues, economic influences: employed
students, single-parent households, high mobility rates, lack of transportation/childcare, and
Student Variables: drug/alcohol use, mental health difficulties (Baker,2001).
Foster youth face a special set of challenges both inside and outside the classroom that
have a serious impact on their academic performance. Foster care is designed to be a temporary
service for children with parents who cannot care for them. All too often, however, these
children end up spending years of their lives in the foster care system. Across the U.S., youth
raised in foster care typically achieve at lower levels academically and are at a higher risk of
dropping out of school than their general population peers. Nationwide, only about half of youth
raised in foster care end up finishing high school (National Foster Care Institute, 2018). Studies
have shown that people with higher educational levels typically have lower health risk, lower
rates of substance abuse, lower rates of delinquency and/or crime and a more productive overall
life. This is why focusing on this specific population is so important, not just now but always.
Description about what is known about Research, Practice and Innovation
According to the American School Board Journal foster care youth more often repeat a
grade, are twice as likely as the rest of the population to drop out before graduation and score 16
to 20 percent lower on state standardized tests (Lips, 2007). Children in foster care are one of
the most vulnerable and academically at-risk populations in the United States. Compared with
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70 percent of peers who are not in care, it is estimated that only half of adolescents in care
complete high school, and by the age of 25 only 11.8 percent complete an undergraduate degree
(Benbenishty and Siegel, 2018).
School engagement is commonly divided into behavioral, affective and cognitive
dimensions. Behavioral engagement refers to the student’s actions and performance at school
and in school-related activities and can include attendance in class, completion of assignments,
and involvement of extracurricular activities. Affective engagement encompasses the student’s
feelings about the school and can include their positive or negative feelings about being in school
as well as feelings of connection to school, teachers and peers. Finally, cognitive engagement
refers to the effort that the student exerts on task-and skill mastery materials and the student’s
abilities to regulate this effort (Pears, Hyoun, and Kim, 2013).
Child Abuse, domestic violence, drug and alcohol abuse and general poverty in the
family all make truancy more likely. Students under pressure are less able to focus on school,
are given less support and assistance at home, and are more likely to feel alienated from their
teachers and fellow pupils on account of these problems. Truants also have a much higher
feeling of non-acceptance or rejection from their parents than non-truant children (Mereand-
Sinha, 2013). These attendance problems are not just confined to older teens skipping class.
Younger children-as young as preschool-also miss school at high rates, often because of family
instability or other factors outside of their control. Research has shown that when kindergartners
and first graders are chronically absent, they are less likely to read on grade level, whether their
absences are excused or unexcused. A student’s attendance record as early as sixth grade is a
powerful predictor of whether that student will eventually graduate from high school (Brown,
2015).
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Research confirms that regular school attendance is critical for students to master the
academic and social skills they need in order to be successful. It has been noted by multiple
sources that chronic attendance problems in the early school years are a strong predictor of low
reading and math scores later on, and in middle school students with poor attendance are more
likely to drop out without earning a high school diploma (Palmer, 2010). New York State
education laws require that students attend school full-time between the ages of six and sixteen,
however in New York City and Buffalo they just increased the age to seventeen. Every day,
hundreds of thousands of youth are absent from school; many are absent without an excuse and
deemed truant. Many large cities report staggering rates of truancy and chronic absenteeism.
Resulting Gaps in Knowledge and Impact
There is one national program that is similar to the UDRSS and that is the Migrant
Student Information Exchange (MSIX). The MSIX is a web-based technology program that
allows states participating in the federal migrant education program to share educational and
health information on migrant children who travel from state to state. The purpose of MSIX is to
ensure greater continuity of educational services for migrant children by providing a mechanism
for all States to exchange educational related information on migrant children who move from
State to State due to their migratory lifestyle. It is anticipated that the existence and use of MSIX
will help to improve the timeliness of school enrollments, improve the appropriateness of grade
and course placements, and reduce incidences of unnecessary immunizations of migrant
children. Further, MSIX will facilitate the accrual of course credits for migrant children in
secondary school by providing accurate academic information on each student’s course history
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and academic progress. In addition, States are able to notify each other when a migrant student
is moving to a different State (U.S Department of Education, 2014).
There is another program that is similar to the UDRSS that is called Foster Focus. This
program is specifically for foster children in the state of California. Foster Focus is a data
sharing tool that helps educators and caseworkers focus on Foster Youth success. Foster Focus,
helps users identify and track foster kids more quickly and accurately than they have been able to
in the past. Foster Focus provides a secure, web-based communication system between
education agencies and placement agencies. It is stated that the intention of the Foster Focus
program will be to keep closer tabs on these vulnerable students which will lead to increased
school stability and, in turn, improved overall outcomes.
Description of Conceptual Framework and Theory of Change
A theory is a set of set of statements and/or principles devised to explain a group of facts
of phenomenon. It helps to understand why something happens the way that it does. The theory
that best relates to the UDRSS is the normalization process theory. This theory seeks to explain
what people do when implementing a new intervention and it consists of four constructs,
coherence, cognitive participation, reflective monitoring and collective action. Coherence refers
to making sense of the intervention, so in this case understanding the UDRSS and all its
functions and capabilities and how it will work. Cognitive Participation refers to those who are
implementing the intervention and how they initiate involvement and engage with the
intervention. For the UDRSS to be successful a proposal would be to engage with certain
stakeholders for example the Albany City School District, the Department for Children Youth
and Family, New York State Department of Education, etc. Next, when speaking about
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reflective monitoring this refers to how individually and collectively the process of considering
and adopting the intervention is conducted. With regards to the UDRSS this speaks to the fact of
how well the school system and the child welfare system are able to adopt this new intervention
into their daily practice. Finally, collective action refers to the operational work being done to
implement the intervention, this is all the work done leading up to the development and
implementation of the UDRSS.
Another theory that will be focused on with regards to the UDRSS will be systems
theory. Systems theory describes human behavior in terms of complex systems. Systems Theory
is based on the idea that an effective system is based on an individual’s needs, rewards,
expectations, etc. The UDRSS relates to systems theory due to the fact that there are many
interrelated systems at play. Next, when we speak about the logic model we have to examine the
entire context of the innovation from inputs to impacts. The logic model represents a theory of
change that is a commonly used tool for illustrating an underlying program theory. This model
uses short phrases to represent things that you typically explain in more detail than other models.
This model can help to show cause and effect and can help to determine if necessary and/or
unnecessary conditions are being met [Appendix A-Logic Model].
The EPIS (Exploration, Preparation, Implementation, Sustainment) framework was
selected and utilized as the guiding model from inception through project completion; including
the mapping of implementation strategies to EPIS stages, articulation of research questions, and
selection, content, and timing of measurement protocols. The first stage in the EPIS model is the
exploration phase. During the exploration Phase, potential implementers consider what
evidence-based practices might address or solve a clinical or health service problem, while also
considering opportunities or challenges in the outer and inner contextual factors that can support
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or hinder implementation (Walsh, Rolls, Williams, 2015). The UDRSS fits into this phase of
exploration because its aim is to increase the amount of foster care kids who graduate from high
school and decrease the amount of drop-out rates. The first phase would be to form an
implementation team (a small group of individuals to work on this project), next would be to
identify the problem which is children in the foster care system are one of the most vulnerable
and academically at-risk populations in the United States. Next, a needs assessment will have to
be completed for the problem area identified and then a possible solution come up with which in
this case is a Universal Data Record Sharing System (UDRSS), for such things as transcripts,
other types of educational records, demographics, and physical health records.
Phase two is the Preparation phase. During the Preparation Phase, implementers plan for
integrating the evidence-based practice into the existing system, including a realistic and
comprehensive assessment of implementation challenges (Walsh, Rolls, Williams, 2015). The
UDRSS fits into this phase of preparation because it includes working very close with the
program developer to ensure leadership buy-in. Working with stakeholders is also a crucial part
in this step as this will be very important in the success of this development. During this phase it
will be important to build on those viable funding opportunities that were came up with in the
exploration stage as well as create timetables (See Appendix A) for staying on track (Ricciardi,
2019).
Phase three is the implementation phase. During the Implementation Phase, the adopted
practice is implemented. The implementers will find out if their work during the Preparation
Phase addressed the major issues (Walsh, Rolls, Williams, 2015). The UDRSS fits into this
phase of implementation because this is where the “real” work is beginning. This is where the
system of the UDRSS will be put into place in the school districts and the child welfare system
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and we will be able to see if graduation rates increase and truancy rates decrease. The desired
outcome of creating this UDRSS would be to create a better educational structured system with
regards to helping those children in the foster care setting. This desired outcome would be to
help foster children to increase their graduation rates, increase their school attendance, decrease
their school truancy, decrease their behavioral needs, and increase continuity of care. At the start
of the Implementation Phase, it will be important to verify buy-in to confirm that stakeholders
have bought into the change that the organization is implementing and that they are fully in
support of the change. In addition, it will be necessary to ensure priority of the change.
Phase four is the sustainment phase. During the Sustainment Phase, the intervention is
engrained in the organization, including stable funding and ongoing monitoring and/or quality
assurance processes (Walsh, Rolls, Williams, 2015). The UDRSS fits into this phase of
sustainment because at this phase a specific EBP (evidence based program) is being used and
fidelity is being maintained. With regards to fidelity and funding the UDRSS will be an
electronic data system that is funded through both state and federal grants provided by both the
Department of Education, the Office of Children and Family Services and the Office of
Elementary and Secondary Education. An example of a grant that could be used is the School
Improvement Grant under the office of state support. School Improvement Grants (SIGs) are
authorized under section 1003(g) of Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of
1965 (ESEA). They are grants to state educational agencies (SEAs) that make competitive sub
grants to local educational agencies (LEAs) that demonstrate the greatest need for the funds and
the strongest commitment to use the funds to provide adequate resources in order to substantially
raise the achievement of students in their lowest-performing schools (U.S Department of
Education, 2018). There will need to be money allocated and set aside for program design and
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development, testing (including quality assurance), launch and maintenance, as well as training
for staff. There will also need to be money allocated for expansion in the future. This UDRSS
will be sustainable by maintaining funding, system updates, partnerships with (schools, the
department of education, the office of children and family services), feedback and
improvements, and evidence that this system works (Ricciardi, 2019).
General Description of Proposed Project
The innovation that is being proposed has to do with increasing the educational
opportunities for all foster care youth and providing them with the same access to services as
non-foster care youth. This proposed project improves communication and stability. This larger
group of children could benefit from improved coordination of responsibility between the school
system, child welfare system, and behavioral health around absenteeism (Zorc and O’Reilly,
2013). Instability and school transfers are a huge issue for children within the foster care setting.
It has been noted that 42 percent of children typically change schools within 30 days of entering
foster care and multiple times after that (Lips, 2007).
The innovation that is being proposed to combat this issue is a Universal Data Record
Sharing System (UDRSS) for such things as transcripts, other types of educational records,
demographics, and physical health records. The UDRSS is a systematized collection of client
population electronically-stored in a digital format.

These records can be shared across
educational and child welfare settings. Records are shared through a network-connected,
enterprise-wide information systems or other information networks and exchanges. According
to the American School Board Journal foster care youth more often repeat a grade, are twice as
likely as the rest of the population to drop out before graduation and score 16 to 20 percent lower
and state standardized tests (Lips, 2007). This UDRSS would help these youth by making it
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easier for records to be shared between different schools and school districts with just the click of
a button. The UDRSS will focus on how this system can be more proactive in their approach to
decrease truancy, increase grades, increase graduation rates, and decrease behavioral concerns as
opposed to being reactive as most districts are today. This system will also help to increase
continuity of care for the student and their educational progress.
The UDRSS will be maintained under the school’s registrar’s office that way it would be
able to remain confidential and all records would be in once centralized location. The UDRSS
would also help to make sure that not just anyone is gaining access to these records (Appendix
D).
Explanation of Design/Justification of Innovation
Children who are involved in the child welfare system tend to show marked elevations on
measures of risk for behavioral developmental problems compared with population norms
(Petersen, 2014). Factors that impede a foster child’s basic knowledge and scholastic
performance are frequent changes of foster homes, no adult being available to help with
homework, low expectations from social workers and teachers, and not having a quiet place to
study (Hedin, Hojer, and Brunnberg, 2011). Further, mobile students tend to be about four
months behind their peers in both reading and math achievement. Finally, school mobility has
been found to affect outcomes through the disruption of social relationships (Pears, Hyoun, Kim,
& Buchanan, 2015).
The innovation being proposed to combat this issue is the Universal Dara Record Sharing
System (UDRSS) for such things as transcripts, other types of educational records,
demographics, and physical health records. According to the American School Board Journal
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foster care youth more often repeat a grade, are twice as likely as the rest of the population to
drop out before graduation and score 16 to 20 percent lower and state standardized tests (Lips,
2007). This innovation would help these youth because it would make it easier for records to be
shared between different schools and school districts with just the click of a button. Paper
records are antiquated and they take months to transfer from school to school. If all of these
records were organized into an electronic database this would greatly increase continuity of care
and the educational progress of a child. This UDRSS will focus on how this system can be more
proactive in their approach to decrease truancy, increase grades, increase graduation rates, and
decrease behavioral concerns as opposed to being reactive as most districts are today. This
system will also help to increase continuity of care for the student and their educational progress.
The UDRSS is innovative by means of creating an online database of educational records
for children who are in the Foster Care System. Currently, in the United States there is one
online database for children in Foster Care called, Foster Focus. This database is designed
specifically to work with Foster Children in the state of California. There is no other electronic
database similar to this system. The UDRSS will be similar to Foster Focus in the sense that it
will be an online electronic database helping to bridge the gap between education and child
welfare agencies. The UDRSS will be different in the sense that Foster Focus is just for children
located in the state of California, this new system will be a national system for children who
move from state to state.
Description of Proposed Impact
The desired outcome would be to help foster children to increase their graduation rates,
increase their school attendance, decrease their school truancy, decrease their behavioral needs,
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and increase continuity of care. All of these outcomes will be able to be completed by increasing
the accuracy and timeliness of the information exchanged between school and school districts.
The UDRSS will increase the efficiency of data collection and the management process by
incorporating the most current internet based technology, increasing the information utility by
providing information that is relevant to foster care and by providing users with the appropriate
reporting tool.
Finally by creating a dual partnership between each individual stated department of
education and the federal education department so that they can provide for common data
standards, ease of access and information, and to increase efficient and effective information of
educational opportunities for foster care youth. This outcome will be achieved by having these
records gained in a timely manner so that now all of these subsequent outcomes can take place
Appendix B).
IMPLEMENTATION PLAN
 Organizational Awareness and Approval
 Identify key stakeholders and committees needed to approve the innovation,
design and technology.
 Obtain buy-in from various school districts and Child Welfare DCYF/DSS
Agencies
 Update various key stakeholders on how the process is going.
 Finalize implementation date – “date would be after 2020”
 Get implementation plan approved.

1. Documents and Materials Procurement
 Develop a system design and work on how this system is going to flow
 Develop Consent Forms that will work with School Districts and the Department
of Social Security for Releasing Information
 Hire Translators and Interpreters
 Solidify materials management to have the necessary posters, consents, computer
systems and other materials available prior to the “Implementation” date.
 Maintain a surplus supply of materials for post “Implementation” date needs.
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2. Communication Plan
 Submit a letter to the Commissioner of DCYF and the School Board President
stating why this program would be beneficial to them and how it could help them
to save money
 Submit a letter to the New York State legislature explaining the same things as
stated above
 Create e-mails and send to the key stakeholders periodically leading up to the
“Implementation” date.
 Distribute resources on how to use database.
 Distribute training materials and hold training sessions on how to utilize database.
 Identify and set up briefings for providers (Schools, Child Welfare Agencies,
Foster Care Agencies, Etc)

3. Educations & Training Plan
 Identify trainers and schedule train-the-trainer sessions on how to use the
database.
 Familiarize yourself/trainer with training content and tools (PowerPoint
presentation, emergency codes document, policy, training competency).
 Schedule presentations with various groups within the Child Welfare Agencies,
Schools and Foster care Agencies to teach them about this system
 Schedule meetings with managers and educators.
 Schedule in-service for staff to update on any new features which come out to this
system.
 Perform a dry run of the UDRSS

4. Two Weeks Before Roll Out – “Implementation” Date
 Send a reminder e-mail to all trainers to make copies of the various handouts for
their staff.
 Check with department heads to see if any possible questions/issues that may
have arisen.
 Make sure that all agencies/schools are well stocked with educational and
implementation materials for their staff.

 Follow-up and Evaluation
 Assign a champion/ambassador in each location for questions/issues during
implementation and the following month.
 Conduct informal oral surveys to determine staff knowledge using database or
other existing feedback mechanisms.
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 Check key areas six months post implementation to assess how well the changes
have been integrated.
 Communicate progress to leadership.
 At least fifty percent of the foster care population will be enrolled with the
UDRSS
 Of these fifty percent at least half will decrease their truancy by fifty percent as
well as increase their graduation rates by fifty percent.
 Within the first year of the UDRSS rollout class attendance rates will increase by
at least fifty percent, as well as behavior problems in school will decrease by at
least fifty percent.
The ultimate outcomes of implementation is to create a better educational structured
system with regards to helping those children in the foster care setting. Continuity of care would
be increased by linking foster children with the UDRSS in order to increase the desired
outcomes. This would help this system to increase the accuracy and timeliness of the
information exchanged between schools and school districts for foster care youth. It would help
foster children to increase the efficiency of data collection and the management process by
incorporating the most current internet based technology and finally help them to increase the
information utility by providing information that is relevant to foster care and by providing users
with the appropriate reporting tool. It would also create a dual partnership between each
individual stated department of education and the federal education department so that they can
provide for common data standards, ease of access and information, and to increase efficient and
effective information of educational opportunities for foster care youth.
The UDRSS will have to be presented to stakeholders in such a way that everyone is in
agreement about the need for this data system and can see the benefit in having it implemented.
The UDRSS will be able to find success when it is fully up and running, everyone is trained in it
and people are able to utilize this system to the best of its ability. This program will be
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sustainable by maintaining funding, system updates, partnerships with (schools, DOE, OCFS),
feedback and improvements, and evidence that this system works.
Explanation of how Proposed Solution will Improve Grand Challenge
The Universal Data Record Sharing System (UDRSS) is the proposed solution. An electronic
data sharing system to bridge the gap between children and foster care and their education. The
expected outcome is to decrease truancy, increase graduation rates and increase continuity of
care. The direct intervention is solving the problem of foster children’s lag in access to
education.
The UDRSS will impact the Grand Challenge area of Ensuring Healthy Development for
all Youth by directly linking children in the foster care system with an electronic data sharing
system in order to increase their timely access to education. The UDRSS hypothesis is, if foster
children have timely access to education then graduation rates will increase and truancy will
decrease.
Stakeholders
When speaking about stakeholders with regards to the UDRSS there are many ranging
from families, to communities, to the department of children youth and family, to the police, to
the school systems etc. It is critical to engage stakeholders in order to improve such areas of the
child welfare system as, collaboration, meeting the needs of the family, in order to make
systematic program improvements, partnering with other agencies, and working together to carry
out the agencies mission (Watson, 2005). There are many stakeholders at play with regards to
the UDRSS and addressing the problem at hand, the two most important and influential
stakeholders that need to be addressed are the Child Welfare System and the Educational/School
Based System. The child welfare system is a group of services designed to promote the well-
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being of children by ensuring safety, achieving permanency, and strengthening families to care
for their children successfully (Child Welfare Information Gateway, 2013). The educational
system generally refers to public schools not private schools, and more commonly kindergarten
through high school programs. The primary purpose of the education system is to provide
education to children and young people (Watson, 2005).
With regards to stakeholders and the structure that they hold in an organization this can
determine a lot, especially with regards to power and authority. Structure polices fall into four
areas, specialization, shape, distribution of power and departmentalization. When talking about
specialization with regards to the UDRSS this will require an abundant about of individuals from
tech people to design the technology, to lawyers to make sure we are following all HIPPA
(health insurance portability and accountability act) and FERPA (family educational rights and
privacy act) regulations, to school districts to actually implement the system. When talking
about shape this refers to the number of people constituting the departments and the span of
control at each level. With regards to the UDRSS the people with the most control will be the
people assigned to have control over this system at the school level and then getting smaller from
there. Distribution of power refers to the movement of power, so for the UDRSS it would be a
top down movement. Finally, departmentalization is the basis for forming departments at each
levels. The departments that would have to be formed here would be, IT, law/policy,
educational, and child welfare (Appendix C).
Evidence or Data to Show Impact
The desired outcome of creating this UDRSS would be to ultimately create a better
educational structured system with regards to helping those children in the foster care setting.
This desired outcome would be to help these children to increase their graduation rates, increase
RUNNING HEAD: UNIVERSAL DATA RECORD SHARING SYSTEM 21

their school attendance, decrease their school truancy, decrease their behavioral needs, and
increase continuity of care. All of these outcomes will be able to be completed by increasing the
accuracy and timeliness of the information exchanged between school and school districts for
foster care youth. Increasing the efficiency of data collection and the management process by
incorporating the most current internet-based technology. Increasing the information utility by
providing information that is relevant to foster care and by providing users with the appropriate
reporting tool, and finally by creating a dual partnership between each individual stated
department of education and the federal education department so that they can provide for
common data standards, ease of access and information, and to increase efficient and effective
information of educational opportunities for foster care youth.
Some of the short-term goals are that at least fifty percent of the foster care population
will be enrolled with the UDRSS. Of these fifty percent at least half will decrease their truancy
by fifty percent as well as increase their graduation rates by fifty percent. Within the first year of
the UDRSS rollout class attendance rates will increase by at least fifty percent, as well as
behavior problems in school will decrease by at least fifty percent. A long-term goal will be to
increase continuity of care of foster youth by one hundred percent.
Analysis of Alternative Pathways
The most challenging factor with this UDRSS will be how to maintain the privacy of the
student. As with any online system there is always a worry about privacy due to the site not
being secure. With regards to educational records there are even more firewalls that have to be
put into place and more rules and regulations that have to be followed to make sure that
everyone’s privacy is being protected. The federal statutes that govern this specific area include,
the Federal Information Security Management Act of 2002, the Privacy Act of 1974, the Family
RUNNING HEAD: UNIVERSAL DATA RECORD SHARING SYSTEM 22

Education Rights and Privacy Acts (FERPA), Health Insurance Portability and Accountability
Act of 1996 (HIPPA), and the US Department of Education Security Policies.
This system will be maintained under the school’s registrar’s office that way it would be
able to remain confidential and all records would be in once centralized location. This would
also help to make sure that not just anyone is gaining access to these records. School personal
may eventually be able to have modified access to these records but it would be on a need to
know basis (e.g: School guidance counselor who needs to make a youth’s schedule).
Summary of Project Plans and Conclusions
The money that will be needed for the first year of operation of this program would be
around $800,000 dollars. Financial supports come in many different forms such as contracts,
grants and subsidies. The UDRSS is an electronic data system that is funded through both state
and federal grants provided by the Department of Education, the Office of Children and Family
Services, and the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education. An example of a grant that
could be used is the School Improvement Grant under the office of state support. School
Improvement Grants (SIGs) are authorized under section 1003(g) of Title I of the Elementary
and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA). They are grants to state educational agencies
(SEAs) that make competitive subgrants to local educational agencies (LEAs) that demonstrate
the greatest need for the funds. They represent the strongest commitment to use the funds to
provide adequate resources in order to substantially raise the achievement of students in their
lowest-performing schools (U.S Department of Education, 2018). There will need to be money
allocated and set aside for program design and development (which is currently in the works and
consultation is being discussed), testing (including quality assurance), launch and maintenance,
RUNNING HEAD: UNIVERSAL DATA RECORD SHARING SYSTEM 23

as well as training for staff. There will also need to be money allocated for expansion in the
future.
Implications of Project and how it will Improve Practice/Policy
Educators and policy-makers often say that education starts at home. Unfortunately, not
all youth have the stability and opportunities afforded to children and intact families. Each year
more than 500,000 children are removed from their homes and placed into the foster care setting,
after they are removed from their biological homes, youth may change foster care placements
numerous times. With each new placement comes a new community and a different culture.
Each new placement also brings about a new school. Foster Children suffer from the very
system that is supposed to be helping them (National Center Brief, 2010).
Children in foster care are one of the most vulnerable and academically at-risk
populations in the United States. Nationwide, only about half of youth raised in foster care end
up finishing high school, and less than three percent graduate from a four-year college (National
Foster Youth Institute, 2019). When in school, more than one third of youth-in-care will have
experienced five or more school changes and are more than twice as likely to experience school
absence’s compared to non-foster peers. Between 30 and 50 percent of youth in care are placed
in special education programs, likely related to a learning disability or emotional disturbance
(Benbenishty & Siegel, 2018). About twenty 25 percent of students in foster care have a
disability, compared to ten percent of the general population. The single year high school
dropout rate for 2009-2010 was eight percent compared to the general population three percent
(National Foster Youth Institute, 2019).
The Uninterrupted Scholars Act (USA) became effective in January 2013. The USA
creates a new exception under The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) that
RUNNING HEAD: UNIVERSAL DATA RECORD SHARING SYSTEM 24

makes it easier for schools to release a child’s educational records to child welfare agencies
without the prior authorization/consent of the parent. USA eliminates the requirement that
education agencies notify parents before education records are released pursuant to court order to
any individual, when the parent is a party to the case where that order was issued (The
Uninterrupted Scholars Act, 2014).
This act is important because it promotes quick access to school records. Previously,
child welfare agency representatives faced delays getting critical education records. Children and
youth in foster care are among the most educationally at-risk of all student groups. Child welfare
law requires that child welfare agencies maintain education records as part of the child’s case
plan. The Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008 now also
requires agencies to make sure children are enrolled in school, their school placements are stable,
and that children who change schools are promptly enrolled with all school records. To meet
these requirements – and ensure informed and timely judicial decisions – child welfare agencies
need quick access to the child’s education record (The Uninterrupted Scholars Act, 2014).
On June 23, 2016, the U.S. Department of Education and the U.S Department of Health
and Human Services released a joint guidance to states, school districts and child welfare
agencies on the new provisions in the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) for supporting
children in foster care (U.S department of Education, 2019). This guidance aims to assist state
and local partners in understanding and implementing this new law. The ESSA was signed by
President Obama in December 2015 and its purpose is to help ensure success for students and
schools. Of approximately 500,000 children in the foster care system, nearly 270,000 are school-
aged. Data shows that foster children are more likely than their peers to experience a host of
barriers that lead to troubling outcomes, including low academic achievement, grade retention
RUNNING HEAD: UNIVERSAL DATA RECORD SHARING SYSTEM 25

and lower high school graduation rates. Children in foster care often face steep challenges to
school success, including school mobility (U.S Department of Education, 2019). The UDRSS
will help to improve the ESSA because it will help to decrease the barriers that foster children
face on a daily basis.
The Family First Prevention Services Act was signed into law as part of the Bipartisan
Budget Act on February 9, 2018. This act reforms the federal child welfare financing streams,
Title IV-E and Title IV-B of the Social Security Act, to provide services to families who are at
risk of entering the child welfare system. The bill aims to prevent children from entering foster
care by allowing federal reimbursement for mental health services, substance use treatment, and
in-home parenting skill training. It also seeks to improve the well-being of children already in
foster by incentivizing states to reduce placement of children in congregate care (Torress and
Mathur, 2018). The UDRSS will help to improve the family first prevention act because it will
help to provide educational services for families who are involved in the foster care system and
help to increase a student’s continuity of care.
Acknowledgement of Limitations and Risks: Recommendations for Future Work
The most challenging factor with the UDRSS will be how to maintain the privacy of the
student. As with any online system there is a concern about privacy due to the site not being
secure. In respect to educational records there are even more firewalls that have to be put into
place and more rules and regulations that have to be followed ensuring a student’s
confidentiality. The federal statutes that govern this specific area include, the Federal
Information Security Management Act of 2002, the Privacy Act of 1974, the Family Education
RUNNING HEAD: UNIVERSAL DATA RECORD SHARING SYSTEM 26

Rights and Privacy Acts (FERPA), Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996
(HIPPA), and the US Department of Education Security Policies.
The UDRSS will be presented to stakeholders in such a way that everyone is in
agreement about the need for this data system and can see the benefit in having it implemented.
The UDRSS will be able to find success when it is fully up and running, everyone is trained in it
and people are able to utilize this system to the best of its ability. This program will be
sustainable by maintaining funding, system updates, partnerships with (schools, DOE, OCFS),
feedback and improvements, and evidence that this system works.
Another limitation/risk will be stakeholder buy in. The UDRSS will have to be presented
in such a way that school districts want to purchase this program because they will see the
benefit in it. This program will benefit school districts in such a way that it would make children
(especially foster children) who tend to switch schools often, have a better continuity of care. It
would also help to increase stability with this population. Foster children often lack a basic
social support system, and former foster children have identified developing life skills and
preparing for the often challenging transition into adulthood as important components of a
successful educational experience (Lips, 2007).
Concrete Plan for moving forward
The process and outcomes of implementation are that it would create a better educational
structured system with regards to helping these children in the foster care setting. The UDRSS
would help foster children to increase their graduation rates, increase their school attendance,
decrease their school truancy, decrease their behavioral needs, and increase continuity of care.
The UDRSS would help this system to increase the accuracy and timeliness of the information
exchanged between schools and school districts for foster care youth. The UDRSS would help
RUNNING HEAD: UNIVERSAL DATA RECORD SHARING SYSTEM 27

them to increase the efficiency of data collection and the management process by incorporating
the most current internet-based technology and finally help them to Increase the information
utility by providing information that is relevant to foster care and by providing users with the
appropriate reporting tool. A dual partnership will be created between each individual stated
department of education and the federal education department so that they can provide for
common data standards, ease of access and information, and to increase efficient and effective
information of educational opportunities for foster care youth.
The UDRSS will fins success when everyone who comes into contact with the program is
invested in the program’s success. It will be imperative to use the data gained to prove the
continued need for this program. It is important to explain to stakeholders that this program is
innovative because it focuses on a top down approach working to use the UDRSS to change the
way the educational system focuses on children in foster care. Additionally, it is innovative in
that it implements all educational documents into one program in lieu of having all of these
documents be paper. The UDRSS is a creative way to change the way we look at the educational
system without having to change the child welfare system.

RUNNING HEAD: UNIVERSAL DATA RECORD SHARING SYSTEM 28

Appendix A- Logic Model

-Universal
Record/Data
Sharing System
(UDRSS)
-Develop Secure Site
to implement
UDRSS
-Site
Creator/Developer
-Support from
Department of
Education (DOE)
and Office of
Children and Family
Services (OCFS), as
well as local school
districts

-Develop a
UDRSS for
educational data
for children in
Foster Care
-Pitch idea to
DOE and OCFS
as well as local
school districts
-Pilot Prototype
in one state (i.e.
NYS)

-Complete and
compile an
assessment of
all Foster Care
youth who have
entered into
Foster Care
-Complete a list
of ages of these
children, what
grades they are
in, and compare
it to what grade
they should be
in based on
their birth year
-Decrease School
Truancy
-Increase
Graduation Rates
-Increase class
attendance
-Decrease
behavior
problems in
school
-Increase
continuity of care
with regards to
education

-Overall, more
stabilized school
structure and
environment
-More kids
advancing their
education
-Foster Youth
receiving the same
access to education
as non-foster care
youth
INPUTS
ACTIVITIES
OUTPUTS
OUTCOMES IMPACTS
RUNNING HEAD: UNIVERSAL DATA RECORD SHARING SYSTEM 29

Appendix B

Gantt Chart
TASK NAME Jan 18 Feb
18
Mar
18
Apr
18
May
18
Jun
18
Jul
18
Aug
18
Sep
18
Oct
18
Nov
18
Dec
18
Planning
Research

Design

Implementation

Follow-Up

Gantt Chart Cont.
TASK NAME Jan
19
Feb
19
Mar
19
Apr
19
May
19
Jun
19
Jul
19
Aug
19
Sep
19
Oct
19
Nov
19
Dec 19
and 6
months on
Planning
Research

Design

Implementation

Follow-Up

RUNNING HEAD: UNIVERSAL DATA RECORD SHARING SYSTEM 30

Appendix C
Revenue
State and Federal Grants 250
Foundation Grants 240 Foster Care to Success
W.K. Kellogg Fund
Annie and Casey Fund
In Kind Funds 10
Total Revenue 500

Expenses
Operational Staff 150 Developer
Coder
Program Designer
Total Personal 150

Operating Expenses
Technology 10 1 Computer/Software
Total Operating 10

Total Expenses 660
Total Revenue + 140

RUNNING HEAD: UNIVERSAL DATA RECORD SHARING SYSTEM 31

Appendix D- Grant Proposal (prototype)
Table of Contents
I: Project Abstract….................................................................pg: 32
II: Statement of Need…………..……………………………...pg: 32-34
III: Program Description………………………………………..pg: 34
IV: Goals and Objectives……………………………………….pg: 35
V: Corresponding Goals……………………………………….pg: 35
VI: Logic Model…………………………..……………………pg: 36
VII: Methods and Timeline...……………………………………pg: 36-38
VIII: Gantt Chart…………………...…………………………….pg: 38-39
IX: Staff and Organizational Information………………………pg: 39
X: Sustainability Statement…………………………………....pg: 39
XI: Budget………………….…………………………………..pg: 39-41

RUNNING HEAD: UNIVERSAL DATA RECORD SHARING SYSTEM 32

Project Abstract
Each year more than six million kids receive treatment for severe mental, emotional, or
behavioral problems. Many of these problems lead children into the care and custody of the
foster care system. Each year more than 500,000 children enter into the foster care system in the
United States. Once in this system these children are one of the most vulnerable and
academically at-risk populations in the United States. Foster youth are more likely to change
school multiple times, repeat a grade in school, have lower standardized test scores, and also
experience more disciplinary actions. The Universal Data Record Sharing System (UDRSS)
would make certain documents available to multiple individuals such as, school transcripts, other
types of educational records, demographic information, and physical health records (such as
school physicals and immunization records that are on file at the school nurses office), to be
shared electronically from school to school, district to district thus increasing the continuity of
care to education for these students.
Statement of Need
Each year more than 500,000 children are removed from their homes and placed into the
foster care setting, after they are removed from their biological homes, youth may change foster
care placements numerous times. With each new placement comes a new community and a
different culture. Each new placement also brings about a new school. These children suffer
from the very system that is supposed to be helping them (National Center Brief, 2010).
Ensuring healthy development for youth is one of the 12 Grand Challenges of Social Work
presented by the American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare.
Children who are involved in the child welfare system in general these children tend to
show marked elevations on measures of risk for behavioral developmental problems compared
RUNNING HEAD: UNIVERSAL DATA RECORD SHARING SYSTEM 33

with population norms (Petersen, 2014). Foster children tend to move from school to school
because of changing foster homes causing a lack in the continuity in their educational
experience. Such factors that impede a foster child’s basic knowledge and scholastic
performance are frequent changes of foster homes, no adult being available to help with
homework, low expectations from social workers and teachers, and not having a quiet place to
study (Hedin, Hojer, and Brunnberg, 2011).
Decades of research has shown that school mobility has negative effects on children in
the general population. While in the process of moving and during the period of adjustment to a
new school, children may miss out on instruction, causing them to fall behind their non-mobile
peers. A study has found that mobile students tend to be about four months behind their peers in
both reading and math achievement. Once in their new school, it may take teachers time to
establish the correct placement for the student, leading to more time being spent without
appropriate instruction. In particular, lack of records may interfere with teachers’ abilities to
provide students with the appropriate level of instruction and services. Finally, school mobility
might affect outcomes through the disruption of social relationships (Pears, Hyoun, Kim, and
Buchanan, 2015). When in school, more than one third of youth-in-care will have experienced
five or more school changes and are more than twice as likely to experience school absence’s
compared to non-foster peers. Between 30 and 50 percent of youth in care are placed in special
education programs, likely related to a learning disability or emotional disturbance (Hedin,
2011). These frequent school transfers and disruptions in learning take a serious toll on the
child’s development, causing them to perform below grade level in such areas as reading and
math and repeat a grade they would have otherwise not had to repeat if they did not switch
schools (Lips, 2007).
RUNNING HEAD: UNIVERSAL DATA RECORD SHARING SYSTEM 34

History shows that children in foster care are more likely than other children to exhibit
high levels of behavioral and emotional problems. They are also more likely to be suspended or
expelled from school, and to exhibit low levels of school engagement and involvement with
extracurricular activities. Children in foster care are also more likely to have received mental
health services in the past year, to have a limiting physical, learning, or mental health condition,
or to be in poor or fair health (Child Trends, 2018).
Program Description
A Universal Data Record Sharing System (UDRSS) will enable such things as
transcripts, other types of educational records, demographics, and physical health records.
According to the American School Board Journal foster care youth more often repeat a grade, are
twice as likely as the rest of the population to drop out before graduation and score 16 to 20
percent lower and state standardized tests (Lips, 2007). This innovation would help these youth
because it would make it easier for records to be shared between different schools and school
districts with just the click of a button. Paper records are far outdated and they take months to
transfer from school to school so if all of these records were organized into an electronic
database this would greatly increase continuity of care and the educational progress of a child.
This innovation will focus on how this system can be more proactive in their approach to
decrease truancy, increase grades, increase graduation rates, and decrease behavioral concerns as
opposed to being reactive as most districts are today. This system will also help to increase
continuity of care for the student and their educational progress.

RUNNING HEAD: UNIVERSAL DATA RECORD SHARING SYSTEM 35

Goals and Objectives
The desired outcome of creating this UDRSS would be to ultimately create a better
educational structured system with regards to helping those children in the foster care setting.
This desired outcome would be to help these children to increase their graduation rates, increase
their school attendance, decrease their school truancy, decrease their behavioral needs, and
increase continuity of care. All of these outcomes will be able to be completed by increasing the
accuracy and timeliness of the information exchanged between school and school districts for
foster care youth, increasing the efficiency of data collection and the management process by
incorporating the most current internet based technology, increasing the information utility by
providing information that is relevant to foster care and by providing users with the appropriate
reporting tool, and finally by creating a dual partnership between each individual stated
department of education and the federal education department so that they can provide for
common data standards, ease of access and information, and to increase efficient and effective
information of educational opportunities for foster care youth.
Corresponding Goals
Some of the short term goals are that at least fifty percent of the foster care population
will be enrolled with the UDRSS. Of these fifty percent at least half will decrease their truancy
by fifty percent as well as increase their graduation rates by fifty percent. Within the first year of
the UDRSS rollout class attendance rates will increase by at least fifty percent, as well as
behavior problems in school will decrease by at least fifty percent. A long term goal will be to
increase continuity of care of foster youth by one hundred percent.

RUNNING HEAD: UNIVERSAL DATA RECORD SHARING SYSTEM 36

Logic Model

Budget

Methods and Timeline
IMPLEMENTATION PLAN
1. Organizational Awareness and Approval
 Identify key stakeholders and committees needed to approve the innovation,
design and technology.
 Obtain buy-in from various school districts and Child Welfare DCYF/DSS
Agencies
-Universal
Record/Data
Sharing System
(UDRSS)
-Develop Secure Site
to implement
UDRSS
-Site
Creator/Developer
-Support from
Department of
Education (DOE)
and Office of
Children and Family
Services (OCFS), as
well as local school
districts

-Develop a
UDRSS for
educational data
for children in
Foster Care
-Pitch idea to
DOE and OCFS
as well as local
school districts
-Pilot Prototype
in one state (i.e.
NYS)

-Complete and
compile an
assessment of
all Foster Care
youth who have
entered into
Foster Care
-Complete a list
of ages of these
children, what
grades they are
in, and compare
it to what grade
they should be
in based on
their birth year
-Decrease School
Truancy
-Increase
Graduation Rates
-Increase class
attendance
-Decrease
behavior
problems in
school
-Increase
continuity of care
with regards to
education

-Overall, more
stabilized school
structure and
environment
-More kids
advancing their
education
-Foster Youth
receiving the same
access to education
as non-foster care
youth
INPUTS
ACTIVITIES
OUTPUTS
OUTCOMES IMPACTS
RUNNING HEAD: UNIVERSAL DATA RECORD SHARING SYSTEM 37

 Update various key stakeholders on how the process is going.
 Finalize implementation date – “date would be after 2020”
 Get implementation plan approved.

2. Documents and Materials Procurement
 Develop a system design and work on how this system is going to flow
 Develop Consent Forms that will work with School Districts and the Department
of Social Security for Releasing Information
 Hire Translators and Interpreters
 Solidify materials management to have the necessary posters, consents, computer
systems and other materials available prior to the “Implementation” date.
 Maintain a surplus supply of materials for post “Implementation” date needs.

3. Communication Plan
 Submit a letter to the Commissioner of DCYF and the School Board President
stating why this program would be beneficial to them and how it could help them
to save money
 Submit a letter to the New York State legislature explaining the same things as
stated above
 Create e-mails and send to the key stakeholders periodically leading up to the
“Implementation” date.
 Distribute resources on how to use database.
 Distribute training materials and hold training sessions on how to utilize database.
 Identify and set up briefings for providers (Schools, Child Welfare Agencies,
Foster Care Agencies, Etc)

4. Educations & Training Plan
 Identify trainers and schedule train-the-trainer sessions on how to use the
database.
 Familiarize yourself/trainer with training content and tools (PowerPoint
presentation, emergency codes document, policy, training competency).
 Schedule presentations with various groups within the Child Welfare Agencies,
Schools and Foster care Agencies to teach them about this system
 Schedule meetings with managers and educators.
 Schedule in-service for staff to update on any new features which come out to this
system.
 Perform a dry run of the UDRSS

5. Two Weeks Before Roll Out – “Implementation” Date
RUNNING HEAD: UNIVERSAL DATA RECORD SHARING SYSTEM 38

 Send a reminder e-mail to all trainers to make copies of the various handouts for
their staff.
 Check with department heads to see if any possible questions/issues that may
have arisen.
 Make sure that all agencies/schools are well stocked with educational and
implementation materials for their staff.

6. Follow-up and Evaluation
 Assign a champion/ambassador in each location for questions/issues during
implementation and the following month.
 Conduct informal oral surveys to determine staff knowledge using database or
other existing feedback mechanisms.
 Check key areas six months post implementation to assess how well the changes
have been integrated.
 Communicate progress to leadership.

Gantt Chart
TASK NAME Jan 18 Feb
18
Mar
18
Apr
18
May
18
Jun
18
Jul
18
Aug
18
Sep
18
Oct
18
Nov
18
Dec
18
Planning
Research

Design

Implementation

Follow-Up

Gantt Chart Cont.
TASK NAME Jan
19
Feb
19
Mar
19
Apr
19
May
19
Jun
19
Jul
19
Aug
19
Sep
19
Oct
19
Nov
19
Dec 19
and 6
months on
Planning
Research

Design
RUNNING HEAD: UNIVERSAL DATA RECORD SHARING SYSTEM 39

Implementation

Follow-Up

Staff and Organizational Information
This system will be maintained under the school’s registrar’s office that way it would be
able to remain confidential and all records would be in once centralized location. This would
also help to make sure that not just anyone is gaining access to these records. School personal
may eventually be able to have modified access to these records but it would be on a need to
know basis (e.g: School guidance counselor who needs to make a youth’s schedule).
Sustainability Statement
The UDRSS will have to be presented to stakeholders in such a way that everyone is in
agreement about the need for this data system and can see the benefit in having it implemented.
The UDRSS will be able to find success when it is fully up and running, everyone is trained in it
and people are able to utilize this system to the best of its ability. This program will be
sustainable by maintaining funding, system updates, partnerships with (schools, DOE, OCFS),
feedback and improvements, and evidence that this system works.

Budget
The UDRSS will be an electronic data system that is funded through both state and
federal grants provided by both the Department of Education, the Office of Children and Family
RUNNING HEAD: UNIVERSAL DATA RECORD SHARING SYSTEM 40

Services, as well as the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education. An example of a grant
that could be used is the School Improvement Grant under the office of state support. School
Improvement Grants (SIGs) are authorized under section 1003(g) of Title I of the Elementary
and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA). They are grants to state educational agencies
(SEAs) that make competitive subgrants to local educational agencies (LEAs) that demonstrate
the greatest need for the funds and the strongest commitment to use the funds to provide
adequate resources in order to substantially raise the achievement of students in their lowest-
performing schools (U.S Department of Education, 2018). There will need to be money allocated
and set aside for program design and development (which is currently in the works and
consultation is being discussed), testing (including quality assurance), launch and maintenance,
as well as training for staff. There will also need to be money allocated for expansion in the
future.

Revenue
State and Federal Grants 250
Foundation Grants 240 Foster Care to Success
W.K. Kellogg Fund
Annie and Casey Fund
In Kind Funds 10
Total Revenue 500

Expenses
Operational Staff 150 Developer
RUNNING HEAD: UNIVERSAL DATA RECORD SHARING SYSTEM 41

Coder
Program Designer
Total Personal 150

Operating Expenses
Technology 10 1 Computer/Software
Total Operating 10

Total Expenses 660
Total Revenue + 140

RUNNING HEAD: UNIVERSAL DATA RECORD SHARING SYSTEM 42

References
American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare. (2018). Ensure healthy development for
all youth. Retrieved from http://aaswsw.org/grand-challenges-initiative/12-
challenges/ensure-healthy-development-for-all-youth/
Benbenishty, R., & Siegel, A. (2018). School-Related Experiences of Adolescents in Foster
Care: A Comparison With Their High-School Peers. American Journal of
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Abstract (if available)

Abstract Each year more than six million kids receive treatment for severe mental, emotional, or behavioral problems. Many of these problems lead children into the care and custody of the foster care system. Each year more than 500,000 children enter into the foster care system in the United States (National Center Brief, 2010). Once in this system these children are one of the most vulnerable and academically at-risk populations in the United States. Foster youth are more likely to change school multiple times, repeat a grade in school, have lower standardized test scores, and also experience more disciplinary actions. The Universal Record Data Sharing System (UDRSS) would make certain documents available to multiple individuals such as, school transcripts, other types of educational records, demographic information, and physical health records (such as school physicals and immunization records that are on file at the school nurses office), to be shared electronically from school to school, district to district thus increasing the continuity of care to education for these students.

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Asset Metadata

Creator Ricciardi, Amanda (author)

Core Title The Universal Record Data Sharing System

School Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work

Degree Doctor of Social Work

Degree Program Social Work

Publication Date 04/05/2021

Defense Date 11/21/2019

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag Children,education,ensure healthy development for all youth,foster care,OAI-PMH Harvest

Language English

Contributor Electronically uploaded by the author (provenance)

Advisor Arrarian, Karla (committee member), Lewis, Jennifer (committee member)

Creator Email aricciardi210@aol.com

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-c89-436312

Unique identifier UC11668062

Identifier etd-RicciardiA-9400.pdf (filename),usctheses-c89-436312 (legacy record id)

Legacy Identifier etd-RicciardiA-9400.pdf

Dmrecord 436312

Document Type Capstone project

Rights Ricciardi, Amanda

Type texts

Source University of Southern California (contributing entity), University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses (collection)

Access Conditions The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the a...

Repository Name University of Southern California Digital Library

Repository Location USC Digital Library, University of Southern California, University Park Campus MC 2810, 3434 South Grand Avenue, 2nd Floor, Los Angeles, California 90089-2810, USA