Bill > HB1305

This bill requires the State Department of Education to expand its annual report to the General Assembly and the Department of Human Services to include additional information about children and foster youth in the State child welfare system, such as school placement stability, the number of students with individualized education plans or 504 plans, grade retention, graduation rates, dropout rates, absenteeism, suspensions, expulsions, school-based arrests, and importantly, the number of foster youth who enroll in college and graduate within six years, with this data to be disaggregated by county, age, gender, race, and ethnicity, and also compared to students not in the child welfare system where appropriate. Furthermore, by December 1, 2026, the State Department of Education, in collaboration with the Department of Human Services, must develop and submit a separate report to the General Assembly that identifies state agencies serving foster youth, pinpoints needs and service gaps affecting their educational outcomes, highlights successful practices from other states, offers recommendations for improving these outcomes, evaluates the effectiveness of the data collected under the first part of the bill, and suggests improvements for future data collection and reporting on foster youth students. This second report is temporary and will be repealed after one year.

Budget and Finance

https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Legislation/Details/HB1305?ys=2026RS