Christy is the Foster Care Point of Contact for the State of Montana and has in depth knowledge of both the federal law protecting Foster Care students as well as Montana state law protecting Foster Care students.

Emily Peeler, JD, MSW, is a Staff Attorney at the American Bar Association Center on Children and the Law. Emily works on a variety of projects at the ABA including: the Legal Center for Foster Care and Education, Pennsylvania Education Barriers, the Capacity Building Center for Courts, kinship care, and parent representation. Prior to working at the ABA Emily managed a legal diversity pipeline program with law firms and high schools across the country and worked as a youth advocacy coordinator at CASA for Children of DC. Emily received her J.D. from the University of Louisville Brandeis School of Law and her M.S.W. from Boston University.

Bryan is the lead program officer for the U.S. Department of Education’s activities related to students in foster care. In this role, Bryan manages the Department’s technical assistance and monitoring/oversight activities designed to support the implementation of the Title I, Part A foster care provisions. Bryan also manages the Department’s collaborative efforts with other Federal agencies (including the Children’s Bureau at the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services) that manage programs related to children in foster care.

Colin has been the Foster Care Point of Contact (POC) at the Department of Education in the Nevada since November of 2016. As the POC in Nevada Colin provides ongoing technical assistance related to the Title I, Part A foster care provisions to school district POC’s as well other stakeholders across the state. Over the past three years Colin has provided both in-person and online presentations related to foster care student protections including the 2018 National Association of the Education of Homeless Children and Youth (NAEHCY) pre-conference and the 2019 People, Purpose, and Passion Nevada conference. Colin has made numerous presentation within his state as well as joint presentation with the American Bar Association (Center for Child and the Law) as well as with his POC colleague (Christy Hendricks) in Montana related to foster care student protections. Apart from his work to support students in foster care Colin is also the Title I-D Coordinator for Nevada, where he works with state agencies and local education agencies to support students who are in neglected or delinquent situations.