Education

The Academic Case Carrier (ACC) counseling team was established in 2016 as part of the Redlands Unified School District’s (RUSD) Local Control & Accountability Programs (LCAP). Its purpose is to support secondary students who are in foster care or experiencing homelessness, as well as students with identified concerns regarding behavior, grades, attendance, or other obstacles to their success in school. The program provides individual support at school, as well as connects students and their families to support services within the RUSD community. Since its inception, the ACC team has produced many notable accomplishments including maintaining an average yearly foster youth graduation rate of 86.7% (compared to the state average of 64.5%), supporting students in completing 283 Advanced Placement (AP) courses, and achieving an overall 92.5% graduation rate for students who were in the program while in high school. The team makes a difference in the lives of the students they serve each and every day, and this impact has not gone unnoticed; the ACC team has been recognized statewide as a model program in meeting the needs of foster and homeless youth and received the California School Boards Association Golden Bell Award in 2019.