1. Page 1 BSACAP-Head Start ERSEA Training 2016-17 Date: February 26, 2016 Location: Ramada – Paintsville, KY

2. Page 2 This training will not cover all areas of ERSEA. We will focus on problem areas and specific requests from people who wanted a particular topic covered.

3. Page 3 3 E ligibility R ecruitment S election E nrollment A ttendance

4. Page 4 Eligibility Our program has a lot of specific procedures on how we determine a child’s eligibility. A program must develop ERSEA policies and then follow those policies.

5. Page 5 Eligibility Head Start eligible means a child meets the requirements for Age and Family Income as established in regulation 1305 of Performance Standards.

6. Page 6 Eligibility The first step in determining the eligibility of a child is the completion of the Enrollment Application

7. Page 7 Eligibility Even if you know the child will not be “income eligible”, parents have the right to fill out an application for their child as long as he/she is age eligible (3 or 4 years old on August 1).

8. Page 8 Eligibility The Enrollment Application has changed slightly from last year and we will spend some time reviewing the updates………………. Click for Application

9. Page 9 Each child must have an individual “Enrollment” folder kept in the delegate office. The following items should be found within that folder:

10. Page 10 Enrollment Folder Contents Required: The original enrollment application Eligibility Verification form Documentation of income Documentation of birth Eligibility Points Sheet Other Possible Documents: Family Residency Questionnaire “0” Income form Change of Status form Parental Status forms (Foster, guardianship, etc.)

11. Page 11 The Eligibility Verification (EV) form must be filled out correctly because this is a document that the review team look at very closely. This document justifies WHY we enrolled each child. Lets look at that form………… EV Form

12. 12 Giovani Bernard Dan Bernard Crystal Bernard $116 $229 $11,908 $3,016 $14,924 4 1 3 Kathy Adams, Family Advocate2/24/16 7/24/12

13. Page 13 Eligibility There are 3 situations that make a child “Categorically Eligible”. A child is categorically eligible if he/she is: A Foster Child Homeless Family receives TANF or SSI

14. Page 14 Eligibility In order to simplify, we will make a change in how you record the information on the EV form when a child is identified as Categorically Eligible. You will no longer list the amount of money received on the EV form if a child is listed as Categorically Eligible. Here is an example……………..

15. 15 Giovani Bernard 5 3 Kathy Adams, Family Advocate2/24/16 7/24/12 If the child is CATEGORICALLY ELIGIBLE, you will leave these sections blank:

16. 16 Giovani Bernard 12 3 Kathy Adams, Family Advocate2/24/16 7/24/12 Crystal Bernard $0 If it is a “0” income family, the sections below should be filled out like this:

17. Social Security vs SSI What is the difference in SSI and Social Security? If anyone in a child’s family receives SSI, the child is automatically eligible and the interviewer would not obtain any other form of income. Social Security is simply viewed as income and does not make the child automatically eligible. Now lets see what SSI and Social Security normally look like when presented to the interviewer

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19. Foster Care In order for a child to be considered “Foster”, there must be a document that shows that DPP, CHFS, or another Foster agency is involved in the placement of a child with another family. If all you have is a court document showing that a child has been placed with someone other than the parents and there is no mention of DPP, CHFS etc., then it is just a “Guardianship” and the child is not Categorically Eligible. Review Sample Documents

20. Foster Care Q. When a child is placed in Foster Care in the middle of the program year, are the Foster Parents supposed to designate new emergency contacts? A. Yes. The Foster Parents have become the people responsible for the well-being of the child and should be the ones who list the emergency contacts for that child. It is up to the staff to ask them who they want to designate (using Change of Status form) and then make the changes on COPA.

21. Page 21 Eligibility Before the interviewer sits down with a parent, she must understand HOW to determine the child’s family in order to correctly complete the application. Let’s look at some family situations………….

22. Definition of Family Low Income Family means: A family whose total annual income before taxes is equal to, or less than, the income guidelines decided by Congress. Family means: All persons living in the same household who are: (1) Supported by the income of the parent(s) or guardian(s) of the child enrolling or participating in the program and (2) related to the parent(s) or guardian(s) by blood, marriage, or adoption OR (3) the child’s authorized caregiver or legally responsible party.

23. Family Scenarios James was taken away from his parents and placed in child protective services in November. The agency then placed him with his grandparents in January. His father comes to fill out an application for him today and shows the interviewer a court document that says he has supervised visitation with James. Can the father fill out the application and does his income count? The father would not be able to fill out the application and his income would not matter. The grandparents would need to fill out the application. This is a Foster Child so you would not include income on the EV form.

24. Family Scenarios A mother comes to fill out an application for her daughter. She tells the interviewer that she is married but separated from her husband. Her husband is staying with his parents until they see if they want to get divorced. She works at Walmart and her husband works at Lowes. How many would be in the family and whose income would count. It would be a family of 2 (mom and daughter) and only mom’s income would count.

25. Family Scenarios Frank has 2 children. He comes to fill out an application for one of them. He tells the interviewer that his girlfriend (no relation to the kids) has been living with him for 3 years and he wants her listed as the Secondary Caregiver. What is the appropriate response from the interviewer? Because he is not married to the woman and she is not the biological parent of the child, she cannot be listed as the Secondary Caregiver and would not be counted in the family.

26. Family Scenarios Same family as before. Frank comes back the following year to fill out an application for his other child. He states that he married the lady he was living with, but they now live in separate houses. He wants her listed as the Secondary Caregiver. What is the appropriate response by the interviewer? Because his wife is not living in the house with the child, she cannot be listed as the Secondary Caregiver and would not be counted in the family.

27. Family Scenarios Allison has been evicted from her apartment and has moved in with her brother Gus. Allison has a 3 year old son. Allison has no job and no money. Gus is a doctor. He is taking care of all financial needs for his sister and nephew. Allison comes to sign up her son for Head Start. How many are in the family and whose income counts? It is a family of 2 (Allison and her son). This would be listed as a “Homeless Family” and there would be no income.

28. Family Scenarios Shelia comes to fill out an application for her son Braxton. She tells the interviewer that she has 3 other biological children still living with her besides Braxton. She says that her husband Greg works on a pipeline in North Dakota and only comes home 2-3 times a year. She said they are still married and his check is deposited in their checking account each week. Shelia doesn’t work. Greg hasn’t been home in 4 months. How many are in the family and whose income would count? This would be a family of 6 and Greg’s income would be counted. Even though Greg is not home very much, they are still married and Shelia says that her home is still his home. This means he is part of the family.

29. Family Scenarios Mike earns $700 per week as a miner. His wife Jenny earns $200 per month cleaning houses. Jenny only accepts cash and doesn’t turn in her wages on her annual taxes. They have three kids: Phillip (age 21), Sam (age 19), and Toby (age 4) all still living with them. Phillip and Sam make $500 per week (each) working in the mines with Mike. If Jenny comes to fill out an application for Toby, how many would be listed in the family and what would the annual income be? It’s a family of 5. $700 X 52 weeks = $36,400 $200 X 12 months = $2,400 Total Annual Income = $38,800

30. Family Scenarios Jane comes to fill out an application for her step daughter Katy. She tells the interviewer that Katy’s dad, Joe, wanted to come and fill out the application but he had to work. She said that he works in construction and makes $550 per week. Jane doesn’t work. She says that she and Joe are married. Joe has one other biological child who stays with them on the weekends, but not during the week because his ex-wife has custody of him. How many are in the family? This is a family of 3. Because Jane is related to Katy’s dad by marriage, this makes her part of the family. Joe’s other child does not live with them so he would not be considered part of Katy’s family.

31. Family Scenarios Homer and Ruth are the biological parents for one child, 4 year old Caden. Homer and Ruth live together but are not married. Ruth’s elderly mother, Grace, lives with them. Grace draws Social Security. How many are in the family and whose income should count? The family size is 3 (Homer, Ruth, Caden). Even though they are not married, both are Caden’s biological parents and are in the same household so they both count. Assuming they do not financially support Grace, she is not part of the family.

32. Family Scenarios A single teenage mother fills out an application for her child Ralph. When asked about income, she states that she does not have an income and lives with her parents. What is the next step the interviewer must take? The mother must fill out a “0 Income Verification Form.” Note: When a parent fills out the “O” Income Verification Form, they do not need a written statement from anyone else as proof.

33. Page 33 Eligibility Since last year, there has been a lot of confusion about the application process and how the timeline for the following 3 items should be listed: The Enrollment Application VS obtaining income documentation VS completing the EV form

34. Page 34 Eligibility There needs to be a specific procedure that everyone understands. For the 2016-17 school year, we will use the following timeline for the application / income verification process:

35. Page 35 Eligibility When the enrollment application is completed (and dated), the clock starts to tick for the family to present income documentation. If they have not provided you with income documentation within 90 days of the application date, the application is then void. If the parent brings in their income verification after that 90 days, they would also need to fill out the application again.

36. Page 36 Eligibility The income documentation must be for a consecutive month, with the ending date no earlier than 1 month (30 days) prior to the date of the application. Here is some clarification on that statement:

37. Page 37 Eligibility If paystubs are used for income verification, the ending date for the last period of pay cannot be any older than 1 month (30 days) from the date of the application. It can be more recent than that, but it cannot be any older. For instance, if the application date is 3/1/16, the ending period of income could be 5/23/16 because they may not have brought in the income until that time. But the ending pay period date cannot be older than 2/1/16.

38. Page 38 Eligibility The Eligibility Verification form should be completed within 30 days of receiving the income documentation.

39. Page 39 Changes After Enrollment Once a child is enrolled in the program, there is no need to change most of his/her information on COPA. However, there are special situations that may require staff to make changes. When changes are needed, the staff will fill out the Change of Status form. Let’s take a look at that form. Click for Change of Status

40. Page 40 Determining Homelessness When you think of a homeless person, most people think of someone living on the streets sleeping on a bench. But some families that may be identified as homeless by the McKinney-Vento Act could appear to have a normal situation.

41. Page 41 Determining Homelessness The McKinney-Vento Act is the description used in all Head Start programs to determine if a family is homeless.

42. Page 42 Determining Homelessness There are many, many different family situations that you will encounter when taking enrollment applications. Some of them will be easy to recognize as “homeless” using the McKinney-Vento guidelines, while others will not be as clear. For instance, if a family is living in a homeless shelter, that would be easy to recognize as being homeless. But if the family is living with other family members, it would take more questioning from the interviewer to determine the situation. Lets look at some different situations that you may be faced with. Handout – McKinney-Vento Act Handout – Potential Homeless Scenarios

43. Determining Homelessness Casey is a 19 year old single mom living with her parents. She has a 4 year old little boy named Bo. She has lived with her parents her entire life. Is she homeless? No

44. Determining Homelessness (From previous scenario) Casey moves out of her parents’ house. She and Bo move in with two of her friends. They are going to be sharing the rent. Casey only has a part-time job but her parents are going to help pay her rent until she finds full-time work. Is she homeless? No

45. Determining Homelessness (From previous scenario) After living with her new roommates for 3 months, they leave because they cannot deal with having a 4 year old in the house any longer. So, Casey and Bo are forced to move back in with her parents because she cannot afford the rent by herself. Is she homeless? Unlike the previous 2 scenarios for Casey, this situation shows that she had to move in with others because of financial hardship. This could easily be viewed as homelessness.

46. Determining Homelessness Linda and her husband James have a 3 year old child. They have recently been evicted from their house for failing to pay the rent on time. They stayed in a hotel for 2 weeks after the eviction. After that, they moved in with James’ parents. They have been there for the past month. Is this family homeless? Yes, probably so. If they moved in with his parents because of their financial situation, then this could be a homeless family.

47. Determining Homelessness (From previous scenario) Linda and James come to fill out an application for another one of their children 6 years after the scenario we just read about. They are still living with James’ parents. Are they homeless? Probably not. Their residence appears to be permanent/fixed and is likely a situation of convenience, not because they can’t afford another place to live.

48. Determining Homelessness A family was living in a mobile home last month. They are currently building a house and in order to build it in the same place they were living, they had to sell their mobile home so it could be moved out of the way and they are currently living with the husband’s parents for the next 6 months or so until the house is finished. Is this family homeless? Since the family made the choice to sell their home and the choice had nothing to do with poor economic circumstances, they are probably not homeless.

49. Determining Homelessness Even though they have a fixed residence, this could still be viewed as a homeless family because their home may not be “adequate”. There should be a lot of questions about the situation from the interviewer to the parent. A family is living in a mobile home. The parent tells the interviewer that the windows and roof leak when it rains. She says that they place cups and bowls in the floor to catch the water. She says that the trailer is very old and not in good condition at all. They have lived there for 5 years. Is this family homeless?

50. Should the program list a child on COPA by the name that appears on their birth certificate or the name the family uses? The child’s LEGAL name must be listed on COPA as it appears on the birth certificate. However, the name used by the parent can be listed in parentheses, or vice versa

51. Jack is enrolled in Head Start this year and will return next year. COPA shows that it is a "Two Parent" family. Mom and dad divorce. Mom comes to fill out an application for Jack's little brother next year. Mom says it's a "Single Parent" family now. Should the interviewer list it as a Single Parent family on COPA even though it will change the family data sheet and show that Jack is now in a Single Parent family and won't match his application? Yes, the information from the new application should be put on COPA. Jack’s “snapshot” will still have it recorded that he was in a two parent family when he was made eligible.

52. Page 52 Additional Topics Here are some random questions / answers that staff need to be aware of:

53. Frequently Asked Questions A.A. Q.Q. Can the Change of Status form be used to revise the EV form? No. If there is a change in income status before the child is accepted, the staff must fill out a new EV form.

54. Frequently Asked Questions A.A. Q.Q. Which of the following CANNOT be used to verify child support? A.A written statement from the person receiving child support B.A written statement from the person giving the child support C.A court document D.A letter from an attorney

55. Frequently Asked Questions A.A. Q.Q. When using a 1040 tax form to verify a family’s income, which of the following lines should be used? A.Line 1 - (Wages, Salary, etc.) B.Line 37 - The Adjusted Gross Income (AGI)

56. Frequently Asked Questions A.A. Q.Q. A child is still eligible for Head Start enrollment even if he/she is not a US citizen. True False

57. Frequently Asked Questions A.A. Q.Q. If a child has been enrolled at Pike County and now wants to enroll at Floyd County, we do not need to fill out another enrollment application. True False Need more information Is the application older than 12 months?

58. Frequently Asked Questions A.A. Q.Q. If a child has an IEP, they must automatically be accepted into the Head Start program. True False Depends on the disability

59. Frequently Asked Questions A.A. Q.Q. If a child is age eligible and wants to return for a 3 rd year in Head Start, which of the following must occur? A.A new application must be completed B.A new EV sheet must be completed C.A new Brigance must be completed D.All of the above

60. Frequently Asked Questions A.A. Q.Q. If a child is returning for a 2 nd year, should the staff print an additional copy of his/her Eligibility Points Page? No. The only time that a new Points sheet should be printed is when a child withdraws from the program but then reenrolls.

61. The End Thank You for Attending