1. Homeless Flag: Definition and Outcomes
August 4, 2016
Joseph Curiel, Results Measurement Specialist

2. The federal law The McKinney-Vento Act (1987):
Ensures educational rights and protections for children and youth experiencing homelessness
Dictates that every Local Educational Agency (LEA) must designate an appropriate staff person as a local homeless education liaison

3. The definition The McKinney-Vento Act (Section 725)
Children and youth (including preschoolers) who lack a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence
Children and youth who are sharing the housing of other persons due to loss of housing
Children and youth living in motels, hotels, trailer parks, cars, public spaces, abandoned buildings, substandard housing, bus or train stations, camping grounds
Children and youth living in emergency or transitional shelters
Children who have been abandoned in hospitals
Migratory (or immigrant) children and youth who are living in a situation described above

4. Exercise Get creative:
Think of a living situation(s) that may be unclear whether or not to flag the student as homeless given the legal definition
Describe that situation(s) on your sticky note

5. Identification Students are flagged in MARSS
Once identified, students retain the flag for the remainder of the school year
Identification is up to the homeless liaison (and the LEA)
Families may not know about the act
Families may choose to take advantage of services but the LEA should still count students as homeless

6. Identification struggles
Families may not disclose their situation
Children can go unnoticed
Students and parents try to ‘hide’ their situation
Families fear social agencies’ ability to ‘take their children’
Older children may not report, because they fear being returned to an unsafe home
Families who are sheltering other relatives (doubling up) may be very invisible and hard to locate

7. Requirements Identify homeless children and youth
Ensure that children and youth experiencing homelessness enroll in, and have a full and fair opportunity to succeed in school
Ensure that families, children and youth receive educational services for which they are eligible, including Head Start, Even Start and other public preschool programs, and referrals to health care, dental, mental health and other appropriate services

8. Requirements (continued)
Inform parents and guardians of the educational and related opportunities available to their children and provide them with meaningful opportunities to participate in that education
Disseminate public notice of educational rights
Ensure that enrollment disputes are mediated
Inform families and youth about transportation services and assist them in accessing transportation
Must provide transportation to and from the “school of origin” if in the students’ best interest

9. Exercise Unique living situation:
What living situations are unclear whether or not to flag the student as homeless given the legal definition?

10. Homeless flag statewide
2013 = 9265, 2014 = 10364, 2015 = 11623

11. Homeless student demographics
Consider:
As we describe homeless student demographics, ask yourself “what else do I want to know about the homeless student population?”
Write your thoughts on a sticky note

12. Concentrations of homelessness by ethnicity

13. Concentrations of homelessness over time

14. Concentrations of homelessness by special populations

15. Homelessness Grade Variation1
1.6% 2 3
1.5% 4 5
1.3% 6
1.2% 7 8 9
1.1% 10 11
1.0% 12
1.8%
Statewide
1.4%
Speculation? Why do you think grade 12 stands out?

16. Persistence of homelessness
Given that the overall % has increased, this tells us we are mostly just cycling through new homeless students

17. Homeless student demographics
Your thoughts:
“What else do I want to know about the homeless student population?”

18. Homeless student outcomes
Consider:
As we describe homeless student outcomes, ask yourself “what other outcomes might be influenced by homelessness?”
Write your thoughts on a sticky note

19. Homelessness and attendance by ethnicity
Focusing on Black and American Indian because they have the highest concentration of % homeless

20. Homelessness and attendance by grade level

21. Homelessness and math proficiency by ethnicity

22. Homelessness and reading proficiency by ethnicity

23. Homelessness and graduation rates by ethnicity

24. Homeless student outcomes
Your thoughts:
“What other outcomes might be influenced by homelessness?”

25. A study on stable housing
Collaboration between MDE and Minnesota Housing Finance Agency
Assess the impact of rent subsidy (stable housing) for homeless students on attendance, school mobility, test scores
Quasi-experimental matched comparison study
Results in 2017