1. Understanding the Critical Link between Homeless Service Providers and the Educational System Cloudburst Consulting Group – Landover, MD & Project Community Connections – Atlanta, GA

2. Session Objectives  Understand new HEARTH requirements and their impact on McKinney-Vento Ed programs and practitioners  Understand the barriers and facilitative factors in accessing preschool for families in homelessness and how homeless service providers and educators can help in addressing these issues  Explore strategies for helping to strengthen the connection between homeless services and LEAs in supporting early childhood education and enrollment

3. Self-Introductions – Session Presenters  Chuck Kieffer, Director Cloudburst Consulting Group Ann Arbor, MI  Kate Hurd, Analyst Cloudburst Consulting Group Atlanta, GA  Margaret Schuelke, Executive Director Project Community Connections, Inc. Atlanta, GA

4. The HEARTH Act

5. HEARTH Act: Overview and History May 2009 HEARTH Act Amends and reauthorizes the McKinney- Vento Homelessness Assistance Act with several changes Jan 2011 HUD publishes “Notice on Limitation on Use of Funds to serve Persons Defined as Homeless Under Other Federal Laws” July 2012 HUD publishes CoC Program interim rule establishing the requirements for applying for and administering funds and the regulatory implementation of responsibilities

6. HEARTH Act: How It Impacts You It impacts you because HUD Homeless Assistance Programs provide important services to help stabilize homeless children, youth, and families, thereby contributing to educational success. The final rule on the Definition of Homeless establishes four categories under which an individual or family may qualify as homeless. 1. Literally Homeless 2. Imminent Risk of Homelessness. 3. Homeless under other Federal Statutes 4. Fleeing/Attempting to Flee DV http://www.endhomelessness.org/library/entry/changes-in-the-hud-definition-of-homeless

7. HEARTH Act: How It Impacts You The Continuum of Care (CoC)Applicant must demonstrate collaboration with education agencies. The CoC must consider the educational needs of children and not disrupt children’s education. Project applicants must demonstrate practices consistent with McKinney –Vento Act. Applicants must designate staff to ensure children are enrolled in school and connected to services. CoCs must involve schools in governance and responsibilities. Statutory Requirements

8. How You Can Help Strengthen the Connection  HUD grantees can:  Connect with state coordinator and education liaisons  Learn local and state education laws and services including Title I, special education and early childhood education in their LEAs  ED grantees can:  Connect with CoC lead agency and providers  Learn about the various housing resources offered in your community (e.g. CoC, ESG, SC2, HOME, FUP, PHAs)  Engage with HUD to assist with your plan to collaborate with federal housing programs

9. How You Can Help Strengthen the Connection Coordinated Assessments Point in Time (PIT) count and cumulative annual counts Data sharing/ disclosure initiatives Developing education assurances policy and procedures In Service trainings

10. Understand the Barriers to Connecting Housing and Education  Positive outcomes require that we are all partners in child and youth services. Housing Stability Education

11. New Opportunities Linked to Interim ESG & CoC Rules New ESG & CoC rules strengthen role of CoC in shaping local public sector allocations and decision-making New CoC rules strengthen role of CoC membership in defining structure, governance, and decision-making Increased opportunity to influence the investment of homeless funding and to shape homeless programming so that children’s educational interests and concerns might be better addressed through exploitation of these new rules and tools

12. Homeless Families, Preschool Enrollment, and Housing Summary Overview of a Project in Process: HUD/PDR-funded Research Study

13. Background  Small Grants Linked to Large Scale National Study of Family Housing Options (funded by HUD Office of PDR)  National random selection study on The Impact of Housing and Services Interventions on Homeless Families (over 2,400 households)  Small grants intended to explore related issues impacting children and families  Impetus for Research Question  Children comprise major portion of persons in homeless households -- and more than half are pre-school age or younger  Fewer than 16% of eligible pre-school aged children are enrolled  Little evidence that national policies have helped address the barriers that homeless families face in enrolling children in early education programs

14. Background  Significance of Approach  Little prior examination of the specific issues and challenges that must be addressed to support increased participation of children from homeless or recently homeless families in preschool opportunities  Qualitative approach helps get “inside” the experience of homeless families who are pursuing preschool needs  Findings will be broadly disseminated to key community and systems leaders to help advance policy and practice that more effectively promotes both preschool participation and housing stability

15. How do homeless families experience preschool enrollment, and what interrelated effects do various barriers, supports, and systemic structures have on the pathways linking housing stability and preschool enrollment? Research Objective

16. Research Design Households enrolled in the national Family Options study 2 sites (Georgia & Connecticut) All households with preschool aged children at the time of study are eligible Sample Round 1 – Mailings to eligible participants Round 2 – Follow up phone calls, email and mailings Provision of small “stipend” (gift cards) and child care support (where needed) Recruitment

17. Data Collection & Analysis Round 1: Focus groups and individual in-depth interviews Round 2: Individual in-depth interviews based on Round 1 data Analysis of Baseline Data from Family Options Study Environmental Scan Procedures Semi-structured focus group and interview guides Open ended discussion framework Data Development

18. Overview of Research Process Literature Review, Study Design & Environmental Scan Data Collection: Round 1 Initial Data Analysis: Round 1 Data Collection: Round 2 Full Data AnalysisDissemination

19. Round 1 Insights: Emerging Themes Multiple situational barriers to preschool access High level of parental awareness of and commitment to the importance of preschool options (vs. child care) Homeless service system insufficient in supporting families in accessing preschool opportunities Preschool system falls short in outreach and in helping parents in navigating the system

20. Emerging Themes: Situational Barriers  Transportation & Scheduling  Parents’ work schedules vs. children’s school schedules  Need for full-day care  Absence of access to transportation  Location of housing & employment vs. siting of preschool options  Slots & Supports  Few slots available  Shortage of tuition subsidies  Poor access to information on available slots  Poor access to information on tuition supports  Other Situational Concerns  Parental focus on search for housing & reality of housing instability  Parental focus on search for employment & reality of need for jobs

21. Emerging Themes: Parental Commitment  High level of parental investment in access to preschool (vs. child care)  High level of recognition of value of early childhood education  Clear capacity to distinguish between early learning and child care  High level of parental investment in “quality” educational experience  High level of parental recognition of characteristics of quality care

22. Emerging Themes: Homeless Service System Supports  Homeless Service Providers frequently fail to provide needed supports to parents and families  Lack of attention to children’s needs  Lack of knowledge of preschool & child care systems, or related systems for financial support  Lack of commitment to providing parental supports  Lack of investment in engaging with broader early childhood system – including McKinney-Vento Liasons  Lack of support in helping homeless parents bridge the gaps exacerbated by housing instability

23. Emerging Themes: Preschool Systems Outreach  Preschool system falls short in providing active outreach and supports for homeless households  Poor outreach to homeless subpopulations  Apparent lack of commitment to addressing challenges faced by homeless households

24. DeKalb Kids Home Collaborative

25. Overview of Kids Home Collaborative  Key elements of initiative  (See http://www.pccihome.org/)http://www.pccihome.org/  Strategies for building partnerships  Key themes in strengthening connections between schools and the homeless provider system

26. Group Discussion

27. Experiences working with homeless services and early childhood providers Challenges for practice and policy Lessons learned in working with homeless households

28.  Cloudburst Consulting Group  Chuck Kieffer chuck.kieffer@cloudburstgroup.com 734-645-0810  Kate Hurd kate.hurd@cloudburstgroup.com 678-812-0284  Project Community Connections, Inc.  Margaret Schuelke margaretschuelke@pccihome.org 404-371-1230 ext 213