1. T HE M C K INNEY - V ENTO A CT : K NOWING AND I MPLEMENTING THE L AW National Center for Homeless Education 800-308-2145, homeless@serve.org homeless@serve.org

2. W HICH CHILD IS HOMELESS ?

3. T HE CHILD ’ S CLASSROOM MAY BE THE ONLY PLACE WHERE THE CHILD CAN EXPERIENCE QUIET, INTERACT WITH CHILDREN HIS / HER AGE, AND EXPERIENCE SUCCESS … School is the most normal activity that most children experience collectively…For homeless children it is much more than a learning environment. It is a place of safety, personal space, friendships, and support.

4. T ODAY ’ S G OALS  Become familiar with important concepts in the McKinney-Vento Act  Eligibility  Immediate Enrollment  School Selection  Transportation  Unaccompanied Youth  Coordination with Title IA

5. Answer “yes” or “no” to the following:  Could you experience a flood, fire, tornado, or other natural disaster?  Do you work in an area of the economy/job market where your job might become obsolete?  Could you suffer from a long-term illness or accident without proper health benefits or other compensations?  Do you live in a household with only one full-time wage earner?  Are you behind in any monthly bills?  Are housing costs in your area increasing faster than wages?  Does anyone in your family struggle with addictions such as drugs or alcohol? H OW DOES HOMELESSNESS HAPPEN ?

6.  Difficulty enrolling without records, or without a parent or guardian present for unaccompanied homeless youth  Frequent school changes  Falling behind in school -> not accruing credits on time  A lack of basic needs including food, clothing, and adequate housing  Stress, depression, trauma; and embarrassment and stigma related to their housing conditions  Difficulty attending school regularly  a lack of stable transportation EDUCATIONAL CHALLENGES THAT HOMELESS STUDENTS FACE

7. T HE M C K INNEY -V ENTO A CT  Subtitle VII-B of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act; reauthorized by Title X, Part C of ESEA  Main themes of the McKinney-Vento Act  School access  School stability  Support for academic success  Child-centered, best interest decision making  Critical role of the local homeless education liaison

8. L OCAL L IAISONS  Local liaisons play a critical role in the implementation of the McKinney-Vento Act  Every Local Educational Agency (LEA) must designate a local homeless education liaison (includes State Chartered Schools)  Local liaison responsibilities include:  Identifying homeless children and youth  Ensuring that homeless students can enroll immediately and participate fully in school

9. L OCAL L IAISONS ( CONT.)  Informing parents, guardians, or youth of educational rights  Supporting unaccompanied youth in school selection and dispute resolution  Linking homeless students with educational and other services, including preschool and health services  Ensuring the public posting of educational rights through the school district and community; NCHE Educational Rights Posters are available at www.serve.org/nche/products.phpwww.serve.org/nche/products.php  Ensuring that disputes are resolved promptly  Collaborating with other district programs and community agencies

10.  Children or youth who lack a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence, including:  Sharing the housing of others due to loss of housing, economic hardship, or similar reason (“doubling up”)  Living in motels, hotels, trailer parks, camping grounds due to the lack of adequate alternative accommodations  Living in emergency or transitional shelters  Abandoned in hospitals W HO Q UALIFIES F OR S ERVICES ?

11.  Awaiting foster care placement  Living in a public or private place not designed for humans to live: in cars, parks, abandoned buildings, substandard housing, bus or train stations, or a similar setting  Migratory children living in the above circumstances  Unaccompanied youth living in the above circumstances W HO Q UALIFIES ? ( CONT.)

12. D ETERMINING E LIGIBILITY : T HE G ROUND R ULES  Determinations are made on a case-by-case basis by examining the living arrangement of each child or youth  Some instances will be clear-cut; others will require further inquiry and then a judgment call

13. D ETERMINING E LIGIBILITY : F IXED, R EGULAR, AND A DEQUATE  Fixed: Stationary, permanent, and not subject to change  Regular: Used on a predictable, routine, or consistent basis (e.g., nightly); consider the relative permanence  Adequate: Sufficient for meeting both the physical and psychological needs typically met in home environments Consider: Can the student go to the SAME PLACE (fixed) EVERY NIGHT (regular) to sleep in a SAFE AND SUFFICIENT SPACE (adequate)?

14.  Step 1: Get the facts  Enrollment questionnaires Step 2: Analyze the facts  Does the living situation fit into one of the specific examples of homelessness listed in the law?  Is the living arrangement another type of situation that is not fixed, regular, and adequate? D ETERMINING E LIGIBILITY : T HE P ROCESS

15.  Step 3: Get Additional Input  Contact your State Coordinator  Contact the NCHE helpline at 800-308-2145 or homeless@serve.org homeless@serve.org D ETERMINING E LIGIBILITY : T HE P ROCESS ( CONT.)

16. D ETERMINING E LIGIBILITY : “D OUBLED - UP ”  McKinney-Vento defines “doubled-up” as “sharing the housing of others due to loss of housing, economic hardship, or similar reason”  Did economic hardship force the family or youth to share the housing of others temporarily?

17.  A shelter stay is not always an option: Shelters don’t exist in every community  Shelters often are full  Shelter policies may create barriers  Shelters may generate safety concerns  Shelters may have stay limits  Doubled-up arrangements often serve as temporary shelter, but may not last or may place the family or youth in danger M ORE ON “D OUBLED U P ”

18.  Will Bolen lived with his wife and three school- age children in Milwaukee. They just moved to Chicago because Will received a promotion requiring him to move to where his company’s home office is located. He and his family are staying with his brother for a couple of weeks until the house they rented is available for them to move into. HOMELESS? Y ES OR N O

19.  Mariana’s mom struggles with substance abuse. As a result, she often has strangers in the home and participates regularly in activities that cause Mariana to feel highly anxious and unsafe. Eventually, Mariana came to the conclusion that she would be safer living on her own. She ran away, swearing she would never live with her mom again. She is now crashing on the couch of an older friend that she met at the mall last week. HOMELESS? Y ES OR N O

20.  Children in foster care face high residential and school mobility, academic challenges, educational discontinuity  Eligibility must be reviewed in the context of state and local child welfare policies; check with your State Coordinator for information relevant to your state D ETERMINING E LIGIBILITY : A WAITING F OSTER C ARE P LACEMENT

21. S CHOOL S ELECTION  Students experiencing homelessness have the right to attend one of two schools:  Local Attendance Area School  Any public school that students living in the same attendance area are eligible to attend  School of Origin  The school attended when permanently housed; or  The school in which the student was last enrolled

22. S CHOOL S ELECTION ( CONT.)  For school selection, a “best interest” determination must occur; ideally, the parents/guardians and school dialogue and come to an agreement; if there is a disagreement, the dispute resolution process is used  Best interest: keep homeless students in their schools of origin, to the extent feasible, unless this is against the parent’s or guardian’s wishes  Students can continue attending their school of origin the entire time they are homeless, and until the end of any school year in which they move into permanent housing  If a student becomes homeless in between school years, he or she can continue attending the school of origin for the following school year

23.  Feasibility factors listed in U.S. Department of Education Guidance:  The age of the child or youth  The distance of a commute and the impact it may have on the student's education  Personal safety issues  A student's need for special instruction (e.g., special education and related services)  The length of anticipated stay in a temporary shelter or other temporary location  The time remaining in the school year S CHOOL OF O RIGIN AND F EASIBILITY

24. H OW I S F EASIBILITY D ETERMINED ?  The child’s best interest is at the forefront  Determining best interest is a case-by-case determination  There is no specific time or distance limit placed on transporting a homeless child to the school of origin; consider the unique situation of the student and how the transportation will affect the student’s education

25. E NROLLMENT  Districts must develop, review, and revise policies to remove barriers to the school enrollment and retention of homeless children and youth  McKinney-Vento defines enrollment as attending classes and participating fully in school activities  The McKinney-Vento Act supersedes state or local law or practice when there is a conflict [U.S. Constitution, Article VI]

26. E NROLLMENT ( CONT.)  Homeless children and youth have the right to enroll in school immediately, even if lacking documentation normally required for enrollment  If a student does not have immunizations, or immunization or medical records, the local liaison must assist immediately in obtaining them, and the student must be enrolled in the interim

27.  Districts must transport homeless students to and from the school of origin, at a parent’s or guardian’s request (or at the liaison’s request for unaccompanied youth)  If the student’s temporary residence and the school of origin are in the same district, that district must arrange transportation  If the student is living outside the district of origin, the district where the student is living and the district of origin must determine how to divide the responsibility and cost, or they must share the responsibility and cost equally T RANSPORTATION

28. T RANSPORTATION ( CONT.)  Districts must provide students in homeless situations with transportation services comparable to those provided to other students  Districts can consider other safe transportation options beyond the school bus

29. D ISPUTE R ESOLUTION  Whenever a dispute arises, the parent, guardian, or youth must be provided with a written explanation of the school’s decision, including the right to appeal

30. D ISPUTE R ESOLUTION ( CONT.)  While a dispute is being resolved, the student must be admitted immediately into the requested school and provided with services

31. Y OUNG H OMELESS C HILDREN  Homeless children have access to public preschool programs  Local liaisons must ensure that families and children have access to Head Start, Even Start, and other public preschool programs administered by the school district  IDEA and McKinney-Vento staff must work together to ensure that young homeless children who may need special education services are identified, evaluated, and served (IDEA’s Child Find provision)

32. U NACCOMPANIED Y OUTH : T HE B ASICS  An unaccompanied youth’s living arrangement must meet the Act’s definition of homeless for him/her to qualify for McKinney-Vento services  The McKinney-Vento Act defines unaccompanied youth as a youth “not in the physical custody of a parent or guardian”  Local liaisons must support unaccompanied youth in school selection and dispute resolution processes

33. U NACCOMPANIED Y OUTH : T HE B ASICS ( CONT.)  “Age limits”  Lower: There is no lower age limit for unaccompanied youth  Upper: The upper age limit (as with all McKinney-Vento eligible students) is your state’s upper age limit for public education  A youth can be eligible regardless of whether he/she was asked to leave the home or “chose” to leave; sometimes there is “more than meets the eye” for youth’s home life situations

34. T HE S CHOOL ’ S C HARGE  Schools first and foremost are educational agencies  The school’s primary responsibility and goal is to enroll and educate, in accordance with the McKinney-Vento Act (federal); federal law supersedes state and local law  Schools do not need to understand and/or agree with all aspects of a student’s home life to educate him/her

35. U NACCOMPANIED Y OUTH : S TRATEGIES  Develop caretaker forms, self-enrollment forms, and/or other forms to replace typical proof of guardianship; forms should be crafted carefully so they do not create further barriers or delay enrollment;  Be willing to be flexible with students and provide extra supports

36. $ $$$ W HAT FUNDS ARE AVAILABLE TO HELP HOMELESS STUDENTS

37. T HE T ITLE IA S ET -A SIDE : T HE B ASICS  Title IA requires districts to set aside Title IA funds to be used to serve homeless students; there is no federally mandated amount/method of calculation  Homeless students are automatically eligible for Title IA services, even if they don’t attend a Title IA school or meet the academic standards required of other students for eligibility  Homeless students are eligible to receive Title IA support for the rest of any academic year in which they become permanently housed

38. U SING F UNDS FOR H OMELESS S TUDENTS #1 McKinney-Vento Sub-grant Awards 2014-2017 AlamogordoLos LunasT or C AlbuquerqueMagdalena BelenGadsden DemingMoriarty/Edgewood FarmingtonRio Rancho Gallup Santa Fe Las Cruces Socorro

39. #2 Title 1 Homeless Set-aside funds can be used to support homeless student’s needs U SING F UNDS FOR H OMELESS S TUDENTS

40. P ERMISSIBLE U SAGES FOR BOTH T ITLE 1 AND M C K INNEY -V ENTO $:  Used only when not available from other sources  Clothing/shoes (school uniform/dress code/gym uniform)  Fees to participate in the general education program  School supplies  Birth certificates necessary to enroll in school  Medical/dental services (glasses, hearing aids, immunizations)  Counseling for issues affecting learning

41.  Outreach services to students living in shelters, motels, and other temporary residences  Extended learning time or tutoring support  Supporting parent involvement  Supporting the position of the local liaison  Transportation to/from the school of origin for the regular school day while a student is experiencing homelessness

42. P ROHIBITED U SAGES OF F UNDS  Rent  Utilities  Clothing for parents

43. A CCESS TO S ERVICES  Homeless students are automatically eligible to receive free school meals IMMEDIATELY; the USDA permits local liaisons and shelter directors to qualify homeless students for free meals by providing a list of names with effective dates  Undocumented students have the right to attend public school (Plyler v. Doe) and are covered by the McKinney-Vento Act to the same extent as other eligible students

45. W HAT DOES HOMELESSNESS LOOK LIKE IN YOUR SCHOOLS ? School/Homeles s Count  Albuquerque - 5,398  Alamogordo - 115  Belen - 226  Bernalillo - 225  Central Consolidated - 276  Gallup - 505  Cesar Chavez HS - 12 School/Homeles s Count  Hatch - 16  Hobbs - ?  Rio Rancho - 490  Las Cruces - 322  Lordsburg - 26  Lovington - 21  Silver City - 128

46. W HAT DOES HOMELESSNESS LOOK LIKE IN YOUR SCHOOLS ?  Socorro - 21  Taos - 17  Roswell - 80  Santa Fe – 1,242  Espanola - 0  Deming - 340  Portales - 0

47. F OR MORE INFORMATION State Coordinator for Homeless Education: Dana Malone NCHE website: www.serve.org/nchewww.serve.org/nche NCHE helpline: 800-308-2145 or homeless@serve.org homeless@serve.org NCHE National Partner: National Association for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth (NAEHCY): www.naehcy.orgwww.naehcy.org