McKinney-Vento Homeless Education

1. McKinney-Vento Homeless Education Dana Scott State Coordinator for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth Scott_d@cde.state.co.us 303-866-6930

2. Homelessness in the U.S. • 1.35 million children • 10% of all children living in poverty are homeless • Over 40% of all children who are homeless are under the age of 5 Education for Homeless Children and Youth

3. Causes of Homelessness • Lack of affordable housing • Deep poverty • Health problems • Domestic violence • Natural and other disasters • Abuse/neglect (unaccompanied youth) Education for Homeless Children and Youth

4. Barriers to Education for Children & Youth in Homeless Situations • High mobility • Enrollment requirements (school records, immunizations, proof of residence and guardianship) • Lack of transportation • Lack of access to programs • Lack of school supplies, clothing, etc. • Poor health, fatigue, hunger • Prejudice and misunderstanding Education for Homeless Children and Youth

5. Homelessness in CO • In the 2008-09 school year, CO school districts identified 15,834homeless children and youth • This represents a 25%increase from 2008-09 and over 100% increase since 2003-04. • Primary factors contributing to this rise: 1) increase in children and youth becoming homeless 2) better identification efforts by Districts Education for Homeless Children and Youth

6. Who is considered homeless? • Anyone who lacks a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence— • Sharing the housing of others due to loss of housing, economic hardship, or similar reason • Living in motels, hotels, trailer parks, camping grounds due to lack of adequate alternative accommodations • Living in emergency or transitional shelters • Abandoned in hospitals

7. Who is considered homeless? (cont.) • Awaiting foster care placement • Living in a public or private place not designed for humans to live • Living in cars, parks, abandoned buildings, bus or train stations, etc. • Youth on their own who lack a fixed, adequate and regular primary nighttime residence (unaccompanied youth)

8. Eligible or Not? Gabriella M. lost her job and was evicted from her apartment. She’s moved in with her parents and wants to enroll her son, John, in the local elementary school. She’s planning to return to her former neighborhood as soon as she gets back on her feet. Education for Homeless Children and Youth

9. Homeless and the Law Education for Homeless Children and Youth

10. Maria Gonzales and her seven-year-old and nine-year-old daughters have just moved into a homeless shelter. Maria visits the neighborhood school to enroll her daughters. She is given a list of required documents—items she does not have. Maria leaves, believing her daughters cannot attend the school. ■ Should Maria be able to enroll her children? ■ What went wrong? ■ What should be done? ■ What could you do to prevent this from happening in a school in your district? Education for Homeless Children and Youth

11. McKinney-Vento/Title X, Part C of NCLB • Reauthorized in 2002 as Title X, Part C of No Child Left Behind • Mandated that state and local educational agencies change policies and practices that create barriers to the access and success of homeless children and youth in public schools • Recent emphasis on monitoring and compliance for all local education agencies regardless of subgrantee status Education for Homeless Children and Youth

12. McKinney Vento Overview • Main themes: • School stability • School access • Support for academic success • Child-centered, best interest decision making

13. Importance of School Stability Research on School Mobility: • Students who switch schools frequently score lower on standardized tests; • study found mobile students scored 20 points lower than non-mobile students • Mobility also hurts non-mobile students; • study found average test scores for non-mobile students were significantly lower in high schools with high student mobility rates • It takes children an average of 4-6 months to recover academically after changing schools

14. Importance of School Stability Research on School Mobility (cont): • Students suffer psychologically, socially, and academically from mobility; • mobile students are less likely to participate in extracurricular activities and more likely to act out or get into trouble • Mobility during high school greatly diminishes the likelihood of graduation; • study found students who changed high schools even once were less than half as likely as stable students to graduate, even controlling for other factors

15. Responsibilities for Districts Includes: • Ensuring access to school and appropriate services • Reducing school transfers and enhancing educational stability and continuity • Strengthening parental choice and involvement • Ensuring educational rights of unaccompanied youth • Ensuring access to public preschool programs for young children experiencing homelessness Education for Homeless Children and Youth

16. Educational Rights for Children and Youth Experiencing Homelessness • A homeless education liaison in every public school district • Right to immediate enrollment in school, without proof of residency, immunizations, school records, or other documents • Right to choose between the local school where they are living and the “school of origin” (school they attended before they lost their housing or the school where they were last enrolled)

17. Educational Rights for Children and Youth Experiencing Homelessness (Cont) • Right to transportation to their school of origin • Right to be free from harassment and isolation. Segregation based on a student’s status as homeless is strictly prohibited • Right to access to educational services for which they are eligible including: IDEA services, ESL, gifted and talented programs, vocational/ technical education, and school nutrition programs

18. Educational Rights for Children and Youth Experiencing Homelessness (Cont.) • Right to be notified of their options and rights under McKinney-Vento. Liaisons must post rights of students experiencing homelessness in schools and other places in the community • Right to have disagreements with the school settled quickly

19. Homeless Education Liaisons Education for Homeless Children and Youth

20. Principal Phil Branton noticed that students are arriving at his school from a recently opened shelter in the neighborhood. This is a new development, and Principal Branton has had no experience working with homeless families. Shelter workers are telling him the children can enroll even if they cannot fulfill the school district’s enrollment requirements. ■ Who can Principal Branton contact to learn about his responsibilities when enrolling students experiencing homelessness? ■ What other information and resources might Principal Branton need to best serve these new students? Education for Homeless Children and Youth

21. Role and Responsibilities of Homeless Education Liaisons • Outreach • Ensure parents/guardians and unaccompanied youth are fully informed of all educational rights • Post educational rights in all schools in the district • Post educational rights in community places • Inform school personal, service providers and advocates of the duties of the liaison Free educational rights posters are available at www.serve.org/nche Education for Homeless Children and Youth

22. Role and Responsibilities of Homeless Education Liaisons(cont) • Policy and Procedure Review • Review local policies and procedures that may impact homeless children and youth, such as enrollment and access to programs, transportation, etc… • Revise those that are determined to be potential barriers for homeless children and youth Sample CASB policy is available for Colorado liaisons Education for Homeless Children and Youth

23. Role and Responsibilities of Homeless Education Liaisons(cont) • Identification and Determining Eligibility • Collaborate with community agencies, including shelters, to identify homeless children and youth • Offer trainings to District staff on how to identify children and youth experiencing homelessness and their educational needs • Obtain information from families and youth to determine eligibility and make best interest determinations Education for Homeless Children and Youth

24. Role and Responsibilities of Homeless Education Liaisons(cont) • Facilitating Enrollment • Determine school placement (school of origin vs. attendance area school) • Remove barriers to ensure immediate enrollment regardless of district residency requirements, guardianship paperwork, immunization paperwork, transcripts, etc… • May include reviewing district policies and procedures Education for Homeless Children and Youth

25. Best Interest Determinations • Continuity of instruction • Age of the child or youth • Safety of the child or youth • Length of stay at the shelter • Likely area where family will find permanent housing • Student’s need for special instructional programs • Impact of commute on education • School placement of siblings • Time remaining in the school year Education for Homeless Children and Youth

26. Role and Responsibilities of Homeless Education Liaisons(cont) • Ensuring Access to Educational Services • Free and Reduced Lunch- categorical eligibility • Title I – categorical eligibility. Also, every District must have as a part of the Title I application, a plan to serve homeless students and must “set aside” funds “necessary” to serve homeless students in the district • IDEA • Gifted and Talented • Transportation!!!!! Education for Homeless Children and Youth

27. Transportation Provisions • Districts must provide students experiencing homelessness with transportation to and from their school of origin, at a parent’s or guardian’s request (or at the liaisons request for unaccompanied youth) • If the student’s temporary residence and the school of origin are in the same district, that district must provide or arrange transportation • If the student is living outside of the school of origin’s district, the district where the student is living and the school of origin’s district must determine how to divide the responsibility and share the cost, or they must share the cost equally Education for Homeless Children and Youth

28. Role and Responsibilities of Homeless Education Liaisons(cont) • Data Collection and Reporting • End of year report on students numbers and other information due from every district to the USDE (regardless of number of students identified) • “Key Survey” – see handout • Usually occurs Sept-Dec with a December deadline to CDE Education for Homeless Children and Youth

29. Role and Responsibilities of Homeless Education Liaisons(cont) • Dispute Resolution • If the district decision regarding eligibility or school placement differs from the parent/guardian or unaccompanied youth, written documentation must be sent to the parent/youth notifying them of their right to appeal • Dispute resolution process and documents can be found on CDE’s McKinney webpage at: www.cde.state.co.us/cdeprevention/homeless_disputes.htm Education for Homeless Children and Youth

30. Role and Responsibilities of Homeless Education Liaisons(cont) • Unaccompanied Youth • Assist unaccompanied youth in school enrollment and placement decisions • Ensure unaccompanied youth are enrolled immediately and are fully participating in school • Facilitate dispute resolution process, if needed • Connect unaccompanied youth with school and community resources • Review and revise McKinney district policies to include unaccompanied youth Education for Homeless Children and Youth

31. Role and Responsibilities of Homeless Education Liaisons(cont) • Evaluating the Effectiveness of Your Program • Ensure district-wide compliance • Conduct needs assessments • Develop data collection systems for tracking and evaluating your work • Evaluation process could include comparing against the national standards and indicators for MV, feedback through surveys or interviews, other… Education for Homeless Children and Youth

32. Awareness Building Education for Homeless Children and Youth

33. What about your specific District? How do you build awareness at the: District Level? School Level? Classroom Level? In the Community? Education for Homeless Children and Youth

34. Collaboration Education for Homeless Children and Youth

35. What about your specific District? • Most individuals working in school districts understand the importance of collaboration • Who in your district are vital partners for collaboration? • Who are important partners in the outside community? • How do you find out about potential partners? Education for Homeless Children and Youth

36. New Developments and Opportunities • FAFSA Fix for Unaccompanied Homeless Youth • CO Higher Education Initiative for Unaccompanied Youth Experiencing Homelessness • Head Start Reauthorization- MV Provisions • ARRA Funding and SLV BOCES Grant Education for Homeless Children and Youth

37. Resources Education for Homeless Children and Youth

38. Local, State and National Partners in Educating Homeless Children and Youth Colorado Department of Education (CDE) Dana Scott, State Coordinator for the Educ. of Homeless Children and Youth Ph: 303-866-6930Email: scott_d@cde.state.co.us www.cde.state.co.us/cdeprevention/homeless_index.htm National Center for Homeless Education (NCHE) www.serve.org/nche Ph: 336-315-7453 Education for Homeless Children and Youth