Ensuring Educational Stability for Homeless Children and Youth - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

1 / 27
About This Presentation
Title:

Ensuring Educational Stability for Homeless Children and Youth

Description:

Ensuring Educational Stability for Homeless Children and Youth An Overview of the McKinney-Vento Act and Advocacy Strategies for Keeping Homeless and Displaced ... – PowerPoint PPT presentation

Number of Views:57
Avg rating:3.0/5.0
Slides: 28
Provided by: mplpOrgRe
Learn more at: http://www.mplp.org
Category:

less

Transcript and Presenter's Notes

Title: Ensuring Educational Stability for Homeless Children and Youth


1
Ensuring Educational Stability for Homeless
Children and Youth
  • An Overview of the McKinney-Vento Act and
    Advocacy Strategies for Keeping Homeless and
    Displaced Students in School

Sarah Biehl, Ohio Poverty Law Center/Ohio State
Legal Services Association Melissa Will,
Southeastern Ohio Legal Services
2
Todays Agenda
  • A Growing Problem
  • Barriers to Education for Homeless Children
  • McKinney-Vento Act
  • Who are Homeless Children and Youth?
  • McKinney-Vento Personnel
  • Educational Rights of Homeless Children
  • Focus on School Stability
  • Removing Barriers
  • Advocacy Strategies/Tips

3
A Growing Problem
  • The number of public school students who are
    homeless is increasing.
  • 17 increase in homeless students in Ohio last
    year
  • News organizations note an alarming rise in
    homeless students in Michigan

Number of homeless Ohio students jumps 17
percent increase to 9,396 sets state record,
http//www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?A
ID/20081219/NEWS04/812190345/-1/NEWS Economy in
Crisis Homeless Students on The Rise in Northern
Michigan, http//www.9and10news.com/category/story
/?id143855 Educators See Spike in Number of
Homeless Students, http//www.foxnews.com/story/0,
2933,489865,00.html In Tough Times, Ranks of
Homeless Students Rising School districts find
unprecedented increase in numbers of homeless
students across US, http//abcnews.go.com/US/WireS
tory?id6497841page3
4
Barriers to Education for Homeless Children
  • Enrollment requirements (school records, health
    records, proof of residence and guardianship)
  • High mobility resulting in lack of school
    stability and educational continuity
  • Lack of transportation
  • Lack of school supplies, clothing, etc.
  • Poor health, fatigue, hunger, anxiety/trauma
  • Invisibility (lack of awareness)
  • Prejudice and misunderstanding
  • For unaccompanied youth lack of adult guardian
    need for employment credit accrual policies
    concerns of capture by authorities

Source National Association for the Education
of Homeless Children and Youth, www.naehcy.org
5
McKinney-Vento Homeless Education Assistance Act
  • Title X, Part C of the No Child Left Behind Act
    of 2001 (which is up for reauthorization this
    year)
  • 42 U.S.C. 11431 et. seq.
  • 34 C.F.R. Part 200
  • Main Themes
  • School stability
  • School access
  • Support for academic success
  • Child-centered, best interest decision making

6
Who Are Homeless Children and Youth?
  • Must meet the McKinney-Vento definition of
    homeless Children and 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
    (doubled up)
  • Living in motels, hotels, trailer parks, camping
    grounds due to lack of adequate alternative
    accommodations
  • Living in emergency or transitional shelters
  • Abandoned in hospitals
  • 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.
  • Migratory children living in above circumstances

42 U.S.C. 11434a(2)
7
Who Are Homeless Children and Youth?
  • NOTE! The McKinney-Vento definition of
    homelessness is broader and more inclusive than
    the HUD definition (42 U.S.C.
    11302(a)).
  • McKinney-Vento does not specify an age range but
    applies to all school-aged children and youth (as
    defined by state law) typically states allow
    youth to attend school up to the age of 21

8
McKinney-Vento Personnel
  • Every State Education Agency has an Office of
    State Coordinator for the Education of Homeless
    Children and Youth
  • Collaboration responsibilities across agencies
    and with communities
  • Technical assistance to LEAs
  • Compliance
  • Professional development
  • Data collection and reporting

42 U.S.C. 11432(d)(3)
9
McKinney-Vento Personnel
  • Every Local Education Agency (school district)
    must designate a liaison for students in homeless
    situations
  • Responsibilities
  • Ensure that children and youth in homeless
    situations are identified through school and
    community
  • Ensure that homeless students enroll in and have
    full and equal opportunity to succeed in school
  • Make referrals for health, mental health, and
    other services, and ensure that homeless children
    receive Head Start and preschool programs
    administered by school districts

42 U.S.C. 11432(g)(6)(A)
10
McKinney-Vento Personnel
  • Local Liaison Responsibilities (Cont.)
  • Inform parents, guardians, and youth of
    educational and parent involvement opportunities
  • Post public notice of educational rights
  • Resolve disputes
  • Inform parents, guardians, and youth of
    transportation services, including to the school
    of origin
  • Collaborate and coordinate with community and
    school personnel

11
Educational Rights of Homeless Children
  • Broad mandate for all school districts to remove
    barriers to school enrollment and retention by
    revising policies and practices
  • Remain in the school of origin (if in best
    interest)
  • Transportation to the school of origin
  • Immediate enrollment
  • Access to programs and services
  • Access to dispute resolution procedures

See 42 U.S.C. 11432(g)(1)(H)-(J)
12
Focus on School Stability
  • Students can stay in their school of origin for
    the duration of homelessness and until the end of
    the school year when they find permanent housing,
    as long as that is in their best interests.
  • School of origin is the school attended when
    permanently housed or in which last enrolled (42
    U.S.C. 11432(g)(3)(G)).
  • Best interests generally means keeping homeless
    students in their schools of origin, to the
    extent feasible, unless this is against the
    parents/guardians wishes (42 U.S.C.
    11432(g)(3)(B)).

13
Focus on School Stability
  • Students can also choose to attend the local
    school where they are currently staying (any
    school others living in the same area are
    eligible to attend)
  • Regardless of whether the student chooses to stay
    in the school of origin or enroll in his/her
    local school, the student must be enrolled
    immediately (42 U.S.C. 11432(g)(3)(C)).

14
Removing Barriers
  • School districts may not refuse to enroll
    homeless children because they lack required
    documents such as proof of residence,
    guardianship paperwork, school records, health
    records, etc. (42 U.S.C. 11432(g)(3)(C)(i)).
  • If a student does not have immunization records,
    the liaison must assist immediately in obtaining
    them, and the student must be enrolled in the
    interim (42 U.S.C. 11432(g)(3)(C)(iii)).

15
Removing Barriers
  • If a dispute arises over school selection or
    enrollment in school
  • The child must be immediately admitted into the
    school in which enrollment is sought
  • The school must provide the student/parents a
    written explanation of the schools enrollment
    decision, along with their rights to appeal that
    decision
  • The child and her/his parents must be immediately
    referred to the districts liaison to begin the
    dispute resolution process

42 U.S.C. 11432(g)(3)(E)
16
Removing Barriers
  • The school district must provide students in
    homeless situations with services comparable to
    those provided to other students, including
  • Transportation
  • Vocational and technical education
  • School nutrition programs
  • Gifted and talented programs.

42 U.S.C. 11432(g)(4)(A)
17
Removing Barriers
  • Transportation
  • School districts are required to provide
    transportation in 3 situations
  • Must provide transportation to school of origin
    upon request of parent or guardian.
  • For transportation to school other than school of
    origin, must provide transportation comparable to
    that provided to other students in district.
  • If transportation is a barrier to enrollment or
    retention, school must eliminate that barrier.

See 42 U.S.C. 11432(g)(1)(J) (g)(4)(A)
(g)(1)(I) (g)(7).
18
Advocacy Strategies
  • Know the broad McKinney-Vento definition of
    homelessness and be on the lookout for clients
    whose children could benefit from the law.
  • Help educate other attorneys in your office about
    McKinney-Vento often clients in other types of
    cases have children who could benefit, especially
    in divorce cases, foreclosure, eviction, public
    benefits cases.
  • Help educate your client community about
    McKinney-Ventos benefits for homeless children.
  • Know the liaisons in the districts in your
    region.

19
Advocacy Strategies
  • Some districts generally, larger urban
    districts have funded McKinney-Vento
    liaisons. This means their positions are funded
    by the federal government and their full-time job
    is to be the homeless liaison for that district.
    They are generally better trained and more
    knowledgeable.
  • Most districts do NOT have funded liaisons. Many
    districts simply designate the superintendent or
    a principal as their liaison.
  • Lots of unfunded liaisons dont even know they
    are the liaison!
  • You can and should educate the districts liaison
    about his/her legal responsibilities under
    McKinney-Vento.

20
Advocacy Strategies
  • Many funded liaisons help coordinate trainings
    for unfunded liaisons in the districts in their
    region offer to help with the trainings to
    liaisons and others.
  • Conversely, get to know the funded liaisons in
    your service area and see if you can get them to
    call or reach out to the unfunded liaison in the
    district in which your client is having trouble.

21
Advocacy Strategies
  • Remember that parents and students are entitled
    to a written explanation of why a school district
    is refusing to enroll a homeless child in a
    particular school often a lawyer asking for
    that written explanation is enough to get a child
    enrolled and end the dispute.
  • Get a copy of your states dispute resolution
    process.
  • Dispute resolution processes require that the
    parties make an effort to resolve the dispute at
    the district level before involving the state
    coordinator, but it often doesnt hurt to call
    your state coordinator if he or she is
    good/helpful, especially for repeated problems
    with the same school district.

22
Advocacy Strategies
  • Final option file a federal lawsuit to force
    the district to comply with McKinney-Vento.
  • Liability is based on negligence a failure to
    exercise reasonable care in following the federal
    law and providing appropriate services.
  • Look at the National Law Center on Homelessness
    and Poverty website (www.nlchp.org) it has lots
    of info about pending and decided McKinney-Vento
    cases, many of which are not reported on Westlaw
    or Lexis.

23
Advocacy What about unaccompanied youth?
  • Unaccompanied youth are often a particular
    challenge.
  • Liaisons must help unaccompanied youth choose and
    enroll in school, after considering the youths
    wishes and informing the youth of his/her appeal
    rights.
  • School personnel should be made aware of specific
    needs of runaway and other unaccompanied youth.
  • Schools are not required to allow unaccompanied
    minors to sign their own forms and documents (for
    example, for field trips, etc.), but they can.
  • Options include letting the youth make his/her
    own decisions, letting the local liaison make the
    decisions, issuing caregiver forms allowing
    other adults to make decisions

24
Advocacy Unaccompanied Youth
  • School districts cannot require caretakers to
    obtain guardianship of youth after enrollment, or
    within a specific number of days, in order for
    youth to remain in school.
  • Many homeless youth lose credits due to absences,
    and school districts are required to help them
    make up lost credits.
  • You may need to argue that school district
    policies that would prevent youth with
    scattered or no accumulated credit from
    enrolling must be revised because they are a
    barrier.

25
Advocacy What about school discipline?
  • McKinney-Vento does not overrule state or local
    discipline policies. If a student has been
    suspended or expelled for behavior, those
    policies apply.
  • If, however, a student has been disciplined for
    reasons related to homelessness (eg, excessive
    absences), the student should not be penalized
    and the policy should be revised.

26
Advocacy What about homeless students receiving
special education services?
  • The local liaison must immediately assist with
    getting the students IEP paperwork, and the IEP
    must immediately be implemented.
  • The IDEA requires school districts to appoint
    surrogate parents for unaccompanied homeless
    youth within 30 days.
  • IDEA regs permit staff members of emergency
    shelters, transitional shelters, independent
    living programs, and outreach programs to serve
    as temporary surrogate parents.

27
Questions? Need More Help?
  • Sarah Biehl, Ohio Poverty Law Center/Ohio State
    Legal Services Association sbiehl_at_oslsa.org,
    (614) 221-7201 x. 130
  • Melissa Will, Southeastern Ohio Legal Services
    mwill_at_oslsa.org, (740) 345-0850
  • National Association for the Education of
    Homeless Children and Youth http//www.naehcy.org
    /
  • National Center for Homeless Education
    http//www.serve.org/nche/m-v.php
  • National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty
    http//www.nlchp.org/
  • U.S. DOE non-regulatory guidance for school
    districts on implementing McKinney-Vento
    http//www.ed.gov/programs/homeless/guidance.pdf
Write a Comment
User Comments (0)
About PowerShow.com