The McKinney-Vento Act and Eligibility Issues

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The McKinney-Vento Act and Eligibility Issues

• Barbara Duffield
• Policy Director, NAEHCY
• National Association for the Education of
  Homeless Children and Youth

2
Our Agenda Today

• The Definition Who is Covered by the
  McKinney-Vento Act?
• The Process How do We Apply that Definition to
  Real Life Situations?
• Lets Practice A Case Study
• This Power Point is based on an issue brief from
  the National Center for Homeless Education
  (NCHE) Determining Eligibility for Rights and
  Services Under the McKinney-Vento Act, available
  at
• www.serve.org/nche/downloads/briefs/det_elig.pdf

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The McKinney-Vento Act

• Originally passed in 1987
• Reauthorized in 2002 by NCLB (Title X, Part C)
• Main themes
• School stability
• School access
• Support for academic success
• Child-centered, best-interest-based decision
  making
• Protects the educational rights of children and
  youth experiencing homelessness

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McKinney-Vento at a Glance

• Liaisons in every school district with
  responsibilities to identify homeless children,
  assist with enrollment and participation, refer
  families to Head Start and other services
• School Stability
• Transportation
• Immediate Enrollment
• Enrolled During Disputes
• Comparable Services
• Covers preschool programs administered by LEAs
• Title I set-aside for homeless students funds
  may be used to serve pre-school-age children

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Setting the Context Defining Homelessness

• The Head Start Act includes a definition of
  homelessness that matches the definition of
  homelessness in the education subtitle of the
  McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, which
  governs public schools
• Identical definition is in the Child Nutrition
  Act, the Individuals with Disabilities Education
  Act, and the Violence Against Women Act
• Housing and Urban Development (HUD) homeless
  programs use a more restrictive definition that
  has recently been amended to include more
  families

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EligibilityWho is Covered?

• Children who lack a fixed, regular and adequate
  nighttime residence.
• The law lists a number of specific living
  situations that are covered.
• Other situations are also covered, if they are
  not fixed, regular and adequate.

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Specific covered situations

• Sharing the housing of others due to loss of
  housing, economic hardship, or similar reason
• Also called doubled-up or couch-surfing
• 95 of identified students in Kentucky in
  2007-2008 68 in Tennessee 44 in North
  Carolina 62 in South Carolina 70 in
  Mississippi 61 in Florida 65 nationally
• Living in motels, hotels, trailer parks, camping
  grounds due to lack of adequate alternative
  accommodations
• Motels Less than 1 of identified students in
  Kentucky in 2007-2008 less than 1 in North
  Carolina 12 in South Carolina less than 1 in
  Mississippi less than 1 in Florida 7
  nationally
• Living in emergency or transitional shelters
• Less than 1 of identified students in Kentucky
  in 2007-2008 21 in Tennessee less than 1 in
  North Carolina 20 in South Carolina 26 in
  Florida 22 nationally

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Specific covered situations (cont.)

• Awaiting foster care placement
• Living in a public or private place not designed
  for humans to live
• Living in cars, parks, abandoned buildings,
  substandard housing, bus or train stations, or
  similar settings

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Homeless Definition Why So Broad?

• Shelters are often full shelters may turn
  families away, or put families on waiting lists
• Shelters do not exist in many suburban and rural
  areas
• Eligibility conditions of shelters often exclude
  families with boys over the age of 12
• Shelters often have 30, 60, or 90 day time limits
• Motels may not be available, or may be too
  expensive
• Families may turn to friends or family after
  initial eviction, living in over-crowded,
  temporary, and sometimes unsafe environments
• Families may be unaware of alternatives, fleeing
  in crisis

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What do Fixed, Regular and Adequate mean?

• Fixed
• Stationary, permanent, and not subject to change
• Regular
• Used on a predictable, routine or consistent
  basis
• Adequate
• Sufficient for meeting both the physical and
  psychological needs typically met in home
  environments

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From Law Into Practice

• Determining eligibility is a case-by-case
  determination made by examining the living
  arrangement of each individual student.
• Some instances will be clear-cut others will
  require further inquiry and then a judgment call.
• It is helpful to have a system in place to guide
  the process of determining eligibility

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Step 1 Get the Facts

• Incorporate a question on a standard enrollment
  form for all families this will assist with
  identifying eligible students.
• If the form indicates a possible homeless
  situation, refer to appropriate staff for follow
  up.
• Discuss the living arrangement in a private place
  and with sensitivity.

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Step 1 Get the Facts (cont.)

• Let parents know why you are asking about their
  living situation not to invade their privacy,
  but to offer services.
• Describe available help.
• Do not contact landlords, etc., to probe for more
  information regarding the familys living
  arrangement.
• www.serve.org/nche/downloads/briefs/verif_II.pdf

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Step 1 Get the Facts (cont.)

• Provide awareness activities for Head Start staff
  and community partners
• Avoid using the word homeless
• Describe the living situation instead of labeling
  it. For example, Are you living there because
  you lost your housing? Is this a temporary
  situation?

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Step 2 Analyze the Facts

• Does the familys living arrangement fit into one
  of the specific examples of homelessness in the
  law?
• If so, the family is categorically eligible for
  Head Start.
• If not ?
• Does the student lack a fixed, regular and
  adequate nighttime residence?
• If so, the student is categorically eligible for
  Head Start.

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Step 2 Analyze the Facts (cont.)

• Ask yourself Does the familys living situation
  create a high risk to his consistent enrollment
  or participation in Head Start?
• If the answer is yes, the homeless definition may
  very well apply.
• Use the information/questions contained in the
  Determining Eligibility brief to assist in
  answering these questions.

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In a Public School Context Resolution of Disputes

• If a dispute over eligibility or enrollment
  arises, the child must be admitted immediately to
  the school of choice (school of origin or local
  school) while the dispute is being resolved.
• The parent/guardian/unaccompanied youth must be
  given written notice of the dispute and how to
  access the dispute process.
• The parent/guardian/youth must be referred to the
  liaison for assistance with the dispute process.
• Liaisons must ensure unaccompanied youth are
  enrolled immediately, even if a dispute is
  pending.

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Case Study The Smiths

• The Smith family had been living in an apartment
  in Stamford when their landlord foreclosed on the
  apartment building property. The Smiths moved in
  temporarily with relatives in Sandy Point. Since
  the Smiths are no longer living in Stamford, they
  enrolled their school-age children in Sandy Point
  schools and called the local Head Start program
  for their four-year old.

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Smith Family Discussion Questions

• What follow-up questions might you ask to see if
  the Smiths are covered under the McKinney-Vento
  definition of homelessness?
• Are the Smiths eligible for Head Start under
  these facts?
• If the Smiths relatives in Sandy Point were
  living in Section 8 housing and the landlord was
  unaware that they had moved in, would that affect
  your questions or your determination?

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Smith Family Discussion Questions

• If the Smiths contribute financially to the
  household, would that affect your determination?
• If the Smiths are staying in a separate
  apartment above the host familys garage, with
  its own bathroom and kitchen, would that affect
  your determination?
• If the Smiths and the host family decide the
  arrangement is working and is a good way for each
  of them to save money, would that change your
  determination? Would you want more information?

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Smith Family Discussion Questions

• If instead of having lost their home, the Smiths
  decided to sell their house and purchase a new
  home in a neighboring district but the deal fell
  through, how would that affect the situation?
• If instead of losing their home to foreclosure
  the Smiths lost it to a hurricane or fire, how
  would that affect your determination?
• If after staying with their relatives for several
  weeks, the Smiths rent an apartment in Sandy
  Point, how would that affect the situation? What
  if the Smiths do not have a written lease and
  they continue to look for permanent housing in
  Stamford?

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Step 3 Call for Back-up

• Kentucky State Coordinator Mary Marshall, (502)
  564-3791 mary.marshall_at_education.ky.gov
• North Carolina State Coordinator Lisa Phillips,
  [phone] lphillip_at_serve.org
• South Carolina State Coordinator Brenda Myers,
  [phone] bmyers_at_ed.sc.gov
• Mississippi State Coordinator Kelsey Blumenberg,
  [phone] KEBlumenberg_at_mde.k12.ms.us
• Florida State Coordinator Lorraine Allen, (850)
  245-0668 Lorraine.Allen_at_fldoe.org

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Step 3 Call for Back-up

• National Center on Homeless Education
• www.serve.org/nche/
• NAEHCY
• The 100 Most Frequently Asked Questions on the
  Educational Rights of Children and Youth in
  Homeless Situations www.naehcy.org/faq.html
• My email bduffield_at_naehcy.org or 202.364.7392

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Additional Identification Strategies

• Coordinate with community service agencies, such
  as shelters, street outreach programs, soup
  kitchens and food banks, drop-in centers, housing
  and social service agencies, teen parent
  programs, CPS, and public health departments.
• Provide outreach materials and posters where
  there is a frequent influx of low-income families
  and youth in high-risk situations, including
  motels, campgrounds, parks, convenience stores
  and laundromats.

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Additional Identification Strategies (cont.)

• Develop relationships with school district
  homeless liaisons
• Collaborate with special education and IDEA Part
  C child find activities.

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New HUD Homeless Assistance Law Head Start
Collaborations

• Head Start is a key community collaborator with
  HUD homeless agencies
• Complete re-write of law governing HUD homeless
  programs passed this year
• Effective Dates
• New HUD homeless definition effective by
  11/20/09
• HUD given 12 months to write regulations (5/20/10)

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New HUD Definition

• HUD definition of homeless is amended
• In motels if families/youth have resources to
  stay no more than 14 days
• Doubled-up families/youth if they can only stay
  there for 14 days
• Sub-categories of education definition (long
  time, multiple moves, barriers to housing)
• Fleeing DV or other dangerous conditions
  (including for kids)
• Needlessly complex, but if providers know rules,
  many people can be covered

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Recently Enacted LegislationHUD McKinney-Vento
ReauthorizationProvisions Related to Children
and Youth

• Plans must describe collaboration with LEA,
  including identification and informing of rights
• 2 years after enactment (5/20/11), no denying
  shelter based on age unless appropriate
  alternative living arrangements made
• Agencies must certify that programs that provide
  housing or services to families will designate a
  staff person to ensure that children are enrolled
  in school and connected to appropriate services
  in the community, including early childhood
  programs such as Head Start, part C of the
  Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, and
  McKinney-Vento education services.
• Agencies must certify they will not restrict the
  exercise of educational rights
• Educational needs of children must be taken into
  account when placed in shelter, placing children,
  to the maximum extent practicable, close to
  school of origin

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Contact Information

• Barbara Duffield, Policy Director
• National Association for the Education of
  Homeless Children and Youth
• 4701 Connecticut Avenue, NW, 402
• Website www.naehcy.org
• Phone [phone]
• Fax [phone]
• bduffield_at_naehcy.org
• Web www.naehcy.org