Overview of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act Reauthorized January 2002 by NCLB (Subtitle B of Title VII)

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Overview of the McKinney-Vento Homeless
Assistance ActReauthorized January 2002 by NCLB
(Subtitle B of Title VII)

• Kendra J. Vandertie, School Social Worker
• Education for Homeless Children Youth
• Appleton Area School District
• September 2011

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How many children and youth experience
homelessness?

• 1.37 million children (NAEHCY 2009)
• 15 of all children living in poverty (Urban
  Institute,,2010)
• 1 out of 8 (12) children in the Fox Valley are
  living in poverty (Post-Crescent, 9/11)
• Over 40 of all
• children who are
• homeless are
• under the age
• of 5 (Urban Institute, 2000)

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Causes of Homelessness

• Primary cause is lack of affordable housing
• Sudden loss of income
• Health problems
• Natural and other disasters
• Domestic violence
• Abuse/neglect (unaccompanied youth)

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Barriers to Education forHomeless Children and
Youth

• Enrollment requirements
• High mobility resulting in lack of school
  stability and educational continuity
• Lack of access to programs
• Lack of transportation
• Lack of school supplies, clothing, etc.
• Poor health, fatigue, hunger
• Prejudice and misunderstanding
• Stress/Trauma

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McKinney-VentoHomeless Assistance Act

• Main themes
• Eligibility
• Homeless Liaisons
• Identification
• School stability
• School access/equal access
• Support for academic success
• Child-centered, best interest decision making

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EligibilityWho is Covered?

• Children who lack a fixed, regular, and adequate
  nighttime residence
• Doubled Up
• Living in motels, hotels, trailer park, 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 any of the above
  circumstances
• Unaccompanied youth

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McKinney-VentoHomeless Assistance Act

• Main themes
• Eligibility
• Homeless Liaisons
• Identification
• School stability
• School access/equal access
• Support for academic success
• Child-centered, best interest decision making

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Local HomelessEducation Liaisons

• There is a Federal-Level Coordinator of Homeless
  Education (Federal law supercedes state and local
  laws where there is a conflict. US Constitution,
  Article VI)
• Every state must have a State Coordinator of
  Homeless Education
• Every public school district must
• have a Homeless Liaison http//dpi.wi.gov/homel
  ess/pdf/liaison-contacts.pdf

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McKinney-VentoHomeless Assistance Act

• Main themes
• Eligibility
• Homeless Liaisons
• Identification and Enrollment
• School stability
• School access/equal access
• Support for academic success
• Child-centered, best interest decision making

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Identification Strategies

• Provide awareness activities for all school staff
• Coordinate with community service agencies
  serving homeless
• Provide outreach materials and posters where
  there is a frequent influx of low-income families
  and youth in high-risk situations
• Use enrollment and withdrawal forms to inquire
  about living situations
• Have students draw or write about where they live
• Avoid using the word "homeless" in initial
  contacts with school personnel, families, or
  youth

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Segregation

• States are prohibited from segregating homeless
  students in separate schools, separate programs
  within schools, or separate settings within
  schools
• SEAs and LEAs (State and Local Education Agency)
  must adopt policies and practices to ensure that
  homeless children and youth are not segregated or
  stigmatized on the basis of their status as
  homeless

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McKinney-VentoHomeless Assistance Act

• Main themes
• Eligibility
• Homeless Liaisons
• Identification
• School stability
• School access/equal access
• Support for academic success
• Child-centered, best interest decision making

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School StabilityKey Provisions

• School of Origin (School attended when
  permanently housed or in which last enrolled)
• Homeless children and youth have the right to
  enroll in school immediately even if they do not
  have required documents
• Enrolling schools must obtain school records from
  the previous school and students must be enrolled
  in school while records are obtained.
• Districts (liaisons) must assist the family in
  obtaining immunizations, immunization records, or
  medical records. In the meantime, the student
  must be enrolled and attending classes.

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Research on School Mobility

• Students who switch schools frequently score
  lower on standardized tests.
• 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.
• 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.

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TransportationKey Provisions

• LEAs must offer students experiencing
  homelessness with transportation to and from
  their school of origin
• If the students temporary residence and the
  school of origin are in the same LEA, that LEA
  must provide or arrange transportation if the
  student is living outside of the school of
  origins LEA, the LEA where the student is living
  and the school of origins LEA must determine how
  to divide the responsibility and share the cost,
  or they must share the cost equally

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Transportation Strategies

• Re-route school buses (including special
  education)
• Provide passes for public transportation
• Reimburse parents or unaccompanied youth for gas
• Collaborate with the parent for the best mode of
  transportation at the most economical rate
• Use approved taxi services

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Resolution of DisputesKey Provisions

• Every state and public school district must
  establish dispute resolution procedures
• When a dispute over enrollment arises, the
  student must be admitted immediately to the
  school of choice while the dispute is being
  resolved (includes unaccompanied youth)

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Unaccompanied Youth

• Revise LEA policies to accommodate unaccompanied
  youth and comply with the McKinney-Vento Act
• Revise enrollment forms
• Provide opportunity to enroll in diversified
  learning opportunities
• Provide a safe place and trained mentor at
  school for unaccompanied youth to access as
  needed
• Permit exceptions to school policies
• Assist with credit accrual and recovery

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Preschool-Aged Children

• Liaisons must ensure that families and children
  have access to Head Start, Even Start, and other
  public preschool programs (Title-I) administered
  by the LEA
• The McKinney-Vento Act also applies to Head Start
  with the 2007 reauthorization of the Head Start
  Act (Exemptions transportation to school of
  origin and immediate enrollment)
• Coordinate with IDEA (Individuals with
  Disabilities Education Act) Child Find
• Ask parents enrolling school-aged children if
  there are any preschool children

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McKinney-VentoHomeless Assistance Act

• Main themes
• Eligibility
• Homeless Liaisons
• Identification
• School stability
• School access/equal access
• Support for academic success
• Child-centered, best interest decision making

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Access to Services

• Students who experience homelessness must have
  access to educational services for which they are
  eligible
• Undocumented children and youth have the same
  right to attend public school as U.S. citizens
  and are covered by the McKinney-Vento Act to the
  same extent as other children and youth (Plyler
  v. Doe)
• USDA policy permits liaisons and shelter
• directors to obtain free school meals for
• students by providing a list of names of
• students experiencing homelessness
• with effective dates

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McKinney-VentoHomeless Assistance Act

• Main themes
• Eligibility
• Homeless Liaisons
• Identification
• School stability
• School access/equal access
• Support for academic success
• Child-centered, best interest decision making

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Title I and HomelessnessKey Provisions

• A child or youth who is homeless and is attending
  any school in the district is automatically
  eligible for Title I A services
• LEAs must reserve (or set aside) funds as are
  necessary to provide services comparable to those
  provided to children in Title I A schools to
  serve homeless children who do not attend
  participating schools, including providing
  educational support services to children in
  shelters and other locations where homeless
  children may live
• Title I can provide academic supports such as
  reading assistance, tutoring, etc.

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Subgrants - Wisconsin

• Services provided with McKinney-Vento grant funds
  must not replace the regular academic program and
  must be designed to expand upon or improve
  services provided as part of the schools regular
  academic program

• Appleton
• Ashwaubenon
• Green Bay
• Hayward
• Wisconsin Rapids
• Madison
• Milwaukee
• Platteville
• Superior
• Racine
• Tomah
• Kenosha
• Eau Claire
• Middleton-Cross Plaines
• Janesville
• West Allis

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Helpful Resources (Bibliography)

• National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty
  (NLCHP) 202-638-2535 http//www.nlchp.org
• National Association for the Education of
  Homeless Children and Youth (NAEHCY)
  
  202-364-7392 http//www.naehcy.org
• National Center for Homeless Education (NCHE)
  800-308-2145 http//serve.org/nche
• Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction,
  Education of Homeless Children and Youth Program,
  Lara Kain, 608-267-7338 http//dpi.wi.gov/homeles
  s/
• Appleton Area School District, Homeless Education
  Program Coordinator, Kendra Vandertie,
  920-997-1399 x3006