mv 101 for seattle public schools

McKinney-Vento 101:

Law and Implementation

Barbara Duffield, Policy Director

National Association for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth

Eric Tars, Human Rights Staff Attorney

National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty

NCHE • www.serve.org/nche • NAEHCY • www.naehcy.org • NLCHP • www.nlchp.org 2

How many children and youth

experience homelessness?

• 1.35 million children nationwide

• 10% of all children living in poverty

• 1.6-1.7 million youth run away each year

• Over 40% of all children who are

homeless are under the age of 5

• 679,724 enrolled in public schools in the

2006-07 school year

(includes preschool children)


Causes of Homelessness

• Lack of affordable housing

• Poverty

• Health problems

• Domestic violence

• Natural and other disasters

• Abuse/neglect/abandonment

(unaccompanied youth)


Barriers to Education for

Homeless Children and Youth

• 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


McKinney-Vento

Homeless Assistance Act

• Reauthorized 2002 by NCLB

• Main themes:

• School stability

• School access

• Support for academic success

• Child-centered, best interest decision making


Eligibility—Who is Covered?

• Children who lack a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence—

• Sharing the housing of others due to loss of housing, economic hardship, or similar reason

[61% of identified students in 2006-2007 school year]

• Living in motels, hotels, trailer parks, camping grounds due to lack of adequate alternative accommodations[Motels: 7% of identified students in 2006-2007 school year]

• Living in emergency or transitional shelters[24% of identified students in 2006-2007 school year]


• Awaiting foster care placement (not defined in law; state and local interpretations vary)

• 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

• Migratory children living in above circumstances

Eligibility—

Who is Covered? (cont.)


Eligibility

• Case-by-case determination

• Get as much information as possible (without

intimidating the parent or youth)

• Look at the MV definition (specific examples in

the definition first, then overall definition)

NCHE’s Determining Eligibility brief is available at

http://www.serve.org/nche/downloads/briefs/det_elig.pdf

Determining Eligibility

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

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

Local Homeless

Education Liaisons (cont.)

• Inform parents, guardians, or youth of educational and parent involvement opportunities

• Post public notice of educational rights

• Resolve disputes

• Inform parents, guardians, or youth of transportation services, including to the school of origin

• Collaborate and coordinate with community and

school personnel


Identification Strategies

• Provide awareness activities for school staff (registrars, secretaries, counselors, nurses, teachers, tutors, drop out prevention specialists, administrators, etc.).

• Coordinate with community service agencies, such as shelters, soup kitchens, public assistance and housing agencies, 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, libraries, youth centers.


• Make special efforts to identify preschool children, including asking about the siblings of school-aged children.

• Develop relationships with truancy officials and/or other attendance officers.

• Use enrollment and withdrawal forms to inquire about living situations.

• Enlist youth to spread the word.

• Avoid using the word "homeless" in initial contacts with school personnel, families, or youth.

Identification Strategies (cont.)


School Stability—

Key Provisions

• Students can stay in their school of origin for the duration of homeless and until the end of the school year when they find permanent housing, as long as that is in their best interest.

• School of origin—school attended when permanently housed or in which last enrolled.

• Best interest—keep homeless students in their schools of origin, to the extent “feasible”, unless this is against the parents’ or guardians’ wishes.

• Can always also choose the local school (any school others living in the same area are eligible to attend).


Feasibility—

USDE Sample Criteria

• A child-centered, individualized determination

• Continuity of instruction

• Age of the child or youth

• Safety of the child or youth

• Likely length of stay in temporary housing

• 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

NCHE Brief - Guiding the Discussion on School Selection: http://www.serve.org/nche/downloads/briefs/sch_sel_checklist.pdf


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.

• Demonstration project in WA showed that school stability for homeless students increases assessment scores and grades.

• 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.


• 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.

• It takes children an average of 4-6 months to recover academically after changing schools.

Research on

School Mobility (cont.)


Transportation—Key Provisions

• LEAs must provide transportation to and from their

school of origin, at a parent’s or guardian’s request

(or at the liaison’s request for unaccompanied

youth).

• If crossing LEA lines, they must determine how to

divide the responsibility and share the cost, or they

must share the cost equally.


Transportation—Key Provisions

• LEAs also must provide students in homeless situations with transportation services comparable to those provided to other students.

• LEAs must eliminate barriers to the school enrollment and retention of students experiencing homelessness (including transportation barriers).


Transportation Strategies

• Develop close ties among local liaisons, school staff, pupil transportation staff, and shelter workers.

• Use school buses (including special education, magnet school and other buses).

• Develop formal or informal agreements with school districts where homeless children cross district lines.

• Use public transit where feasible.

• Use approved carpools, van or taxi services.

• Reimburse parents and youth for gas.


Enrollment—Key Provisions

• If remaining in the school of origin is not feasible,

children and youth in homeless situations are

entitled to immediate enrollment in any public

school that students living in the same

attendance area are eligible to attend.

• The terms “enroll” and “enrollment” include

attending classes and participating fully in

school activities.


Enrollment—

Key Provisions (cont.)

• Enrollment must be immediate, even if students

do not have required documents, such as school

records, health records, proof of residency or

guardianship, or other documents.

• If a student does not have immunizations, or

immunization or medical records, the liaison

must immediately assist in obtaining them, and

the student must be enrolled in the interim.


Enrollment—

Key Provisions (cont.)

• Enrolling schools must obtain school records

from the previous school, and students must be

enrolled in school while records are obtained.

• Schools must maintain records for students who

are homeless so they are available quickly.

• SEAs and LEAs must develop, review, and

revise policies to remove barriers to the

enrollment and retention of children and youth in

homeless situations.

Immediate Enrollment—

Strategies

• Request all records from the previous school immediately, including immunization records.

• Parental signature is not required for transfer students (FERPA).

• The vast majority of students have been enrolled in school before and have received immunizations.

• Speak with parents and youth about the classes the student was in, previous coursework, and special needs.

• Call the counselor, teachers or principal at the previous school for information.

• Use the NCHE brief “Prompt and Proper Placement.” (http://www.serve.org/nche/downloads/briefs/assessment.pdf)



Resolution of Disputes—

Key Provisions

• Every state 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.

• The parent or guardian must be provided with a written explanation of the school’s decision, including the right to appeal.

• The school must refer the child, youth, parent, or guardian to the liaison to carry out the dispute resolution process as expeditiously as possible.


Unaccompanied Youth--

Who Are They?

• Definition: child or youth who meets the

definition of homeless and is not in the physical

custody of a parent or guardian.

• Studies have found that 20 to 50 percent of

unaccompanied youth were sexually abused in

their homes, while 40 to 60 percent were

physically abused.

• Over two-thirds of callers to Runaway Hotline

report that at least one of their parents abuses

drugs or alcohol.


Unaccompanied Youth--

Who Are They? (cont.)

• 20-40% of homeless youth identify as gay,

lesbian, bisexual, or transgender (compared to

3-5% of the overall population).

• At the end of 2005, over 11,000 children fled a foster care placement and were never found; 25-40% of youth who emancipate from foster care will end up homeless.


Unaccompanied Youth—

Key Provisions

• Liaisons must help unaccompanied youth

choose and enroll in a school, after

considering the youth’s wishes, and inform

the youth of his or her appeal rights

• School personnel must be made aware of

the specific needs of runaway and

homeless youth.

Unaccompanied Youth and

Higher Education

• As of 2009-2010 FAFSA, unaccompanied youth

applying for federal financial aid are considered

“independent students” and do not need

parental signature/income information

• A liaison, shelter director or financial aid

administrator must verify their status.

• Youth who are homeless, unaccompanied youth

OR self-supporting and at-risk of homelessness

also can qualify.

• TRIO, GEAR-UP programs must make services

available to homeless youth



Unaccompanied Youth—

Strategies

• Develop clear policies for enrolling unaccompanied youth immediately, whether youth enroll themselves, liaisons do enrollment, caretakers enroll youth in their care, or another procedure is in place.

• Train local liaisons and all school enrollment staff, secretaries, counselors, principals, security staff, attendance officers, and teachers on the definition, rights, and needs of unaccompanied youth.

• Coordinate with youth-serving agencies, such as shelters, soup kitchens, drop-in centers, street outreach, child welfare, juvenile courts, law enforcement, legal aid, teen parent programs, public assistance, gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgender youth organizations, mental health agencies.

Young Children and

Homelessness

• Compared to the non-homeless children served by Head Start, children experiencing homelessness were reported to• Have greater developmental delays,

• To be more likely to have learning disabilities and developmental delays, and

• To exhibit a higher frequency of socio-emotional problems.

• Only 15% of homeless preschool children are enrolled in preschool programs

Preschool-Aged Children

• Liaisons must ensure that families and children have access to Head Start, Even Start, and other public preschool programs administered by the LEA

• State plans must describe procedures that ensure that homeless children have access to public preschool programs

• Homeless children are categorically eligible for Head Start programs

• Head Start programs are required to identify and prioritize homeless children for enrollment; allow homeless children to enroll while required paperwork is obtained; and coordinate with LEA liaisons

• OHS Information: http://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov

Strategies for Accessing

Public Preschool

•Identify the existing public school programs within your district, i.e. classrooms for 3, 4 and 5 year olds, Special education programs, other federally funded projects and community/district collaborations

•Advocate for slots for homeless children within existing public school programs

•Connect with public school key early childhood and elementary staff to build relationships, share data, create awareness and understanding of the impact of homelessness on young children for future partnerships

Strategies for Accessing

Public Preschool

•Include homelessness in the list of criteria for priority enrollment, classify homelessness as an “at risk” factor, and/or include homelessness specifically as a criterion for "most in need.”

•Set up meetings with community service agencies to begin to develop a relationship on issues such as available preschool programs in the community, recruiting families experiencing homelessness into preschool programs, the enrollment process, transportation, and other services.


Access to Services

• Students who experience homelessness must have access to educational services for which they are eligible, including special education, programs for English learners, gifted and talented programs, voc./tech. programs, and school nutrition programs.

• 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).


Access to Services (cont.)

• Homeless students are automatically eligible for free school meals.

• USDA policy permits liaisons and shelter directors to obtain free school meals for students immediately by providing a list of names of students experiencing homelessness with effective dates.

• The 2004 reauthorization of IDEA includes amendments that reinforce timely assessment, inclusion, and continuity of services for homeless children and youth who have disabilities.


Title I and Homelessness—

Key Provisions

• A child or youth who is homeless is automatically eligible for Title I, Part A services, regardless of whether his or her school is a Title IA school.

• LEAs must reserve (or set aside) the funds necessary to serve homeless children who do not attend Title I, Part A schools.

• Services must be “comparable” to those provided to children in Title I, Part A schools, but can be different from services ordinarily provided with Title I, Part A funds.


Strategies for Determining the

Title I Set-Aside Amount

• Review needs and costs involved in serving homeless students in the current year and project for the following year

• Multiply the number of homeless students by the Title I, Part A per pupil allocation

• For districts with subgrants, reserve an amount greater than or equal to the McKinney-Vento subgrant funding request

• Reserve a percentage based on the district’s poverty level or total Title I, Part A allocation


Why It Matters

“I have lived in many homes and shelters. Just in this past year, I have lived in twelve different homes. I have lived with classmates, teachers, friends, and strangers. Anybody who would accept me was better than the street. I knew that education and God were the only ways to get out of this cycle. I stayed in school and made good grades because I knew with an education I could go far. I have always dreamed of being free. I want the freedom to know where I am going to sleep, the freedom to know where my belongings are, and the freedom to know that I won’t be asked to leave in the morning or at the end of the week”

Naomi Caren Fairbanks - 2007 LeTendre Scholarship Recipient, 2008 College Student


Resources


http://www.naehcy.org

National Center on Homeless Education

http://www.serve.org/nche


http://www.nlchp.org

National Network for Youth

http://www.nn4youth.org


Contact Information

Barbara Duffield, Policy Director


Website: www.naehcy.org

Phone: 202.364.7392

[email protected]

Eric Tars, Human Rights Staff Attorney


Website: www.nlchp.org

Phone: 202.638.2535, ext. 211

[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.nlchp.org

mailto:[email protected]

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