Transcript Slide 1

Education Services for
Homeless Children
and Youth
National Alliance to End
Homelessness Conference
July 19, 2006
Joy Moses
Children & Youth Staff Attorney
National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty
1411 K Street, NW, Suite 1400, Washington DC 20005
Phone: 202-638-2535
E-Mail: [email protected]
Web: www.nlchp.org
Education Services for
Homeless Children
And Youth
Outline
• Challenges Associated with Child
Homelessness
• Federal Programs That Address Challenges
• McKinney-Vento, School Meals, Special
Education, Title I
•Strategies Designed to Help
• Helpful Resources
General Challenges Associated
With Child Homelessness
• Poor Health
– More like to suffer from illnesses such as asthma, ear infections,
fevers, and stomach problems
• Poor Nutrition/Hunger
– Suffer from hunger more than twice as often as non-homeless
children
• Fatigue
– Often loose sleep due to crowded living conditions and stress
• Stress/Trauma
– Loss of the familiar (housing, friends, etc.) and constant worries about
whether they will have a place to stay
– Higher likelihood of witnessing violence, including domestic violence
School-Related Challenges
• Frequent school transfers as a result of
frequent residential moves
• Enrollment requirements (residency, school
records, immunizations, legal guardianship)
• Lack of access to programs
• Lack of transportation
• Lack of school supplies, clothing, etc.
More Problems Related to
Frequent School Transfers
Students suffer academically, psychologically, and
socially from school mobility:
• It takes children 4-6 months to academically recover from
each school transfer.
• Students who switch schools frequently score lower on
standardized tests (study found mobile students scored 20
points lower than non-mobile students).
• Stress associated with making new friends and adjusting to
new environments:
– less likely to participate in extracurricular activities
– more likely to act out or get into trouble
Federal Programs That Address
Challenges of Child Homelessness
• McKinney-Vento
• Child Nutrition/Free School Meals
• Special Education (Individuals with Disabilities
Education Act)
• Title I
McKinney-Vento—Who
Qualifies
Children who lack a fixed, regular, and adequate
nighttime residence—
– Sharing the housing of others due to a loss of housing,
economic hardship, or similar reason
– Living in motels, hotels, trailer parks, or camping grounds
due to a lack of alternative accommodations
– Living in emergency or transitional shelters
– Awaiting foster care placement
– Living in a public or private place not designed for sleeping
– Living in cars, parks, abandoned buildings, bus or train
stations, etc
McKinney-Vento—
Highlights
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Dedicated Education Personnel
Promotes School Stability
Simplifies Enrollment
Appropriate Support Services
Dispute Resolution
McKinney-Vento—
Dedicated Personnel
• State Coordinator of Homeless Education—each
state has a coordinator of state-level activities that
include ensuring school district compliance, collecting
data on educational barriers, and providing trainings
and technical assistance.
• Local Homeless Liaison—each school district must
appoint a liaison to ensure identification, enrollment,
access to services, and resolution of disputes.
McKinney-Vento and
School Stability
• Allows students to maintain “schools of origin”—schools
attended when permanently housed or in which last
enrolled.
• Students can remain in a school of origin the entire time
they are homeless, and until the end of any academic year
in which they move into permanent housing.
• Best interest—keep students who are homeless in their
school of origin, to the extent feasible, unless against the
parents’ or guardians’ wishes.
• LEAs must provide homeless students with
transportation to and from their schools of origin.
McKinney-Vento and New
School Enrollments
• Homeless children and youth have the right to enroll in
school immediately, even if they do not have required
documents (e.g., school records, medical records, proof of
residency, or other documents).
– “Enroll” means attending classes/participating in activities.
• 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.
McKinney-Vento—
Appropriate Support Services
• Equal Access to Mainstream Services
– Homeless students must have equal access to school
services, including nutrition programs, special education,
Title I, ELL, gifted and talented, etc.
• Specialized Homeless Program Services
– School district homeless programs often offer special
services such as tutoring, mentoring, or free backpacks
and school supplies.
McKinney-Vento—Dispute
Resolution
• Every state must establish dispute resolution
procedures.
• When a dispute over enrollment arises, the student
must be immediately admitted to the school of
choice while the dispute is being resolved.
• The parent, guardian, or youth must be provided with
a written explanation of the school’s decision,
including the right to appeal.
• Liaisons must carry out the process as expeditiously
as possible.
Child Nutrition Program—
Free School Meals
• Homeless students are automatically eligible for
free school lunches—they are excused from the
application process.
• USDA has limited the documentation
requirement to the student’s name, effective date
to receive meals, and the signature of a homeless
liaison or service provider.
Special Education
• The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)
enables students with disabilities to receive special
education services (e.g. speech therapy, psychological
counseling) that cater to their individual needs.
• This legislation is vital to homeless students who are at
higher risk for developmental delays, speech problems, and
learning disabilities.
• IDEA includes provisions that account for children who
are highly mobile, decreasing the likelihood that school
transfers will result in delays in the provision of necessary
services.
Title I of No Child Left
Behind
• Largest federal program designed to promote
academic achievement amongst low income
students.
• Homeless students are automatically eligible
for the program—must receive services even
if they are not attending schools that receive
Title I dollars.
• Title I can provide academic supports such as
reading assistance, tutoring, etc.
An Important Alternative—
Permanent Housing
McKinney-Vento and other education programs
can help address child homelessness
concerns—permanent housing is the best way
to eliminate challenges and reduce need for
support services. Good goals include:
– Preventing the loss of housing
– Employing Housing First Strategies When
Appropriate
Strategies to Help Students
With Education Needs
• Develop relationships with school district homeless
liaisons—share ideas about student needs and appropriate
programming; refer families to liaisons for education
assistance.
• Develop relationships with education advocates—e.g. local
legal service providers, special education parent information
centers.
• Provide rights information in shelters and other places
frequented by homeless families—e.g. posters, fact sheets,
booklets provided by the U.S. Department of Education, the
National Center for Homeless Education, National Law
Center on Homelessness & Poverty.
Strategies to Help Students
With Education Needs
• Reevaluate shelter and other homeless program
policies that hinder school stability or the ability to
remain in school of origin.
• Provide quiet places for students to study.
• Work with school districts and community groups to
provide tutoring and academic supports in shelters
and other appropriate locations.
• Encourage families to maintain school stability when
they exit programs—provide rights information.
Helpful Resources
• National Law Center on Homelessness & 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
1-800-308-2145
http://www.serve.org/nche
• National Network for Youth
202-783-7949
http://www.nn4youth.org
Helpful Resources, ctd.
NAEHCY 18th Annual Conference
Little Rock, Arkansas
November 11-14, 2006
www.naehcy.org
In Their Own Words . . .
“…Through it all, school is probably the only
thing that has kept me going. I know that
every day that I walk in those doors, I can
stop thinking about my problems for the next
six hours and concentrate on what is most
important to me. Without the support of my
school system, I would not be as well off as I
am today. School keeps me motivated to move
on, and encourages me to find a better life
for myself.”
Carrie Arnold, LeTendre Scholar, 2002