MCKINNEY-VENTO
ANNUAL TRAINING
&
HOMELESS LIAISON
TRAINING
NW Michigan Students in Transition Empowerment
Program
October 28th, 2015
Introduce yourself!
Most of us wear many HATS!
Name;
District & County;
Other Hat(s);
Years as a Liaison
Why does this matter?
• SCHOOL STABILITY
• REMOVE BARRIERS
• FULL PARTICIPATION
Determining Eligibility
• Fixed: Stationary, permanent, and not
subject to change
• Regular: Used on a predictable, routine, or
consistent basis (e.g., nightly); consider
the relative permanence
• Adequate: Sufficient for meeting both the
physical and psychological needs typically
met in home environments
Consider: Can the student go to the SAME
PLACE (fixed) EVERY NIGHT (regular) to
sleep in a SAFE AND SUFFICIENT
SPACE (adequate)?
Who Qualifies?
• Children or youth who lack a fixed, regular,
and adequate nighttime residence, including:
• Sharing the housing of other persons due to loss of
housing, economic hardship, or similar reason
(“doubling up”)
• Living in motels, hotels, trailer parks, camping
grounds due to the lack of adequate alternative
accommodations
• Living in emergency or transitional shelters
• Abandoned in hospitals
Who Qualifies?
• 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 a
similar setting
• Migratory children living in the above
circumstances
• Unaccompanied youth living in the above
circumstances
DOUBLED-UP!!
•What makes someone Doubled-up?
How do you identify an
Unaccompanied Youth?
• An unaccompanied youth’s living arrangement
must meet the Act’s definition of homeless
for him/her to qualify for McKinney-Vento
services
• The McKinney-Vento Act defines
unaccompanied youth as a youth “not in the
physical custody of a parent or guardian”
• Local liaisons must support unaccompanied
youth in school selection and dispute
resolution processes
MEET DAVID…
BREAK:15 minutes
Unaccompanied Youth
• “Age limits”
 Lower: There is no lower age limit for
unaccompanied youth
 Upper: The upper age limit (as with
all McKinney-Vento eligible students)
is your state’s upper age limit for
public education
• A youth can be eligible regardless of
whether he/she was asked to leave the
home or “chose” to leave; sometimes there
is “more than meets the eye” for youth’s
home life situations
• A child in foster care is NOT considered
Unaccompanied.
MEET CATHY…
Unaccompanied Homeless
Youth
FAFSA Letter…
Fostering Connections
• Susie Greenfelder, Education Planner
-Department of Health and Human
Services (DHHS)
• Collaboration for Fostering Connections
• DHHS and Private Agencies: Bethany Christian Services;
Child and Family Services; Holy Cross WITH NW MI STEP
• Emphasis on school stability and continuity for highly mobile
students.
REMINDER: EVALUATION
Lunch time…
School Selection
School of Origin
vs.
Local Attendance Area School
• Students experiencing homelessness have the right
to attend one of two schools:
• Local Attendance Area School
• Any public school that students living in the
same attendance area are eligible to attend
• School of Origin
• The school attended when permanently housed; or
• The school in which the student was last
enrolled
• Reference NCHE’s Transporting Children and Youth
Experiencing Homelessness brief
• Checklist
Transportation
• Districts must transport homeless students to
and from the school of origin, at a parent’s or
guardian’s request (or at the local liaison’s
request for unaccompanied youth)
• If the student’s temporary residence and the
school of origin are in the same district, that
district must arrange transportation
• If the student is living outside the district
of origin, the district where the student is
living and the district of origin must
determine how to divide the responsibility and
cost, or they must share the responsibility and
cost equally
• Districts must provide students in homeless
situations with transportation services
comparable to those provided to other students
• Districts can consider other safe
transportation options beyond the school bus
Challenging Scenarios Activity…
Self-Assessment-Following up
You will probably be audited
within the next two years….Ways
to avoid “red flagging” your
district…
1. Identify and
serve
2. Report into
MOISD
3. Keep student
records
4. Be sure you have
procedures in
place
5. Contact me for
technical
support
BREAK: 15 minutes
REMINDER: EVALUATION
$$
FUNDS and Reimbursement
-APPROX. $4000.00
-REQUIRED DOCUMENTS
-PROCEDURE
-FIRST-COME FIRST-SERVE
2014 USED Guidance/Clarifications
Title I, Part A and McKinney-Vento
Clarifying existing requirements:
Serving Homeless Children and Youth Under Title I, Part A
 Coordination is required between MV and Title I, Part A (Sections
1111(a)(1), 1112(a)(1), 1112(b)(1)(E)(ii) of ESEA) .
 Homeless children and youth are eligible to be served in Title I,
Part A schools (Sections 1114 and 1115(b)(2)(E) of ESEA) .
o Homeless children and youth are eligible for Title I, Part A services regardless
of whether they attend a Title I school (Section 1113(c)(3)(A) of ESEA).
o Section 1113(c)(3)(A) requires a local educational agency with non-Title I
schools to reserve the necessary Title I funds to provide comparable Title I
services to homeless children in non-Title
I schools.
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2014 USED Guidance/Clarifications
Title I, Part A and McKinney-Vento
Clarifying existing requirements:
An LEA may also use Title I, Part A funds to provide:
 Educationally related services to homeless children and youth in
shelters and other locations where they may live.
 Services that may not ordinarily be provided to other Title I
students. For example:
o Items of clothing, particularly if necessary to meet a school’s dress or
uniform requirement
o Clothing and shoes necessary to participate in physical education
classes
o Additional examples in MDE 2014 Q & A Guidance
o See USED Guidance from ARRA, 2009 for complete list
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2014 USED Guidance/Clarifications
Title I, Part A and McKinney-Vento
Clarifying new authority:
Serving Homeless Children and Youth Under Title I, Part A
 LEAs may use Title I-A funds to pay up to 100% of the salary
of a Homeless Education Liaison
 LEAs may use Title I-A funds to provide transportation for
homeless students to the school of origin
o Under the MV Act, such transportation is a DISTRICT REPONSIBILITY*
o Allowable transportation costs for Title I-A are “incremental” costs (MV
Guidance refers to these as “excess” costs)
o Examples of allowable transportation costs for Title I-A funds –

Prepaid gas cards for parents/youth or others authorized to transport student to school
 Taxi fare paid for student transportation UNTIL School or Origin & School of Residence can work
out a bussing arrangement (“Stop-Gap” transportation)
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 Bus passes/tokens/tickets for high school youth to get to/from school
*Neither MV nor Title I may supplant by
providing this service with grant funds.
MOISD
Updates and New Capabilities
1. To enter students served go to
www.tinyurl.com/homelessdata
2. To Edit and get list of your students go to
www.moisd.org/admin/logon
 Use log-in and Password
Edit student report
Export Data (list of your students to compare to
PowerSchool)
Community Resources available to YOU!
It takes a village….
• Women’s Resource Center Doula Program
• Third Level Crisis/Child and Family Services
• True North Energy Assistance-Diane Wemlinger
• Northwest Community Action Agency
• Goodwill Industries
• Local agencies and churches
• Local Collaboratives
Q&A
Thank you for all the work you do!
REMINDER: EVALUATION
Evaluation sheet in your folder. Feedback is
WELCOMED!
Contacts
Abby Jordan, Grant Coordinator and District Liaison
Traverse City Area Public Schools
jordanab@tcaps.net 231-933-8991
www.tcaps.net/step
Susie Greenfelder, NW Region Education Planner
Department of Health and Human Services
greenfelders@michigan.gov 231-735-3279
MV Liaison Resources
 National Center on Homeless Education (NCHE)
 National Association for the Education of Homeless
Children and Youth (NAEHCY)
 MDE’s Homeless Education Program
 Michigan’s Campaign to End Homelessness
 Michigan Coalition Against Homelessness
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