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
How many children and youth
experience homelessness?
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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)
NCHE • www.serve.org/nche • NAEHCY • www.naehcy.org • NLCHP • www.nlchp.org
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Causes of Homelessness
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Lack of affordable housing
Poverty
Health problems
Domestic violence
Natural and other disasters
Abuse/neglect/abandonment
(unaccompanied youth)
NCHE • www.serve.org/nche • NAEHCY • www.naehcy.org • NLCHP • www.nlchp.org
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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
NCHE • www.serve.org/nche • NAEHCY • www.naehcy.org • NLCHP • www.nlchp.org
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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
NCHE • www.serve.org/nche • NAEHCY • www.naehcy.org • NLCHP • www.nlchp.org
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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]
NCHE • www.serve.org/nche • NAEHCY • www.naehcy.org • NLCHP • www.nlchp.org
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Eligibility—
Who is Covered? (cont.)
• 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
NCHE • www.serve.org/nche • NAEHCY • www.naehcy.org • NLCHP • www.nlchp.org
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Determining Eligibility
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
NCHE • www.serve.org/nche • NAEHCY • www.naehcy.org • NLCHP • www.nlchp.org
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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.
NCHE • www.serve.org/nche • NAEHCY • www.naehcy.org • NLCHP • www.nlchp.org
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Identification Strategies (cont.)
• 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.
NCHE • www.serve.org/nche • NAEHCY • www.naehcy.org • NLCHP • www.nlchp.org
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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).
NCHE • www.serve.org/nche • NAEHCY • www.naehcy.org • NLCHP • www.nlchp.org
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Feasibility—
USDE Sample Criteria
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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
NCHE • www.serve.org/nche • NAEHCY • www.naehcy.org • NLCHP • www.nlchp.org
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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.
NCHE • www.serve.org/nche • NAEHCY • www.naehcy.org • NLCHP • www.nlchp.org
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Research on
School Mobility (cont.)
• 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.
NCHE • www.serve.org/nche • NAEHCY • www.naehcy.org • NLCHP • www.nlchp.org
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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.
NCHE • www.serve.org/nche • NAEHCY • www.naehcy.org • NLCHP • www.nlchp.org
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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).
NCHE • www.serve.org/nche • NAEHCY • www.naehcy.org • NLCHP • www.nlchp.org
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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.
NCHE • www.serve.org/nche • NAEHCY • www.naehcy.org • NLCHP • www.nlchp.org
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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.
NCHE • www.serve.org/nche • NAEHCY • www.naehcy.org • NLCHP • www.nlchp.org
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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.
NCHE • www.serve.org/nche • NAEHCY • www.naehcy.org • NLCHP • www.nlchp.org
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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.
NCHE • www.serve.org/nche • NAEHCY • www.naehcy.org • NLCHP • www.nlchp.org
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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)
NCHE • www.serve.org/nche • NAEHCY • www.naehcy.org • NLCHP • www.nlchp.org
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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.
NCHE • www.serve.org/nche • NAEHCY • www.naehcy.org • NLCHP • www.nlchp.org
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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.
NCHE • www.serve.org/nche • NAEHCY • www.naehcy.org • NLCHP • www.nlchp.org
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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; 2540% of youth who emancipate from foster care
will end up homeless.
NCHE • www.serve.org/nche • NAEHCY • www.naehcy.org • NLCHP • www.nlchp.org
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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.
NCHE • www.serve.org/nche • NAEHCY • www.naehcy.org • NLCHP • www.nlchp.org
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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
NCHE • www.serve.org/nche • NAEHCY • www.naehcy.org • NLCHP • www.nlchp.org
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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.
NCHE • www.serve.org/nche • NAEHCY • www.naehcy.org • NLCHP • www.nlchp.org
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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).
NCHE • www.serve.org/nche • NAEHCY • www.naehcy.org • NLCHP • www.nlchp.org
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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.
NCHE • www.serve.org/nche • NAEHCY • www.naehcy.org • NLCHP • www.nlchp.org
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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.
NCHE • www.serve.org/nche • NAEHCY • www.naehcy.org • NLCHP • www.nlchp.org
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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
NCHE • www.serve.org/nche • NAEHCY • www.naehcy.org • NLCHP • www.nlchp.org
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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
NCHE • www.serve.org/nche • NAEHCY • www.naehcy.org • NLCHP • www.nlchp.org
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Resources
National Association for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth
http://www.naehcy.org
National Center on Homeless Education
http://www.serve.org/nche
National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty
http://www.nlchp.org
National Network for Youth
http://www.nn4youth.org
NCHE • www.serve.org/nche • NAEHCY • www.naehcy.org • NLCHP • www.nlchp.org
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Contact Information
Barbara Duffield, Policy Director
National Association for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth
Website: www.naehcy.org
Phone: 202.364.7392
bduffield@naehcy.org
Eric Tars, Human Rights Staff Attorney
National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty
Website: www.nlchp.org
Phone: 202.638.2535, ext. 211
etars@nlchp.org
NCHE • www.serve.org/nche • NAEHCY • www.naehcy.org • NLCHP • www.nlchp.org
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