Title I and Homeless Education: A Winning Team

1. Title I and Homeless Education: A Winning Team Lynda Thistle Elliott, Ed.D. State Coordinator/Homeless Education

2. The McKinney Vento Act Who Is Homeless? Students who lack a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence • Living in shelters, hotels, motels, camping grounds • Living in cars, parks, public spaces, abandoned buildings • Sharing housing (doubled up) due to loss of housing or economic hardship • Awaiting foster care placement • Migratory children who qualify as homeless • Unaccompanied youth living in the situations above

3. Educational rights Guaranteed by McKinney-Vento Act • Immediate enrollment and full participation in classes • Enrollment without documents normally required • Attendance in the school of origin • Transportation to the school of origin • Comparable services • Attending school with non-homeless children and youth

4. How are these rights enacted? • Local liaison in every school district • McKinney-Vento is part of NCLB • Title I serves at-risk students (homeless automatically included) • Collaboration among school programs • Collaboration among community agencies and resources

5. Title I and HomelessnessKey Provisions • A child or youth who is homeless and attending any school in the district is automatically eligible for Title IA services. • Districts must reserve or set-aside Title l funds to provide comparable services to homeless students • Attending non-Title I schools in the district and; • In grade levels not served by T1.

6. Title I and Homelessness cont. • A state must include in its Title I plan a description of how the plan is coordinated with the McKinney-Vento Act • An LEA Title I application must include a description of how it is coordinated with the McKinney-Vento Act. • School wide programs must do a needs assessment and address the needs of all students in the school. • Targeted Assistance Schools must provide services to children who have the greatest need for special assistance—NCLB specifically lists homeless children as being eligible. • Collaboration with the local homeless education liaison is an integral part of coordination with the McKinney-Vento Act.

7. Title I Set Aside Funds • An LEA must reserve funds for homeless children may provide support services to children in shelters and other locations where homeless children live. • An LEA may use reserved funds to provide services to eligible homeless students in both Title I and non-Title I schools that are comparable to those for non-homeless students in Title I schools. • An LEA may use reserved funds to provide a homeless student with services that are not available from other sources and or not ordinarily provided by Title I.

8. How are set aside amounts determined? • 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 IA per pupil allocation. • For districts with subgrants, reserve an amount greater than or equal to the MV funding request. • Reserve a percentage based on the district’s poverty level or total Title IA allocation.

9. Resources • National Center for Homeless Education, http://www.serve.org/nche • National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty, http://nlchp.org • NH Dept. of Education, http://www.ed.state.nh.us