McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act

Contact

Jennifer Gonzalez-Morales, MSW
Manager of McKinney-Vento Student Services
Send Jennifer Gonzalez-Morales an Email
(413) 512-5308

The McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (McKinney-Vento Program) ensures that each child and unaccompanied youth experiencing housing instability have equal access to the same free and appropriate public education as provided to other children and youth, including public preschool education.

The McKinney-Vento Act protects the educational rights of children or unaccompanied youth experiencing housing instability, such as

  1. Children living with friends or relatives due to loss of housing, economic hardship, or similar reasons.

  2. Children living in motels, hotels, trailer parks, or campgrounds due to lack of alternative adequate accommodations.

  3. Children living in shelters.

  4. Children living in cars, parks, public spaces, abandoned buildings, substandard housing, bus or train stations, or similar settings.

  5. Children of migrant workers

Homelessness alone is not sufficient reason to separate students from the mainstream school environment.

Children and youth experiencing housing instability should have access to the education and other services that such children and youth need to ensure they have an opportunity to meet the same challenging State student academic achievement standards to which all students are held.

If you have to move out of your home and have no permanent place to live, federal laws allow you to keep your child in the school of origin at no cost to you. If your children and family have experienced or are experiencing a loss of housing please contact the Manager of McKinney-Vento Student Services for information at 413-534-2000 option 1.

Definition

The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education adopted Section 725(2) of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Education Assistance Act regarding the definition of homeless children and youth. Homeless children and youth are defined as individuals who lack a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence and include children and youth living in the following situations:

  1. children and youths who are sharing the housing of other persons due to loss of housing, economic hardship, or a similar reason; are living in motels, hotels, trailer parks, or camping grounds due to the lack of alternative adequate accommodations; are living in emergency or transitional shelters; are abandoned in hospitals; or are awaiting foster care placement;

  2. children and youths who have a primary nighttime residence that is a public or private place not designed for or ordinarily used as regular sleeping accommodation for humans;

  3. children and youths who are living in cars, parks, public spaces, abandoned buildings, substandard housing, bus or train stations, or similar settings; and

  4. migratory children who qualify as homeless for the purposes of this subtitle because the children are living in circumstances described in clauses (i) through (iii).[CR2]

At HPS we provide services to students experiencing housing instability such as:

  • Uniforms

  • School backpack with supplies

  • Shoes

  • Underwear and socks

  • Hygiene products

  • Seasonal Clothing

  • Winter coats and winter gears

MCKINNEY-VENTO SERVICES REFERRAL

For currently enrolled students already identified or for students recently experienced loss of housing 

STUDENT RECENTLY EXPERIENCED A LOSS OF HOUSING: Use Referral Form

Parent/guardian is reporting/reported a new address due to loss of housing (e.g. eviction, natural disasters, domestic violence, building condemned, economic hardship, etc)

  • Family is about to lose their permanent housing

CURRENT MCKINNEY VENTO STUDENT(S): Use Referral Form

  • Family/student(s) need extra support under McKinney-Vento

  • The student has been absent from school more than 3 times 

Refer family/student for attendance support once you have completed/tried the tier 1 interventions.

Homeless Education Liaison

HPS has designated a person to serve as the Homeless Liaison as required by ESSA, 2015. HPS Homeless Liaison carries out the following duties as described in the McKinney-Vento Act, and ensures that;

  1. Students experiencing housing instability are identified  by the homeless liaison, school personnel, and through coordination with other agencies.

  2. Students experiencing housing instability are enrolled in, and have full and equal opportunities to succeed in school and meet the same challenging state academic standards as other students, and receive educational services for which they are eligible such as after-school and summer programs.

  3. Families, children, and youth experiencing housing instability have access to and receive educational services for which they are eligible, including preschool programs administered by the Holyoke Public Schools.

  4. Families, children, and youth experiencing housing instability receive information and referrals for health care, dental services, mental health, and other appropriate services in the community.

  5. Parents or guardians are informed of educational and related opportunities, such as access to school nutrition programs, available to their children, and are provided with meaningful opportunities to participate in the education of their children.

  6. Public notice of the educational rights of homeless students and the district’s adopted Homeless Education Policy are disseminated where children and youth receive services such as schools, family shelters, food pantries, and health clinics and where families, children, and youth are ordinarily informed of school policies such as student handbooks, school newsletters or school websites.

  7. Enrollment disputes are mediated and resolved;

  8. Parents, guardians, and unaccompanied youth are fully informed of all transportation services, including to and from the school of origin, and are assisted in accessing needed transportation services.

  9. District staff providing services to homeless students receive professional development and other support.

  10. Unaccompanied homeless youth are enrolled in school, have opportunities to meet the same challenging state academic standards as other students, are informed of their status as independent students, and are provided with verification of that status for the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA);

  11. There is coordination and collaboration with the office of the state coordinator, the local community, service providers, and school personnel providing education and related services to homeless families, children and youth;

  12. Reliable, valid, and comprehensive data is collected and reported to the state coordinator; and

  13. Upon receiving appropriate training, will provide homeless families, children, and youth who meet eligibility requirements for services from the Department of Housing and Community Development, verification of homelessness.

To fulfill these responsibilities, the homeless education liaison shall inform school personnel, service providers, and advocates of his/her duties and the provisions of the McKinney-Vento Act.

Enrollment

Holyoke Public Schools will immediately enroll students experiencing housing instability in school to provide educational stability and avoid separation from school for days or weeks, even if they do not have the documents usually required for enrollment such as school records, medical records, or proof of residency. The Student Enrollment Services and Homeless Liaison will assist students who arrive without records by contacting the previously-attended school system to obtain the required records. The homeless education liaison must ensure that any practices, or policies that may act as a barrier to the enrollment, attendance, or success in school of children and youth experiencing housing instability, will be reviewed and revised to ensure that children and youth experiencing housing instability are afforded the same free, appropriate public education as provided to other children and youth.

School Placement

At the Holyoke Public Schools, school placement is determined by the residency address at the moment of enrollment. Children and/or unaccompanied youths experiencing housing instability will be enrolled in the school zone but if there are any changes in their address during an academic year, the school placement determination is based on the best interest of the children or unaccompanied youth experiencing housing instability. In making the decision regarding best interest, the Holyoke Public Schools abides by the following:

  1. Students have the right to attend the school of origin until the end of the year in which the student obtained permanent housing. They may also choose to attend the school in their new zone instead. 

  2. Consider student-centered factors including factors related to the impact of mobility on achievement, education, health, and safety of homeless students, school placement of siblings, and giving the priority to the request of the parent, guardian, or unaccompanied youth.

  3. Students identified as experiencing housing instability have the right to remain in their school of origin or to attend the school where they are temporarily residing for the duration of homelessness or when a student becomes homeless between academic years or during an academic year. 

  4. Students who become permanently housed during an academic year have the right to attend the school of origin for the remainder of the academic year. In general, parents, guardians, or unaccompanied youth may choose to remain in their school of origin as long as the commute is under an hour. For families that move more than an hour’s commute away, the Holyoke Public Schools Homeless Liaison will have a conversation with the parent, guardian, or unaccompanied youth to determine if it is in the best interest of the student to remain in their school of origin for the remainder of the school year. During the conversation, consideration will be given to student-centered factors including the impact of mobility on achievement, education, health and safety, age, grade level, and school bell times.

  5. HPS enrolls students into a school based on their address and attendance zone. New incoming homeless students are enrolled in the school in their attendance zone the same way non-homeless students who reside in the same attendance zone are enrolled.



    For homeless students who meet the relevant eligibility criteria, the district must remove barriers to accessing academic and extracurricular activities, including summer school, career and technical education, advanced placement,  and other district programs.

Dispute resolution

Should a parent/guardian disagree with the school placement decision of the Homeless Education Liaison or other District staff, the parent/guardian has the right to appeal. The parent/guardian will be provided with written notification in the language of the home of the placement decision and the paperwork to complete the appeal process. While the placement decision is under appeal, the student will be allowed to attend the school of origin and receive transportation, if requested and in accordance with the district's transportation policy, while the dispute is under review by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.

Access to comparable services

HPS will provide students experiencing homelessness with services and education programs comparable to those received by other students and for which they meet eligibility criteria, such as services provided under Title I or similar state or local programs; programs for students with disabilities; programs for students with limited English proficiency; vocational or technical programs; gifted and talented programs; and school nutrition programs. The Homeless Education Liaison will expedite the delivery of nutritional benefits by working directly with the food service department.

Students experiencing housing instability have the right to access all school courses and activities including extracurricular and summer programs. To ensure access, the school district must remove barriers that limit participation, including transportation. Transportation will be provided if requested and in accordance with the district's transportation policy.

Transportation

Under McKinney Vento students experiencing housing instability are entitled to transportation to and from their school of origin if requested and in accordance with the district's transportation policy.

  1. If the student experiencing homelessness continues to live in the area served by the district in which the school of origin is located, that district must provide or arrange transportation if needed; and


  2. If the student experiencing homelessness moves to an area served by another district, though continuing his or her education at the school of origin, the district of origin and the district in which the student resides must agree upon a method to apportion responsibility and costs for transportation to the school of origin; and 

  3. If the districts cannot agree upon such a method, the responsibility and costs must be shared equally.