The Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Amendments Act of 1990 authorizes the U.S. Department of Education to review state plans submitted under the Act to "evaluate whether State laws, policies, and practices . . . adequately address the problems of homeless children and homeless youth relating to access to education and placement" and to gather information to "determine the extent to which State educational agencies are ensuring that each homeless child and homeless youth has access to a free appropriate public education."
Policy Studies Associates has conducted a study of the McKinney program for the Department. Findings are based on a survey of state coordinators in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and site visits to six state educational agencies and eight school districts, along with an analysis of state plans submitted to the Department.
State Legislative and Policy Responses to McKinney Act Requirements
They report a high level of success in identifying and eliminating barriers once posed by policies on residency and school records.
To fight disease, most states (42) retain immunization requirements for all students. The extent to which these states are able to enroll homeless children and youth largely depends on the effectiveness of state and local methods for providing immunizations or obtaining these records for homeless students.
To protect children's safety and welfare (and to avoid liability), schools require a legal guardian's permission for many enrollment and education decisions. Few states set aside these requirements entirely, instead making special allowances for homeless students. Barriers remain when children are not identified as homeless or when special allowances are not made at the district or school level.
Site visit data suggest that homeless students are rarely placed in their school of origin, particularly when it would require transportation across district lines. The McKinney program does help transport shelter-based homeless students to a school; before McKinney, some homeless students had no access to any school transportation services.
McKinney Act Subgrants: Projects at the District Level
States awarded an average of 71 percent of their McKinney Act grant funds for 1993-94 to local educational agencies (LEAs); subgrant funds went to 3 percent of LEAs nationwide, the majority (51 percent) to urban LEAs.
Additional Challenges
Efforts to curb crime or ensure school safety may impede enrollment for homeless teens?for example, curfew laws make them guilty of a crime just because they have no place to go. Schools in some states refuse to admit homeless teens due to liability concerns. Unlike younger children, teens may be placed statewide, with up to six or seven moves a year disrupting learning. In terms of McKinney-funded services, few of the LEAs in the site visit sample provided instructional services to older students.
These difficulties remain despite state policies promoting such access. Some subgrantees try to ensure access to Chapter 1 (e.g., by tracking students' whereabouts), but few reported monitoring the access to other services, such as special education, limited English proficiency programs, or Head Start.
States and districts are just beginning to explore ways to help homeless students continue making progress as they move from school to school.
While this study was conducted prior to the enactment of the new legislation, many of the findings point to situations that policymakers still need to address.
Access
State policies exempting homeless students from enrollment requirements do not eliminate barriers unless schools and districts are aware of and enforce these policies. State coordinators could help improve these situations by giving technical assistance and information on promising practices to all districts.
Federal officials can provide guidance to state coordinators on ways to monitor and increase access. Also, federal program guidelines could give priority on waiting lists to homeless students.
However, in many cases they have not exhausted all other avenues to find alternate solutions. For example, collaboration with shelter placement agencies may ensure that students are placed near their school of origin or near school bus routes or public transportation services.
Coordination With Other Agencies
If state and federal officials review the policies of other government agencies (e.g., housing, health and human services), they may identify additional impediments to school access for homeless children and youth.
School Success
Resources
Because McKinney funds are small relative to the size of the homeless student population, the funds might best serve to leverage the blending of resources and information among service providers to better address the educational needs of homeless children and youth. For example, officials should weigh the value of district liaisons, who coordinate among local providers serving homeless students, when planning McKinney-funded services. Supporting these liaisons may be the most efficient use of funds.
Additional copies are available from the Planning and Evaluation Service, U.S. Department of Education, 600 Independence Ave., SW, Room 4162, Washington, DC 20202-8240.
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