Planning and Evaluation Service
The Education for Homeless Children and Youth Program: Learning to Succeed is a two-volume report on two studies that were conducted by Policy Studies Associates (PSA) under contracts with the Planning and Evaluation Service of the U.S. Department of Education. Volume I, Reducing Barriers for Homeless Children and Youth for Access and Achievement, reports on state and local efforts to serve the educational needs of homeless children and youth and overcome barriers that affect these students' enrollment, attendance, and school success. Volume II, Educating Homeless Children and Youth: A Resource Guide to Promising Practices, describes promising strategies and practices that states, districts and schools can use to enroll homeless children and youth in school, and to help them to achieve the same high standards expected of all children.
The studies found that homeless students are best served when promising practices are implemented as part of a comprehensive and coordinated homeless education program. States have made the most progress in eliminating immunization requirements as barriers to enrollment, but transportation, guardianship, and frequent moves from school to school are still significant barriers to educating homeless students. Regardless of whether or not they are awarded federal funds under the McKinney-Vento Act, districts are finding ways to address at least some needs of their homeless children and youth. However, districts with McKinney subgrants were able to provide a broader range of educational and recreational services. Districts with no McKinney dollars relied on funds from Title I and community organizations to support their efforts.
Homeless children are a fast-growing segment of the population, as their numbers have increased 10 percent between 1997 and 2000 to 930,232. Two-thirds are in the age range from pre-K through grade 6. Approximately 87 percent of school-age homeless children and youth are enrolled in school, although only about 77 percent attend school regularly, and only 15 percent of homeless children are in preschool programs, according to the Report to Congress: Fiscal Year 2000, Education for Homeless Children and Youth Program.
Subtitle VII-B of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, which established the Education of Homeless Children and Youth Program (EHCY) and was amended and reauthorized in 2001, required that states take action to ensure that homeless children and youth have equal access to the same free and appropriate public education as all other children and youth. However, since these data were collected before the 2001 reauthorization, the 1994 reauthorization will be the most relevant law to examine.
Subtitle VII-B of the McKinney Act (1994 reauthorization) stipulates that:
The 1994 Act required each state education agency (SEA) to have a State Coordinator of Education of Homeless Children and Youth, whose office is responsible for identifying homeless children and youth, assessing their special needs, facilitating coordination between state and local education agencies, and coordinating with other education and service providers. States also must develop and implement professional development programs that raise school personnel's awareness of, and ability to respond to, problems relating to the education of homeless children.
The Act required that each state coordinator collect data on the numbers of homeless children and youth, the nature and extent of their problems, difficulties in identifying their special needs, progress made in addressing their problems, and program successes. This information is to be reported to the U.S. Department of Education every three years.
The McKinney Act Subtitle VII-B EHCY program was funded at $28.8 million in both fiscal years 1998 and 1999. SEAs received formula grants, and they, in turn, awarded discretionary grants to local education agencies (LEAs). States awarded 602 subgrants to LEAs to help homeless children and youth enroll in, attend, and succeed in school in the 1997-98 school year. These ranged from about $1,300 to $127,000 in 1998. About 4 percent of the nation's school districts received subgrants.
Districts offered an array of services and activities to provide homeless children and youth with a free and appropriate education. They usually identified homeless students, placed them in school, and provided them with transportation, as well as collaborated with local social service providers and worked to increase awareness of issues relating to homeless children. Thirty-eight percent of state coordinators reported that subgrantees spent more of their McKinney Act funds on direct educational services for homeless children and youth than they did in 1994.
Volume I, Reducing Barriers for Homeless Children and Youth for Access and Achievement, reports on state and local efforts to serve the educational needs of homeless children and youth and overcome barriers that affected these students' enrollment, attendance, and school success. The study investigated (1) the extent to which states and school districts have successfully removed barriers that impede homeless children's access to a free and appropriate education, (2) how states and districts have used federal McKinney-Vento Act funds to address the educational needs of homeless children and youth, and (3) how districts that do not receive McKinney Act funding have complied with the Act. Data for Volume I were collected by a combination of methods, including a survey of all state coordinators in the summer of 1998 and site visits between October 1998 and February 1999 to a sample of 14 local school districts, seven of which were McKinney subgrantees.
Volume II, Educating Homeless Children and Youth: A Resource Guide to Promising Practices, describes promising strategies and practices that states, districts and schools can use to enroll homeless children and youth in school, and to help them to achieve the same high standards expected of all children. This study described and analyzed four areas of state and local activity: (1) changes in education and services to homeless children and youth under the McKinney Act as it was reauthorized in 1994; (2) services and activities of state Offices of the Coordinator of Education of Homeless Children and Youth; (3) the McKinney Act subgrant award process, and how local education agencies (LEAs) with McKinney subgrants have supplemented the services available to homeless children and reduce barriers to their enrollment and success in school; and (4) the establishment of programs and policies for homeless students in LEAs. Data for Volume II were collected in the fall of 2000 by interviewing state coordinators in three states and making site visits to six districts recommended by current research and national experts.
Homeless children continued to face a number of major barriers to enrolling and succeeding in school. However, some states and school districts have come up with ways to overcome these barriers.
Districts with McKinney subgrants were able to provide a broader range of educational and recreational services. Districts with no McKinney dollars relied on funds from Title I and community organizations to support their efforts. Most districts that did not have McKinney subgrants reported that they received no funds from outside sources to serve homeless students. This was particularly true in smaller or more rural districts where homelessness was not commonly recognized as a problem.
Homeless students' frequent moves from school to school were their most significant barrier to academic success. Students who were unable to find stable shelter had difficulty meeting state or district mandates regarding the number of days they must attend school to stay enrolled. Some state coordinators indicated that the slow transfer of student records, along with differing course requirements from school to school, complicated the accrual of sufficient credits for homeless students to be promoted and receive a high school diploma. However, many districts have developed or revised policies to ensure that homeless students can enroll in school immediately. Some districts allow a grace period to track down records or obtain oral confirmation that a child had attended another school or been immunized.
Transportation to and from school remained a major barrier to homeless children enrolling and remaining in school. States and districts often have limited resources to address transportation needs, particularly across district lines. However, some States and school districts have found ways to meet the transportation needs of homeless children.
Guardianship and immunization requirements were still significant barriers. Although important for safety and health, these requirements were often at variance with efforts to ensure that homeless children had access to school. However, some states have revised their laws, regulations, and policies to remove obstacles to the education of homeless children and youth.
Lack of awareness and insensitivity to homeless students' needs among school staff was another barrier that could delay or prevent homeless children and youth from enrolling and succeeding in school. However, many states are combating this lack of awareness and sensitivity.
Homeless students also had difficulty gaining access to special education, Head Start or other publicly funded preschool programs, gifted and talented programs, Even Start or other family literacy programs, and programs for students who are not proficient in English. In many cases, this is because educators are unfamiliar with the requirements of the law. However, some school districts went the extra mile to help homeless children gain access to these programs.
State coordinators collaborated and coordinated their work most often with local education agencies, state government agencies, other offices within their state agency, and homeless shelters to maximize funding and services.
Many districts with McKinney subgrants sent information to schools about how to recognize and meet the needs of homeless children and youth, and a few provided school staff with professional development and training.
Most districts with McKinney subgrants had set up regular lines of communication between school officials and shelter providers, other service providers, and other educators to identify and place homeless children in school.
Data collection, monitoring, and evaluation varied across the sites visited, often depending on the information to which districts had access and their capacity to maintain and report data. Some McKinney districts, in addition to conducting an "unduplicated count" of homeless students, as the law requires, collected data on participants' ethnicity, the percent of identified students or families served, parents' participation in activities, student attendance, and student academic achievement. However, other districts were unaware of the McKinney Act requirement to track homeless students' academic achievement. The non-subgrantee districts visited did not participate in data collection, monitoring, or evaluation of homeless students.
These studies found a number of promising practices that were helping homeless children and youth enroll and succeed in school. In addition to strategies that addressed specific problem areas, such as transportation and raising awareness, there were cross-cutting strategies to address a range of issues that homeless children and youth face.
Collaborations and partnerships helped maximize district resources. Districts had a greater impact by coordinating with local social services, housing, and other agencies serving homeless children and their families.
Homeless students are best served when promising practices are implemented as part of a comprehensive and coordinated homeless education program. Ultimately, the success of any homeless education program requires coordinated action by many individuals, and is measured by whether all homeless students are identified, enrolled, and educated appropriately.
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This page last modified November 1, 2002 (jer)