The Office of Migrant Education (OME) administers programs for migratory children authorized under Title I-C of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, as amended. These programs provide financial assistance to State educational agencies, institution of higher education or other institutions serving migratory children of migratory agricultural workers and migratory fishers and, with respect to HEP and CAMP, seasonal farm workers. Programs under these authorities are designed to meet the special educational needs of such children whose schooling is disrupted by moving, and to aid in their continued development to full potential. OME is headed by a Director who reports to the Assistant Secretary and who advises the Assistant Secretary on matters related to the programs administered by OME.
Key Responsibilities
- Administer formula and discretionary grant programs;
- Manage formula and discretionary grants, cooperative and interagency agreements through all cycles of the grants process, including pre-award (planning), award, post-award, and close-out activities;
- Develop program requirements and contribute to the development of Department policy through drafting of necessary program documents;
- Manage and conduct grants monitoring for Federal requirements and fiduciary accountability;
- Support collection, review, and analysis of required data (e.g., EDFacts, CSPR, and APR);
- Provide general and targeted technical assistance to grantees to ensure consistency with Federal requirements;
- Draft program policies and documents (e.g., notice inviting applications (NIA) and regulatory and non-regulatory guidance documents;
- Engage with key internal and external stakeholders to gain relevant and practical understanding of the issues, challenges, and opportunities that program policies must address;
- Optimize the stewardship of taxpayer dollars by supporting the improvement of operational efficiency and effectiveness;
- Support the management of contracts related to programs, including information technology systems, as needed; and
- Use cross-program knowledge and develop lines of communication across the organization to better support the efficient management of grant funds and grantee support.
Director
(Acting) Victoria Hammer
Formula Grant Team
| Role | Contact |
| Team Lead, Program Officer (AZ, CA, NV, UT, HI, AK, ID, MT, OR, WA) | Sarah Martinez |
| MSIX Team, Data & Evaluation Team, Program Officer (CO, KS, MO, NE, ND, SD) | Preeti Choudhary |
| Program Officer (AL, FL, GA, MS, SC, AR, LA, NM, OK, TX) | Jessenia Guerra |
| Program Officer (KY, NC, OH, TN, VA, ME, MA, NH, NY, VT) | Michael Meltzer |
| MSIX Project Lead, Program Officer (DE, IL, IN, IA, MD, MI, MN, NJ, PA, WI) | Benjamin Starr |
Discretionary Grant Team
Jessica Stein
Migrant Education Program (Title I, Part C) - State Grants
The goal of the Migrant Education Program is to ensure that all migratory children reach challenging academic standards and graduate with a high school diploma (or complete a GED) that prepares them for responsible citizenship, further learning, and productive employment.
Funds support high quality education programs for migratory children and help ensure that migratory children who move among the States are not penalized by disparities among States in curriculum, graduation requirements, and challenging State academic standards. Funds also ensure that migratory children not only are provided with appropriate education services that address their unique needs but also that such children receive full and appropriate opportunities to meet the same challenging State academic standards that all children are expected to meet. Federal funds are allocated by formula to State educational agencies (SEAs), based on each state's per pupil expenditure for education and counts of eligible migratory children, age 3 through 21, residing within the state.
The Migrant Education Program utilizes the Migrant Education Information Exchange (MSIX) to allow States to share educational and health information on migratory children who travel from State to State and who as a result, have student records in multiple States' information systems. MSIX works in concert with the existing migrant student information systems that States currently use to manage their migratory child data to fulfill its mission to ensure the appropriate enrollment, placement, accrual of credits and participation in the MEP for migratory children nationwide.
Migrant Education Consortium Incentive Grants
The MEP Consortium Incentive Grants are authorized by section 1308(d) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) as amended. Through this program, the Department provides financial incentives to State Educational Agencies (SEAs) to participate in high quality consortia that improve the interstate or intrastate coordination of migrant education programs by addressing key needs of migratory children who have their education interrupted.
High School Equivalency Program (HEP)
The High School Equivalency Program (HEP) helps migratory and seasonal farmworkers (or immediate family members of such workers) who are 16 years of age or older and not currently enrolled in school to obtain the equivalent of a high school diploma and, subsequently, to gain employment or begin postsecondary education or training.
College Assistance Migrant Program (CAMP)
The College Assistance Migrant Program (CAMP) assists students who are migratory or seasonal farmworkers (or immediate family members of such workers) enrolled in their first year of undergraduate studies at an institution of higher education (IHE).
The Office of Migrant Education (OME) administers programs for migratory children authorized under Title I-C of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, as amended. These programs provide financial assistance to State educational agencies, institution of higher education or other institutions serving migratory children of migratory agricultural workers and migratory fishers and, with respect to HEP and CAMP, seasonal farm workers. Programs under these authorities are designed to meet the special educational needs of such children whose schooling is disrupted by moving, and to aid in their continued development to full potential. OME is headed by a Director who reports to the Assistant Secretary and who advises the Assistant Secretary on matters related to the programs administered by OME.
Key Responsibilities
- Administer formula and discretionary grant programs;
- Manage formula and discretionary grants, cooperative and interagency agreements through all cycles of the grants process, including pre-award (planning), award, post-award, and close-out activities;
- Develop program requirements and contribute to the development of Department policy through drafting of necessary program documents;
- Manage and conduct grants monitoring for Federal requirements and fiduciary accountability;
- Support collection, review, and analysis of required data (e.g., EDFacts, CSPR, and APR);
- Provide general and targeted technical assistance to grantees to ensure consistency with Federal requirements;
- Draft program policies and documents (e.g., notice inviting applications (NIA) and regulatory and non-regulatory guidance documents;
- Engage with key internal and external stakeholders to gain relevant and practical understanding of the issues, challenges, and opportunities that program policies must address;
- Optimize the stewardship of taxpayer dollars by supporting the improvement of operational efficiency and effectiveness;
- Support the management of contracts related to programs, including information technology systems, as needed; and
- Use cross-program knowledge and develop lines of communication across the organization to better support the efficient management of grant funds and grantee support.
Director
(Acting) Victoria Hammer
Formula Grant Team
| Role | Contact |
| Team Lead, Program Officer (AZ, CA, NV, UT, HI, AK, ID, MT, OR, WA) | Sarah Martinez |
| MSIX Team, Data & Evaluation Team, Program Officer (CO, KS, MO, NE, ND, SD) | Preeti Choudhary |
| Program Officer (AL, FL, GA, MS, SC, AR, LA, NM, OK, TX) | Jessenia Guerra |
| Program Officer (KY, NC, OH, TN, VA, ME, MA, NH, NY, VT) | Michael Meltzer |
| MSIX Project Lead, Program Officer (DE, IL, IN, IA, MD, MI, MN, NJ, PA, WI) | Benjamin Starr |
Discretionary Grant Team
Jessica Stein
Migrant Education Program (Title I, Part C) - State Grants
The goal of the Migrant Education Program is to ensure that all migratory children reach challenging academic standards and graduate with a high school diploma (or complete a GED) that prepares them for responsible citizenship, further learning, and productive employment.
Funds support high quality education programs for migratory children and help ensure that migratory children who move among the States are not penalized by disparities among States in curriculum, graduation requirements, and challenging State academic standards. Funds also ensure that migratory children not only are provided with appropriate education services that address their unique needs but also that such children receive full and appropriate opportunities to meet the same challenging State academic standards that all children are expected to meet. Federal funds are allocated by formula to State educational agencies (SEAs), based on each state's per pupil expenditure for education and counts of eligible migratory children, age 3 through 21, residing within the state.
The Migrant Education Program utilizes the Migrant Education Information Exchange (MSIX) to allow States to share educational and health information on migratory children who travel from State to State and who as a result, have student records in multiple States' information systems. MSIX works in concert with the existing migrant student information systems that States currently use to manage their migratory child data to fulfill its mission to ensure the appropriate enrollment, placement, accrual of credits and participation in the MEP for migratory children nationwide.
Migrant Education Consortium Incentive Grants
The MEP Consortium Incentive Grants are authorized by section 1308(d) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) as amended. Through this program, the Department provides financial incentives to State Educational Agencies (SEAs) to participate in high quality consortia that improve the interstate or intrastate coordination of migrant education programs by addressing key needs of migratory children who have their education interrupted.
High School Equivalency Program (HEP)
The High School Equivalency Program (HEP) helps migratory and seasonal farmworkers (or immediate family members of such workers) who are 16 years of age or older and not currently enrolled in school to obtain the equivalent of a high school diploma and, subsequently, to gain employment or begin postsecondary education or training.
College Assistance Migrant Program (CAMP)
The College Assistance Migrant Program (CAMP) assists students who are migratory or seasonal farmworkers (or immediate family members of such workers) enrolled in their first year of undergraduate studies at an institution of higher education (IHE).