The document discusses supporting homeless students and the Education for Homeless Children and Youth (EHCY) Program. It notes that the National Center for Homeless Education operates technical assistance for EHCY. Homeless students face barriers but education can help break the cycle of poverty. Data shows over 1.3 million homeless children and youth, including many with disabilities or who are unsheltered. The broad McKinney-Vento definition recognizes various living situations as homeless. Coordination between schools and housing agencies is important to help homeless families.

1. Supporting the Education of
Children and Youth
Experiencing Homelessness
Donna Brown, Director
Federal Program Monitoring and Support
Jan Moore, Assistant Director
National Center for Homeless Education (NCHE)
June, 2018

2. ▪ NCHE operates the U.S. Department of Education’s technical
assistance center for the federal Education for Homeless
Children and Youth (EHCY) Program
– Website: http://nche.ed.gov
– Helpline: 800-308-2145 or homeless@serve.org
– Products: http://nche.ed.gov/products.php
– Webinars: http://nche.ed.gov/web/group.php
– Listserv: http://nche.ed.gov/listserv.php
– Social media: https://nche.ed.gov/social-media.php
ABOUT NCHE

3. OUTLINE
▪ About the EHCY Program
▪ Data Review
▪ Family & Youth Homelessness
▪ Intersection of Housing and Education

4. ABOUT THE EHCY PROGRAM
▪ Authorized under Subtitle VII-B of the McKinney-Vento
Homeless Assistance Act, as amended by Title IX, Part
A of ESSA
▪ States receive annual EHCY funding in proportion to
their Title I, Part A state allocation; retain a portion for
state-level activities and distribute the remainder to
school districts through a competitive subgrant process
▪ Schools must comply with EHCY requirements even if
they do not receive subgrant funding

6. WHY EHCY?
▪ Students experiencing homelessness
– Have higher rate of special education needs, mental and
physical health issues, school absenteeism, grade retention,
and dropping out
– Face unique challenges and barriers that must be addressed
to provide them with equal access to school and supports for
educational success
– Can break the cycle of poverty and homelessness through
education

7. LACK OF EDUCATION AS A RISK FACTOR
Source: Chapin Hall, http://voicesofyouthcount.org/wp-
content/uploads/2017/11/ChapinHall_VoYC_1-Pager_Final_111517.pdf

8. DATA*
Category National North Carolina
Total Homeless Children and Youth 1,352,574 26,377
Children w/Disabilities 259,949 4,682
English Learners 215,388 1,572
Unaccompanied homeless youth 117,355 2,454
% Living in Shelters 13% 10%
% Double-Up 76% 72.1%
% Unsheltered 4% 4.4%
% Hotels/Motels 7% 13.4%
*Data reflects 2015-16 counts

9. UNDERSTANDING FAMILY AND YOUTH
HOMELESSNESS

10. INTERACTIVE SESSION
Playspent.org

11. REACTIONS????

12. CAUSES OF FAMILY AND YOUTH HOMELESSNESS
▪ Economics
(e.g., lack of affordable housing, low-paying jobs,
unemployment, physical or mental disabilities that affect a
person’s ability to work, single parent/single income households)
▪ Family conflict or violence
(e.g., sexual, physical or emotional abuse; domestic violence;
conflict over a youth’s sexual orientation or gender identity,
substance abuse)
▪ No or under-resourced network of support
(e.g., single mother with young children; chronic poverty;
traumatic stress)

13. MCKINNEY-VENTO DEFINITION OF HOMELESS
▪ Children or youth who lack a fixed, regular, and adequate
nighttime residence, including children and youth:
– Sharing the housing of other persons due to loss of housing, economic
hardship, or a similar reason
– Living in motels, hotels, trailer parks, or camping grounds due to the lack of
alternative adequate accommodations
– Living in emergency or transitional shelters, or are abandoned in hospitals

14. MCKINNEY-VENTO DEFINITION OF HOMELESS
– Living in a public or private place not designed for or ordinarily used as a
regular sleeping accommodation for human beings
– Living in cars, parks, public spaces, abandoned buildings, substandard
housing, bus or train stations, or similar settings
– Migratory children living in the above circumstances
▪ The term unaccompanied youth includes a homeless child or youth
not in the physical custody of a parent or guardian

15. UNDERSTANDING THE DEFINITION
▪ The McKinney-Vento definition of homeless is broader
than some common perceptions of homelessness
because
– Shelters often are not an option (e.g. many communities don’t
have a shelter, shelters may be full, shelters have stay limits,
families and youth may hesitate to enter the shelter system)
– Doubled-up living arrangements often do not last or may be
dangerous for the family or youth in crisis

16. HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT (HUD)
▪ HUD administers Continuum of Care (CoC) and Emergency
Solutions Grant (ESG) Programs to provide funding to regional
or local planning bodies to coordinate housing and service
provision for individuals, families, and unaccompanied youth
experiencing homelessness.

17. KEY ELEMENTS OF COC-FUNDED PROGRAMS
▪ Homeless prevention assistance (short term financial assistance)
▪ Emergency shelter (safe, secure, temporary)
▪ Rapid re-housing assistance (short/median term rental assist.)
▪ Permanent supportive housing (long-term rental assistance and
support services for individuals and families w/disabilities)
▪ Supportive services only (case management, health/mental
health services, legal services, etc.)

18. DEFINITION ISSUES
▪ Schools and CoCs use different definitions of homeless for
purposes of program administration.
▪ Under the education definition:
– children and youth sharing the housing of other persons due to loss of
housing, economic hardship, or a similar reason are considered
homeless [42 U.S.C.§11434a(2)(B) (i)].
– children and youth living in motels or hotels due to the lack of
alternative adequate accommodations are considered homeless [42
U.S.C.§11434a(2)(B)(i)].

19. DATA
Category National North Carolina
Total Homeless Children and Youth 1,352,574 26,377
Children w/Disabilities 259,949 4,682
English Learners 215,388 1,572
Unaccompanied homeless youth 117,355 2,454
% Living in Shelters 13% 10%
% Double-Up 76% 72.1%
% Unsheltered 4% 4.4%
% Hotels/Motels 7% 13.4%

20. WHY DOES THIS MATTER?
▪ The CoC and the School District overlap in who they serve.
▪ CoC’s want to serve as many people as possible, but assistance
is tied to funding requirements. Schools serve all families in
their school, but there are limits to housing connections.
▪ Some families will move in and out of HUD eligibility.
▪ Schools want to be at the table when decisions are made.
▪ The voices of children/youth need to be shared and heard.
Who brings up their voice in your community?

21. COORDINATED ENTRY
▪ CoC program recipients are required to establish a coordinated
entry (CE) process.
▪ This is a systems level approach for providing centralized and
standardized access to housing and other community resources
for people experiencing a housing crisis, including homelessness.
▪ Prior to the implementation of CE, individuals and families
experiencing homelessness had to navigate a complex maze of
programs to get assistance (USICH, 2017, p. 1).

22. THE TIME FOR PARTNERSHIP IS NOW!
▪ The McKinney-Vento Act requires collaboration between service
providers and schools
▪ There is a convergence of focus on the issue of youth
homelessness (Voices of Youth Count, YHDP, ESSA
reauthorization, HEA reauthorization, etc.)
▪ Schools and service providers need each other, and must commit
to intentional and mutually beneficial partnerships
▪ Stabilizing and supporting the education of children and youth
experiencing homelessness leverages a critical window of
opportunity in young people’s development

23. A CHANCE TO CHANGE THE COURSE
▪ According to research:
– School adjustment problems were associated with homelessness among
young adults
– Conversely, students who had positive early schooling experiences had
higher rates of employment, lower rates of criminal justice involvement, and
lower rates of welfare participation
▪ Educational supports can change a child’s life course and help
prevent future episodes of homelessness

24. THEIMPORTANCEOFSCHOOL
Stability and
routine
Food and
other basic
supports
Positive
relationships
and
connection
A path out of
poverty

25. Q&A
?