2017 Year-in-Review

Answer: According to the U.S. Department of Education, special education buses can be used to transport McKinney-Vento students without disabilities, as long as no additional IDEA funds are used to transport those students.  This is true even if the bus was purchased with IDEA funds exclusively to transport children with disabilities, as long as the bus is not full, and it can pick up McKinney-Vento students along the usual route.

This letter provides the legal citations and more information on the use of special education transportation for students who are experiencing homelessness. It is important to note that the memo was written prior to the enactment of the Every Student Succeeds Act; therefore, some of the McKinney-Vento Act provisions that are cited have changed. However, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, upon which the interpretation is based, has not changed since the date of the letter.

Answer: If the student asks for copies of the FAFSA homeless verification letter, or asks a liaison/counselor to include a homeless verification letter in an application for college admission or scholarship, then it is fine for the liaison/counselor to provide it.  Under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), schools can release educational records without consent for the purposes of financial aid.

Full Question:  In regards to scholarship and college applications, I give students the FAFSA letter that states they are unaccompanied and homeless, or unaccompanied, self-supporting and at-risk for homelessness, for financial aid purposes; but what about for scholarship applications or college entrance applications?  What is the best way for those students to show documentation that they have no parental income to support them in their college pursuits?

Full Answer:  If the student asks for copies of the FAFSA homeless verification letter, or asks a liaison/counselor to include a homeless verification letter in an application for college admission or scholarship, then it is fine for the liaison/counselor to provide it.  Under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), schools can release educational records without consent for the purposes of financial aid.  However, if the information is for a college application or a private scholarship, it is a good idea to get a signed release of information.  The parent or legal guardian could sign, as well as a caregiver, or the youth herself is she’s 18 or if she’s unaccompanied. There is some great information on FERPA and releases of information for unaccompanied youth here.

If letters of reference are required for college or scholarship applications, the student could ask people writing the letter to reference the student’s homeless situation/status as part of the recommendation letter.

Answer: Unaccompanied youth do not need to provide host family information on SNAP applications unless they are purchasing and preparing food together with the host family, or if they are under “parental control” of the host family. It’s a case-by-case decision, but in our experience, most unaccompanied youth do not meet either of those criteria. There is a memo addressing this specific issue at: https://fns-prod.azureedge.net/sites/default/files/Policy_Clarifications_Homeless_Youth_Issues.pdf.

Answer: The McKinney-Vento Act remains in Title 42 of the U.S. Code. It can be cited as 42 US Code §§11431-11435.  The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) amended it, but didn’t change the title or section headings. ESSA’s amendments to Title I did change some of the section headings, so you should look those up on line.

You can see the McKinney-Vento Act, as amended by ESSA, here: https://e1.nmcdn.io/assets/schoolhouse/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/TextofMV.pdf

Answer: We have published Guidelines for Designating LEA-Level and Building-Level McKinney-Vento Liaisons that may be helpful. The district level liaison is the ultimate authority on LEA determinations of homelessness and other decisions (disputable by the parent/youth). Building-level contacts can be instrumental in identification and ensuring full implementation of the McKinney-Vento Act and supports to students. However, the identification problems and undue hardships indicate that those LEAs need to provide better training to their building liaisons, so their determinations are correct. There may need to be a clearer protocol of how determinations are made, and a clear understanding that gray areas will be reviewed with the liaison prior to sharing the determination with the family or youth—but without delaying enrollment or services. If the current process and lack of training are creating barriers to enrollment and retention of students, that is a violation of the McKinney-Vento Act. It’s also important to note that ESSA now specifically requires liaisons to ensure that “school personnel providing services under this subtitle receive professional development and other support.”  42 USC §11432(g)(6)(A)(ix). So if the building liaisons are not adequately trained to make eligibility determinations, the liaison needs to train them better.

It’s also important for parents and students to know who the district liaison is and how to reach him or her, since the liaison is ultimately responsible for LEA implementation. ESSA requires: “State coordinators… and local educational agencies shall inform school personnel, service providers, advocates working with homeless families, parents and guardians of homeless children and youths, and homeless children and youths of the duties of the local educational agency liaisons, and publish an annually updated list of the liaisons on the State educational agency’s website.”  42 USC §11432(g)(6)(B).