ARP-HCY Spotlights: Capacity Building & Staffing

Washington Court House City Schools (WCHCS) have had strong processes for identifying students experiencing homelessness over the years. However, as the district began to look at which students were identified, WCHCS realized that communication barriers greatly impacted the district’s ability to offer additional support and resources to families experiencing homelessness.  Many of these families did not have access to technology, were not willing to share their circumstances or did not respond at all to efforts to offer help.

As a result, WCHCS decided to write a McKinney-Vento subgrant application, which ultimately wasn’t funded but led to receiving ARP-HCY Part I and Part II funds. With the awarding of these funds, the district began a mentorship program for their students experiencing homelessness. The goal was for the mentor to be the bridge between the district and families so resources and support could flow to students and families experiencing homelessness.  In the beginning, certified staff were tapped to fill the role of mentors, but as the program has grown, all full-time staff are now able to participate after attending training.

Once a student is identified under McKinney-Vento, the WCHCS liaison/social worker reaches out to the parent or guardian, as well as staff in the building where the student attends. Upon parent approval, a mentor is then paired with the identified student, meeting with the student a minimum of twice per month for a minimum of 30 minutes. All mentor-mentee meetings occur during the school day in order to avoid additional burdens outside of school hours for these families.  The mentors use their personal time for these meetings.  In fact, many mentors choose to spend lunch with their mentee at least one time per week. Mentors are also required to be in contact with the parent or guardian at least one time per month. Mentors receive a stipend, funded by ARP-HCY, for taking on this role.

In order to track the program to show outcomes and success, the McKinney-Vento Coordinator uses Google sheets.  One sheet is used to track the whole program, but individual spreadsheets are created for every family and are monitored by the McKinney-Vento liaison/social worker. Mentors use the Google sheet to log contacts with their mentee, including goals, attendance, and grades. In addition, mentors log all contact with the parent/guardian, tracking needs that the family has and referrals that are made by the McKinney-Vento liaison/social worker to community partners. If there is more than one student per family, all mentors have access to the sheet for the entire family so that mentors can collaborate with other mentors to support the whole family.

The mentorship program has led to a significant increase in the identification of students.  In fact, the number of students experiencing homelessness that have been identified have increased from an average of 65 last year to over 100 this year.  Because families now have stronger connections to school through the mentorship program, they are sharing with other families through word of mouth.  This enables school staff to connect with other families who are experiencing homelessness and needing support. Because the district has strong community partnerships, the district is able to meet non-academic needs that families have that are often shared through the mentor-mentee relationships. In addition, the district has sought feedback from parents and students on the success of the program and 100% of families and students have expressed how much they love the mentorship program; families and staff have all expressed that it’s been rewarding and impactful.

In addition to the mentorship program, WCHCS is also using ARP-HCY funds to provide tutoring and wraparound services. From the data collected during the first year of the mentorship program, staff noticed a trend that many of the district’s students experiencing homelessness struggled with behavior concerns.  With ARP-HCY funds, the district hired a McKinney-Vento Behavior Technician, who is trained by the district Prevention Coordinator. The district Prevention Coordinator, who is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA), goes into classrooms, assesses what interventions the student would benefit from, and then the McKinney-Vento Behavior Technician implements the interventions with students experiencing homelessness. This has allowed WCHCS to better support students with behavior struggles due to the trauma they’ve experienced, as well as to model interactions and communication strategies.

As WCHCS plans for sustainability after ARP-HCY funds are no longer available, the district will apply for McKinney-Vento subgrant funds.  In the event that subgrant funds are not awarded, mentors for the program will be on a volunteer basis.  The Behavior Technician position will not be cut but will likely be absorbed by another position.  The district hopes to gather enough data to make a case to continue to fund this position by other means.

“Our district is located in a rural city that is very generous and supportive of community members in need.  Making connections between resources and families was a struggle previously due to not knowing what our families experiencing homelessness needed.  The mentor program not only benefits individual students, but overall we are able to connect families to resources more efficiently. Thanks to these funds, we’ve been able to create a program so that families can feel connected and more open to sharing their needs. This has had a huge impact on our students, our school community and on identification.”

-Laura McNamara, Student Services Coordinator and McKinney-Vento Coordinator

Lawton Public Schools (LPS) are using ARP-HCY funds to meet both immediate needs and to engage students in learning. Working with the IT Director, the district secured contracts with Verizon to provide cell phones to unaccompanied homeless youth. So far, LPS has distributed one cell phone that is not only serving to support the youth’s communication with school, but has also served to boost this student’s self-confidence as technology access now mirrors that of the youth’s peers. LPS asked the youth to sign an agreement at the time of distribution, agreeing to answer when school calls, and agreeing to revisit the contract during the summer if the student enrolls in summer school and is employed. In addition, district technology staff met with the student to review how to use the phone and to talk about social media use.

In addition, transportation remains a barrier for students experiencing homelessness at LPS. There have been challenges with gaps of time between transportation requests and when transportation begins. LPS has traveling counselors who were providing transportation during this interim time, but it is often unreliable depending on counselor schedules. Because of this, ARP-HCY funds were used to purchase a vehicle. The vehicle will also be used for virtual students to access school services. It will also be used for home visits to students and families and to transport students to needed health services.

LPS currently funds two part-time mentors and a McKinney-Vento Administrative Assistant out of the Title I, Part A homeless reservation.The mentors are retired coaches who support students experiencing homelessness by checking in with them, checking on attendance and grades, and providing additional support. With ARP-HCY funds, LPS was able to hire a retired educator to serve as a mentor in the middle school. In addition to this staff member, LPS hired a McKinney-Vento Outreach Specialist. The Outreach Specialist is a social worker who is focusing on supporting students experiencing homelessness in the district’s virtual program. The Outreach Specialist not only checks in on students and supports their academic engagement, but also can follow up with students who are not yet identified. Doing home visits to these students, the Outreach Specialist is able to identify new students or refer those who are not experiencing homelessness to other school staff for support.

LPS is currently brainstorming ways to support students experiencing homelessness in preschool. The vision is to not only support young learners, but also provide education and training for families so that learning can continue no matter what the family’s living situation.

“Whatever you thought you couldn’t do, now is the time to do it with these funds. We’ve not been able to support our students in these ways until now.”

-Andrea Winstead, Title I/IX Facilitator

As of the end of November 2022, Pinellas County Schools (PCS) had 3, 062 students identified, approximately 6% of their student population. After receiving $1.9 million in ARP-HCY Part I and Part II funds, PCS prioritized providing wraparound services and housing-related supports, staffing, and transportation to support the district’s students experiencing homelessness. The majority of the funds were dedicated to supporting housing partnerships.

With a collaborative contract already in place between the city of St. Petersburg, PCS, and other community partners, the district was able to expand this cooperative agreement to support housing for families using ARP-HCY funds. The community organization, Directions for Living, provides programs to get families into shelter and housing. Prior to ARP-HCY, this program collaboration was specific to students and families at the highest need schools with the highest numbers of students experiencing homelessness. Because of ARP-HCY funds, this contract was expanded to include any family identified as experiencing homelessness in the district. McKinney-Vento points of contact in each building can refer any family to this program. With just over $1 million in ARP-HCY funds going toward this housing collaboration, additional case managers were hired to support families not only get into housing, but also to support those at risk of homelessness by advocating with landlords and helping remove past evictions from rental histories, and place families in motels temporarily. This housing program can serve up to 90 families in a school year, and PCS has already referred more than 90 families to this program. The case managers work to remove barriers to the resources and supports that exist within the county.

In addition, PCS has used ARP-HCY funds to support a partnership with a community organization, Clothes for Kids, that provides uniforms to students. Prior to this partnership, PCS was using district funds to buy uniforms for students on an as needed basis; however, with ARP-HCY and Title IX funds, PCS is able to partner with Clothes for Kids so families can go to this organization to shop for uniforms and clean clothes for a week at a time, removing this barrier for students to attend school.

PCS is also using ARP-HCY funds to expand a collaboration with the community program Starting Right Now. This program serves unaccompanied homeless youth, providing housing, mentors and life skills to support students through high school and graduation, postsecondary planning, and continuing to support them through their higher education. District points of contact can refer unaccompanied homeless youth to this program, and ARP-HCY funds COVID health and hygiene protocols for referred students.

Using approximately $500,000, ARP-HCY funds made it possible to expand the district’s existing contract with Ever Driven Transportation, a private rideshare with vetted drivers for school of origin transportation. With the additional transportation option, attendance and stability have increased, most notably for students at the secondary level.

Finally, ARP-HCY funds were used to hire an additional staff member who will take over as homeless liaison in December of 2023. The liaison position is currently funded through the Title I, Part A homeless reservation, so funding for this position will shift from ARP-HCY to Title I, Part A when funds are no longer available.

PCS is carefully tracking data on these partnerships and initiatives, with the goal that community partners will step up to fund these once ARP-HCY funds are no longer available. Because the data shows the efficacy of the work, community partners will be able to see how their funding can be used in tandem with PCS funds. This includes other available grant application opportunities, expanding existing district contracts, and shifting district funds to best meet needs. The district prioritizes networking with community partners to show the successes of the collaborations and the need for further partnership and funding.

“We are visible in the community, reminding our community partners of McKinney-Vento so that our housing partners can also be McKinney-Vento advocates. We connect families to these partners who are experts at moving families into housing because our expertise is education. We’ve built a successful model of partnerships with our housing providers, and it’s been the best way to use ARP-HCY funds to support our families.”
-Dr. Christine Cantrell, Student and Community Support Services Homeless Liaison

Monte del Sol Charter School serves approximately 360 total students, with a large population of immigrant students, primarily Spanish-speaking, in grades 7-12. The number of students experiencing homelessness has increased in the last seven years from one student to 45 so far this year (mid-May) and many are immigrants. The part-time homeless liaison has worked hard to build relationships with families over the last seven years, providing a food bank as a way to meet needs and establish trust. As the liaison has gotten to know families over the years, it became evident that the school needed a fully bilingual staff member to support communication with families experiencing homelessness.

The homeless liaison was already working with the city to support families in accessing rental assistance through systems navigation. As the application process for rental assistance has become more cumbersome, immigrant families experiencing homelessness needed someone to help navigate the application in their native language. With ARP-HCY funds, the homeless liaison created a part-time Bilingual Benefits Navigator position to meet this need. The school hired a Navigator who was already a staff member and already had strong relationships with families and the community.

The Bilingual Benefits Navigator has lived experience that helps build connections and trust with families. The Navigator is primarily working on housing navigation, helping families apply for state rental and utility assistance with federal relief funds. However, the position has flexible hours and is able to support families in other ways, such as helping a mom and daughter navigate shopping for basic needs like clothing. In addition, the Navigator assists with identification of students because of the relationships that have been established. Families trust her with information about their living situations that they don’t feel comfortable sharing with others. The Navigator is also a support person for pregnant and parenting teens on campus, again drawing from her own lived experience. The Navigator is savvy in knowing how to help families with significant needs and has been critical in the school’s work with children, youth, and families experiencing homelessness who are also Spanish-speaking. The success of this position has been significant and the school anticipates writing future grants, including an EHCY subgrant, to sustain this position.

“Our school serves mostly immigrant families, including many established families who have relatives from Mexico move in and double up due to financial hardship. The continuity with families helps us to identify and support those who are experiencing homelessness. Families come into our school and I already have a history with them. With this Navigator position, we are able to serve our families in a caring and empathic way in their language.”

-Cate Moses, Homeless Education Liaison

Richland County School District One is using ARP-HCY funds to increase the capacity of their McKinney-Vento program for the first time. The district has created two positions to support the work of the long-time homeless liaison. The first position funded with ARP-HCY will be an administrative assistant to support the overall work of the program. The second position is a case manager position who will focus on outreach and identification, as well as systems navigation, supporting the work of the liaison, and continuing to build up the program.  Richland One has lost students because of the pandemic and overall numbers are down. However, increasing staff capacity with ARP-HCY funds provides the opportunity to be intentional and deliberate in finding and supporting these students.

In addition to adding staff members, Richland One will use ARP-HCY funds to support the work of a new partnership with the NAACP. Through a fellowship with law students from the University of South Carolina, the NAACP will provide clinics around the district to connect families with housing navigators and legal resources. The NAACP will provide trained housing navigators to walk families through housing issues ranging from eviction to tenant-landlord issues. Families will benefit from the pro-bono legal expertise provided, as well as the comprehensive connections to community resources. ARP-HCY funds will pay for school staff time to be available during the clinics, but the clinics themselves will not require funding, making this housing resource sustainable into the future.

“I am excited because for the first time we are able to help with capacity which is a huge need in our district. I’m excited about the wonderful footprint this work will leave.”

-Deborah C. Boone, McKinney-Vento/PASS Coordinator

The Roanoke City Schools McKinney-Vento Program Coordinator is using ARP-HCY funds to increase program staff capacity. In addition to the coordinator, the program has employed a part-time staff person to provide support. Using ARP-HCY funds, the part-time position has become a full-time Outreach Specialist position to support the work of receiving referrals and determining eligibility of students. ARP-HCY funds also have been used to hire a part-time Family Outreach Specialist position to manage and distribute community donations to students and families, as well as supporting the LEAs work on chronic absenteeism with students experiencing homelessness.

Another focus of Roanoke’s ARP-HCY funding is to support unaccompanied homeless youth. Roanoke City Schools is using funds to support their “Senior Shine and Dine” event to celebrate the graduation and success of seniors identified as experiencing homleessness. ARP-HCY funds are paying for iPad purchases for seniors to work on college applications, FAFSA applications, and other postsecondary planning and transitions. The Program Coordinator is in the process of developing an additional program for seniors that will focus on independent living skills to provide tools for youth in the next stage of their college or career journey. ARP-HCY funds will pay for a school counselor to support the program outside of regular contract hours.

In addition, ARP-HCY funds have made it possible for Roanoke City Schools to hire a part-time licensed clinical social worker to support the creation of the aforementioned independent living skills program. The social worker will provide regular support and professional development to staff who experience secondary trauma from supporting McKinney-Vento students in crisis. The LEA has seen an increase in domestic violence situations as a result of the pandemic, so the social worker also will provide support to conduct an initial assessment of the family and student’s situation, as well as help accessing community organizations to support survivors of domestic violence.

The Program Coordinator will collect data on these initiatives, evaluate their effectiveness, and explore additional funding to sustain them.

“It’s too bad the additional funding is the result of a pandemic, but it’s bringing awareness to all the things we aren’t getting support for, especially with unaccompanied homeless youth. With ARP-HCY funds, I’m finally getting to try things that I’ve always wanted to do during my 19 years as the homeless liaison.”
-Malora Horn, Roanoke City Schools McKinney-Vento Program Coordinator

To better understand how their ARP-HCY funds should be spent, Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS) developed a survey that was sent to students and parents experiencing homelessness, along with staff and community partners. Using current and past identified student information, MPS was able to use mini-grant funds received from Education Leads Home to provide gift cards for completing the survey, reaching over 200 unique students and parents of students experiencing homelessness. By asking questions about barriers, as well as what has helped students and families in the past, MPS identified three key areas to invest their ARP-HCY funds: transportation, basic needs, and mental health. They have matched those needs with ARP-HCY funds and taken steps toward hiring a transportation scheduler, bringing on a summer social worker focused on mental health needs of students experiencing homelessness, and partnering with the local housing authority to provide wrap-around support for accessing housing vouchers. To learn more about the survey and the other ways in which MPS plans to use ARP HCY funds, view this short presentation.