GOAL

     The McKinney Act calls on states to remove enrollment and attendance barriers for homeless children and youth, created by state and local laws and policies. Our goal will be to overcome all obstacles which impact equity and academic achievement for homeless children and youth.

     Our focus is on services provided in order to increase the sensitivity in all stakeholders of the emotional and psychological obstacles to educational achievement unique to the homeless youth population and strategies to provide equal access to educational programs. We will support the whole person developmental approach within the Homeless Program participants and promote collaborative linkages between educational and service agencies.

SERVICES

EDUCATIONAL SERVICES:

• High quality targeted tutorial and mentoring services to know concentrations of homeless children and youth
• Providing professional development opportunities in mathematics and reading
• Before, after, and summer school programs
• Developmentally appropriate early childhood education programs
• Expedite educational evaluations
• Parent education and training programs
• Holding and facilitating regional and inter-agency forums and meetings
• Increasing the sensitivity in all of the emotional and psychological obstacles to educational achievement unique to the homeless youth population
• Coordination of Services
• Ensuring homeless students access to appropriate existing services (for example, early childhood programs, special education programs, talented and gifted programs, vocational educations, and school meals programs)
• Coordinating, initiating and promoting, collaborative linkages among educational and service agencies (Head Start, programs for adolescents, and housing agencies)
• Supporting the Unified Family and Whole Person Development approach with Homeless Program
• Paying costs associated with tracking, obtaining, and transferring school records
• Promoting and modeling the delivery of programs with high educational standards

• Raising awareness among educators and the community
• Providing specific training for educators

TRANSPORTATION:

• Paying the excess cost of transporting homeless students to school

SCHOOL SUPPLIES:

• Providing school supplies to students
• Providing supplies for non-school facilities that operate educational programs

EXTRAORDINARY OR EMERGENCY ASSISTANCE:

• Providing other support, as necessary, to enroll and retain homeless students in school

BENEFITS

• If you move a lot
• If you live in a shelter or motel
• If you are on the street or homeless