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Preschool Aged Homeless Children in Mississippi: Removing
Barriers to their Education
Diana Bowman [email protected] National Center for Homeless
Educationwww.serve.org/nche
Helpline: 800-308-2145 or homeless @serve.org
NCHE is the U.S. Department of Education’s homeless education technical assistance and information center
NCHE has A comprehensive website: www.serve.org/nche A toll-free helpline: Call 800-308-2145 or e-mail
[email protected] A listserv: Visit www.serve.org/nche/listserv.php for
subscription instructions Free resources: Visit
www.serve.org/nche/products.php Homeless Liaison Toolkit (2013 edition): http://
center.serve.org/nche/pr/liaison_toolkit.php
Get to Know NCHE
50% of homeless children in shelters are under the age of 5.
Research in neuroscience indicates that poverty and stress in babies can irreversibly alter brain development.
Early detection and intervention of developmental problems can impact future school success. Preschool and other early childhood services can
mitigate the impacts of homelessness and ensure that developmental and health problems are addressed early.
Importance of Preschool Services for Homeless Children
Safe, orderly environment – eliminate toxic stress
Love and attention Basic needs met: food, sleep, warmth Medical attention: illness, developmental
delays Stimulation (being read to, engaged in
conversation) Routine
What do Young Homeless Children Need?
McKinney-Vento and Young Homeless Children
Local liaisons must ensure that homeless children receive educational services for which they are eligible, including Head Start and Even Start, and preschool programs administered by the school district.
Local liaisons must provide homeless children with referrals to health care, dental, mental health, and other appropriate services.
School districts may use subgrant funds to provide developmentally appropriate early childhood education programs for homeless children.
State Plans must establish procedures that ensure that homeless children have equal access to public preschool programs administered by the state education agency
Mississippi State Plan
McKinney-Vento and Young Homeless Children
Preschool-aged homeless children are automatically eligible for Title I preschools. School districts should prioritize access to Title
I preschool programs for homeless preschool-aged children.
School districts may utilize Title I, Part A funds set aside for homeless students to provide services for preschool-aged homeless children, such as Screenings for developmental delays or Developmentally appropriate educational
activities.
Allowable Uses of Title I, Part A Funds
School districts are required to collect data annually on number of preschool-aged homeless children (ages 3-5, not kindergarten) that are Enrolled in public preschool programs and Are served with subgrant funds in LEAs
receiving subgrants. LEAs receiving subgrants must collect data
on children (ages 0-2) who are served through the LEA subgrant.
Data Collection
School districts should make every effort to identify and serve preschool-aged homeless children.
Preschool-aged homeless children should be enrolled immediately in programs in the district for which they are eligible even if the family does not have records.
What This Means for School Districts
Because preschool is not considered compulsory education, programs that are at legal capacity are not required to enroll homeless children, but should prioritize them on a waiting list.
The U.S. Department of Education does not require school of origin transportation for preschool-aged homeless children; however, some SEAs and LEAs enable these children to continue in their programs despite a residential move that would affect enrollment.
What This Means for School Districts
Purpose Activities
Creates awareness of one another’s programs
Joint trainings, sharing data and information
Provides an opportunity to share or leverage resources
Joint needs assessments, identify common needs, joint resource document, memorandum of agreement
Demonstrates strong, unified advocacy
Serve on task forces to create awareness of needs of young homeless children
Creates easy access for parents to multiple programs
Create a system of referrals, have enrollment forms available at each program facility
Importance of Collaboration
On December 20, 2014 the Mississippi Board of Education awarded competitive Early Learning Collaborative funding to 11 collaboratives over the next 3 years
Purpose: to support and facilitate the implementation of voluntary prekindergarten (preK) programs
Early Learning Collaborative Act of 2013
Clarke County Early Learning Coahoma County Pre-K Collaborative Initiative Corinth-Alcorn Prentiss Early Learning Collaborative DeSoto County Early Learning Collaborative Gilmore Early Learning Initiative Collaborative Lamar County Early Learning Collaborative McComb Community Collaborative for Early Learning
Success Petal Early Learning Collaborative Picayune School District Sunflower County Early Learning Collaborative Tallahatchie Early Learning AllianceContact Deputy Director of Policy Angela Bass at Mississippi First by e-mail at [email protected] or by phone at 601.398.9008
Mississippi Early Learning Collaboratives
Part C requires representation of the homeless State Coordinator on the Interagency Coordinating Council; Child Find identifies and evaluates children with disabilities, including homeless children
Part B serves preschool-aged children with disabilities ages 3-5.
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)
Programs for Infants and Toddlers with Disabilities: Ages Birth through 2
First Steps Early Intervention SystemMississippi Department of HealthPO Box 1700, 570 E. Woodrow Wilson, Jackson, MS 39215
Susan Boone, Part C [email protected] 451-3903 in MS601-576-7816601-576-7540http://www.msdh.state.ms.us/msdhsite/index.cfm/41,0,74,html
MS Early Intervention (IDEA, Part C)
Programs are required to serve young homeless children, prioritize them for enrollment, and enroll them even when records are not present
McKinney-Vento definition of homeless Requires collaboration with school district homeless
programs In 2009-2010, national data show that nearly 4% of
Head Start families were homeless; in MS, .5% were identified as homeless (Institute for Children, Poverty, & Homelessness)
Head Start and Early Head Start
Required to coordinate with school districts and Head Start programs;
MS programs: http://portal.hud.gov/hudportal/HUD?src=/states/mississippi/homeless/2006-12-27
HUD (Housing and Urban Development funded programs)
Child Care and Development Fund oversees grant funds to states for providing low-income working families with affordable, high-quality early care and after-school programs http://www.mdhs.state.ms.us/early-childhood-care-development/ Annual public hearing: advocate for prioritizing
homeless families for childcare support Home Visiting Programs
Help for parents Can be an alternative when preschool programs are
full
Early Childhood Programs
Identify resources for preschool aged homeless children in your school district.
Link with other programs to create a coordinated approach to serving preschool-aged homeless children, create awareness
Develop a “Collaboration Landscape”
To Dos for Local Liaisons
Train school staff in identifying preschool-aged homeless children.
Help staff understand the needs and rights of young homeless children.
NCHE Resource: Early Care and Education for Young Homeless Children http://center.serve.org/nche/downloads/briefs/early-childhood.pdf
To Dos for Local Liaisons
Share a new resource from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Birth to 5:Watch Me Thrive initiative A Housing and Shelter Provider’s guide to
Developmental and Behavioral Screening at https://www.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/ecd/shelter_screening_guide.pdf
To Dos for Local Liaisons
Collect data on the number of preschool-aged homeless students. Determine if this number is consistent with the
level of poverty in your area and estimated high percentage of young children among all children who experience homelessness
Compare with number of young children experiencing homelessness in Head Start, HUD programs
To Dos for Local Liaisons
Discuss the needs of preschool-aged homeless children with your Title I coordinator and ensure that Services are covered in the Part A set aside for
homeless children and Homeless children are prioritized for
enrollment in Title I preschool programs.
To Dos for Local Liaisons
Contact an Early Learning Collaborative in your area Discuss how with administrators how they can
identify and prioritize services for young homeless children
Ensure they understand the definition of homeless
Share the NCHE brief with them
To Dos for Local Liaisons
Contact Barbara Greene – [email protected]
Contact NCHE – [email protected] or 800-318-2145 [email protected]
NCHE web page on preschool homeless children: http://center.serve.org/nche/ibt/sc_preschool.php
NAEHCY web page on preschool homeless children: http://www.naehcy.org/educational-resources/early-childhood
For More Information
26th Annual NAEHCY Conferencewww.naehcy.org
Only national conference that focuses specifically on educating homeless children and youth: Pre-k, K-12, Higher Education
