The McKinney-Vento Act and Children and Youth ... - State of Michigan

The child welfare agency
provides immediate,
initial transportation or
otherwise works with the
school to prevent delays
in attendance while the
school district makes
long-term arrangements.
Connecticut
Pima County, AZ
The school district
obtained a $5000 grant
from the Workforce
Investment Board to
help defray the costs
of transportation in
particularly expensive
cases.
Ann Arbor, MI
In other areas, the school system is bearing the full cost of transporting
children and youth awaiting foster care placement to their schools of origin.
This has led to disputes between education and child welfare agencies and
contributed to an unwillingness to serve youth in out-of-home care under the
McKinney-Vento Act. In some cases, it also has provoked a delay in initiating
transportation services for other homeless students, jeopardizing their school
attendance. Hence, child welfare and education agencies must work together
to increase transportation funding and infrastructure.
In addition to securing funding, buses, drivers, and other transportation
resources, providing transportation requires finding or training staff with
the capacity to manage the logistics. In fact, none of the McKinney-Vento
Act’s protections can be adequately implemented without sufficient staff. The
following section discusses this issue in more detail.
36 The McKinney-Vento Act and Children and Youth Awaiting Foster Care Placement