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

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can provide youth in out-of-home care is helping to sensitize school administrators, teachers, and other staff to the emotional and academic challenges of placement in foster care. Liaisons can help ensure that youth in out-of-home care are allowed to make up work they miss due to court hearings and case meetings and that they are not penalized for such absences. Furthermore, if teachers are aware that they have students in out-of-home care or homeless situations, they can be more sensitive in assigning homework or school projects. For example, it may be difficult for youth in care to bring cupcakes for the class or to complete school projects that require a lot of space or expensive supplies. “ My sister had to do a PowerPoint about her family, and she was so stressed out about how to do it and how to explain our family to the class. It’s a delicate situation. If teachers know, they can be more sensitive.” — Amanda Metiver 52 There are many practical strategies for ensuring the appropriate sharing of information between child welfare and education agencies. For example, in Anchorage, the Office of Children’s Services periodically emails the McKinney-Vento program a list of all children and youth awaiting foster care placement. The agencies are hoping to continue using technology to make their information-sharing more regular and efficient by matching their databases. The Arizona Department of Child Protective Services has embarked on a powerful collaboration in Pima County. A child welfare program manager worked with two group homes and the local high school to improve educational outcomes for youth involved in those programs. The group homes provided the high school with a list of students residing in those homes. The principal and caseworkers reviewed the students’ achievement and consulted with their teachers. Through this process, the team was able to identify strengths and weaknesses of individual students and implement services to support them. The program manager gave an example of their success: “ We found one girl who was doing really well in school but had failed a graphic design class. It turns out it was because she’d never seen a computer before. By sharing information and working together, we are better able to isolate and address specific issues like that.” — Carol Punske-Brasch 53 46 The McKinney-Vento Act and Children and Youth Awaiting Foster Care Placement
The program manager is now working to expand the initiative throughout the county. In Ann Arbor, MI, the local school district has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Student Advocacy Center, an educational advocacy organization that works with the juvenile court (see, Legal Center for Foster Care & Education, www.abanet.org/child/education). The MOU has resulted in an effective process for providing immediate, appropriate services to youth in care: 1. The Student Advocacy Center has the specific responsibility to “promptly alert [the school district] of any youth qualifying for and needing services, including transportation coordination, enrollment assistance, and school transition support.” 2. Upon making a referral, the Student Advocacy Center completes a referral form and a release of information/permission to provide services form. 3. Upon receiving the form, the homeless liaison calls the student and caregiver to do a complete educational intake, focusing on specific educational needs such as school stability, transportation, credit recovery, and tutoring. 4. The homeless liaison initiates appropriate educational services immediately. Other jurisdictions have developed forms to assist in information-sharing. In Fairfax County, VA, the homeless education liaison developed an enrollment and intake form to facilitate the exchange of information (see, Legal Center for Foster Care & Education, www.abanet.org/child/education). The Connecticut Department of Children and Family Services (DCF) has used a standard form for years to notify schools about the living arrangements of youth in care (see, Legal Center for Foster Care & Education, www.abanet.org/child/education). DCF caseworkers are required to complete the form and forward it to the involved school districts whenever a youth enters care or changes placement. The form indicates the following information: • The address of the child’s placement • The status of the biological parents’ rights • Whether the youth requires or may require special education Strategies for Improving Educational Outcomes through School Stability 47
Page 1 and 2: BUILDING FUTURES THROUGH EDUCATION
Page 3 and 4: Table of Contents Executive Summary
Page 5 and 6: Executive Summary “ Education was
Page 7 and 8: meeting the child’s unique needs,
Page 9 and 10: Treat youth in out-ofhome care with
Page 11 and 12: Educational Challenges of Homelessn
Page 13 and 14: This residential instability too of
Page 15 and 16: • As many as three-quarters of ol
Page 17 and 18: Overview of the McKinney-Vento Act
Page 19 and 20: (iii) children and youths who are l
Page 21 and 22: From Law into Practice: Strategies
Page 23 and 24: Public Schools, it took three years
Page 25 and 26: • Create an interagency task forc
Page 27 and 28: ENSURING REGULAR INTERAGENCY CONTAC
Page 29 and 30: and roundtable discussions with sch
Page 31 and 32: stakeholders to the table, such as
Page 33 and 34: Massachusetts • “Temporary, tra
Page 35 and 36: To summarize from narrower to broad
Page 37 and 38: for the duration of the school year
Page 39 and 40: they will be better able to manage
Page 41 and 42: 4. Ensure that education and child
Page 43 and 44: Whether they function as employees
Page 45 and 46: WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR ENROLLING TH
Page 47 and 48: WHO ARRANGES TRANSPORTATION? The lo
Page 49: • Immediate access to free school
Page 53 and 54: circumstances will exchanged inform
Page 55 and 56: “ I had an amazing caseworker fro
Page 57 and 58: From Practice into Law: Policy Reco
Page 59 and 60: 2. Amend federal and state child we
Page 61 and 62: 6. Implement procedures for schools
Page 63 and 64: Conclusion As the efforts of jurisd
Page 65 and 66: References Advocates for Children o
Page 67 and 68: Robertson, M., & Toro, P. (1999). H
Page 69 and 70: APPENDIX List of Interviewees Autho
Page 71 and 72: Endnotes 1 Personal communication,
Page 73 and 74: 26 Burley, M., & Halpern, M. (2001)
Page 76: For additional information, please

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