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Did you know??? Beyond High SchoolYouth with less than a High School Diploma or GED have a 346% Higher Risk of Experiencing Homelessness (Morton, Dworsky, & Samuels, 2017) . “The local liaison, along with guidance counselors and other LEA staff tasked with college preparation, should ensure that all homeless high school students receive information and individualized counseling regarding college.” While our students will one day leave our halls and schools to begin a new journey in real life, it is our responsibility to be strategic in communicating with them now, often, and with guiding support to benefit them once they have graduated. It is most important that not just our McKinney Vento students, but all students receive ongoing support to making lifelong sustainable goals to graduate from college or move into a field of work that will help them to have successful lives. This should be done because it is right for children, but also because Title IX, Part A Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) School Counselors are to Assist Homeless Youth with College Readiness and Career Preparation. | Did you know??? The Importance of Early Education The brain is 90% developed by age 5 Adverse childhood experiences (ACE’s) negatively impact brain development. Quality early education programs can mitigate the negative impacts of ACE’s. *Brain development during the preschool years: Timothy T. Brown, Terry L. Jernigan. Rev. Author manuscript; available in PMC 2013 Dec 1. The McKinney Vento Federal Law not only supports school age students, but also those ages birth to age 4. Non-school age siblings are eligible to receive McKinney Vento supports as their siblings that are enrolled in schools. We work closely with the local Head Start programs as well as with the PreK program here in our District to offer enrollment spots to students that have been displaced to begin their learning years in a PreK program. It is our hope that we can counteract negative impacts of homelessness as it may affect their brain development to include them in a program that can grow their young minds and increase their social skills to be best ready to begin Kindergarten in the upcoming year. We encourage our School Social Workers and PreK teachers to form a line of communication to keep each other aware of the students that we serve and when enrollment availability becomes up. | Identification of McKinney Vento Students/Families Relationships are key in helping us to identify students/families that may become displaced. These relationships are necessary for instructional staff, student support staff, and administrators that may notice a change in behavior, academics, or attendance that may prompt you to look a little deeper into a child's current situation. These very indicators could be the unraveling signs that may indicate that something may be going on at home, may be under emotional distress, or even that students may be displaced. Displaced Individuals are those who lack a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence. Fixed residence: A residence that is stationary, permanent, and not subject to change. Regular residence: A residence that is used on a regular basis ( i.e., nightly). Adequate residence: Is sufficient for meeting the physical and psychological needs typically met in home environments. Remember that it is what we do to support students emotionally and to support their basic needs that will allow us to truly be able to teach them. It is what we do that is best for children that will bring about the greatest learning outcomes to prepare students instructionally and as a whole child. |
Did you know??? Beyond High School
Youth with less than a High School Diploma or GED have a 346% Higher Risk of Experiencing Homelessness
(Morton, Dworsky, & Samuels, 2017) . “The local liaison, along with guidance counselors and other LEA staff tasked with college preparation, should ensure that all homeless high school students receive information and individualized counseling regarding college.” While our students will one day leave our halls and schools to begin a new journey in real life, it is our responsibility to be strategic in communicating with them now, often, and with guiding support to benefit them once they have graduated. It is most important that not just our McKinney Vento students, but all students receive ongoing support to making lifelong sustainable goals to graduate from college or move into a field of work that will help them to have successful lives.
This should be done because it is right for children, but also because Title IX, Part A Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) School Counselors are to Assist Homeless Youth with College Readiness and Career Preparation.
Did you know??? The Importance of Early Education
The McKinney Vento Federal Law not only supports school age students, but also those ages birth to age 4. Non-school age siblings are eligible to receive McKinney Vento supports as their siblings that are enrolled in schools. We work closely with the local Head Start programs as well as with the PreK program here in our District to offer enrollment spots to students that have been displaced to begin their learning years in a PreK program. It is our hope that we can counteract negative impacts of homelessness as it may affect their brain development to include them in a program that can grow their young minds and increase their social skills to be best ready to begin Kindergarten in the upcoming year.
We encourage our School Social Workers and PreK teachers to form a line of communication to keep each other aware of the students that we serve and when enrollment availability becomes up.
Identification of McKinney Vento Students/Families
Displaced Individuals are those who lack a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence. Fixed residence: A residence that is stationary, permanent, and not subject to change. Regular residence: A residence that is used on a regular basis ( i.e., nightly). Adequate residence: Is sufficient for meeting the physical and psychological needs typically met in home environments.
Remember that it is what we do to support students emotionally and to support their basic needs that will allow us to truly be able to teach them. It is what we do that is best for children that will bring about the greatest learning outcomes to prepare students instructionally and as a whole child.
Stephanie Alston, McKinney Vento Liaison