Homeless and Foster Education
Trauma and Students Experiencing Homelessness Workshop:We will be holding a FREE workshop on December 9th from 9-11 am that covers trauma and students experiencing homelessness. If you are interested in joining us, a flyer is attached and the OMS link is here:https://lacoe.k12oms.
FAFSA Support: John Burton Foundation has posted its visual FAFSA Guide to support students experiencing homelessness. Check it out here:
https://www.
WINTER SHELTERS: LAHSA List of Winter Shelters:https://www.lahsa.
https://www.lahsa.
https://www.https://www.http://www.laalmanac.McKinney-Vento Homeless Education Assistance Act
The McKinney-Vento Homeless Program helps homeless children have equal access to a free public education as provided to all of the other children in the District. A child is considered homeless if they do not have a regular adequate residence. This means any students living in shelters, in substandard housing, doubled up with friends or relatives because they have no other place to go and cannot afford a home. The other living arrangements included are single room hotels, cars, parks, public places, and transitional affidavit.
Homeless Children are guaranteed enrollment in school by The Federal McKinney-Vento Act and California State law if you live:
In a shelter (family, domestic violence, or youth shelter or transitional living program)
In a motel, hotel or weekly rate housing
In a house or apartment with more than one family because of economic hardship or loss
In an abandoned building, in car, at a campground, or on the street
In temporary foster care or with an adult who is not your parent or guardian
In substandard housing (without electricity, water, or heat)
With friends or family because you are a runaway or an unaccompanied youth
To enroll in or attend school if you live under any of these conditions, you do NOT need to provide:
Proof of residency
Immunization records or tuberculosis skin-test results
School records
Legal Guardianship papers
You may:
Participate fully in all school activities and programs for which you are eligible
Continue to attend the school in which you were last enrolled even if you have moved away from that school’s attendance zone or district
Receive transportation from your current residence back to your school or origin
Qualify automatically for child nutrition program (free and reduced-price lunches and other district food programs).
Contact the district liaison to resolve any disputes that arise during the enrollment process.
For questions about enrolling in school or for assistance with school enrollment, contact your local School District Liaison for the homeless.
Foster Youth
Who is a Foster Youth?
Foster youth are children with an open child dependency court case who are placed by and for whom the State agency has placement and care responsibility.
This includes, but is not limited to, placements in foster family homes, foster homes of relatives, group homes, emergency shelters, residential facilities, child care institutions, and pre-adoptive homes
All children in foster care have a county caseworker. In Los Angeles County, the agency is the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS). Other counties have different agency names, but provide the same services.
How do foster youth compare to other students academically?
Children in care are often subject to changes in placement, which may require a change in schools and can have a disruptive effect on academic outcomes. On average, children in foster care fare less well in school than other students.
On the state’s standardized tests in English language arts and mathematics, students in foster care on average consistently score lower than the general student population.
SchoolHouse Connection is a national non-profit organization working to overcome homelessness through education. We provide strategic advocacy and practical assistance in partnership with early childhood programs, schools, institutions of higher education, service providers, families, and youth. We believe education is the only permanent solution to homelessness. Our vision is that children and youth experiencing homelessness have full access to quality learning, birth through higher education, so they will never be homeless as adults, and the next generation will never be homeless.
National Center of Homeless Education
Funded by the U.S. Department of Education, the National Center for Homeless Education (NCHE) operates the Department's technical assistance center for the federal Education for Homeless Children and Youth (EHCY) Program.
United States Interagency Council on Homelessness
At the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness, we coordinate and catalyze the federal response to homelessness, working in close partnership with senior leaders across our 19 federal member agencies.
By organizing and supporting leaders such as Governors, Mayors, Continuum of Care leaders, and other local officials, we drive action to achieve the goals of the federal strategic plan to prevent and end homelessness—and ensure that homelessness in America is ended once and for all.
California Department of Education
Provides information and resources for homeless children and youths and their right to enroll, attend, participate fully, and succeed in school.
California Homeless Youth Project
If you are a young person experiencing or on the verge of homelessness and looking for help, please call the California Youth Crisis Line at 1-800-843-5200 for confidential support, encouragement, and referrals.
Los Angeles County Office of Education
Homeless Children & Youth provides services and coordinates with the federal McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, which addresses the problems that homeless children and youth face in enrolling, attending and succeeding in school.
Los Angeles County Office Of Education
The LACOE Foster Youth Services Coordinating Program (FYSCP) provides support services for students who suffer the traumatic effects of displacement from family, schools, and multiple placements in foster care.
