I. LAWS
a. Federal McKinney-Vento Act, 42
U.S.C. 11431
b. Illinois Education for Homeless Children Act, 105 ILCS 45/1-1, et
seq.
II. IDENTIFICATION
a. Those who lack a fixed, regular, and
adequate nighttime residence, including those who are sharing the
housing of other persons due o loss of housing, economic hardship, or a
similar reason; are living in motels, hotels, trailer parks, or camping
grounds due to the lack of alternative adequate accommodations; or are
living in emergency or transitional shelters.
b. Can include children temporarily living with family members
c. Can include students currently attending school in your district who
are not presently identified as “homeless”
d. Work with your district's liaison (required by law) to identify
homeless children in your area through PAD shelters, and other
community groups-don't just rely on census data.
e. Include all homeless children in subgrant applications, regardless
of whether they are actually attending
III. DISTRICT RESIDENCY
a. Under Current Law - “School of
Origin” - the district the child had been attending when “permanently
housed”
i. Illinois HB 4308 - “School of
Origin” = the school last legally attended
b. Immediate enrollment on request
IV. SCHOOL SERVICES
a. Transportation
i. Make certain you are applying for
subgrants for the additional costs
ii. District of residency and District of Origin agree on cost
allocation
iii. Solutions in Transporting Child to District of Origin
1. School Bus
2.. Parental, family, or shelter transportation (gas card)
3. Public Transportation
iv. If no creative option is “feasible” - conduct best interests
analysis
b. Meals
c. Head Start, Even Start, preschool, referrals for health care
V. SPECIAL EDUCATION
a. Request IEPs from District of Origin
b. Develop interim IEPs for students lacking documentation
c. Last resort: provide special education services according what
parents or surrogate indicates child had been receiving previously
VI. ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
a. Your Local District's Liaison
b. Regional Area Liaison (Area 2, Linda Delimata, 815-652-2054)
c. Regional Office of Education
d. State Board of Education Homeless Coordinator (Peggy Dunn,
217-782-2948)
e. For enrollment forms, tip sheets, and other resources:
http://homelessed.net