Regional education office, schools partner to pinpoint, provide for Sauk Valley area’s homeless students

STERLING — A federal program is working behind the scenes to ensure students experiencing homelessness, including those in the Sauk Valley, do not fall between the cracks.

The McKinney-Vento Homeless Education Program is an initiative designed to support children and youths experiencing homelessness to gain equal access to a free, public education. Students are identified through registration, staff and community outreach; services include academic support, transportation, and necessities such as toiletries and clothing.

Deb Sweeney is the Area 2 lead liaison for the program at the Regional Office of Education No. 47 in Sterling, which serves students across Lee, Ogle and Whiteside counties. She said every school is required to ask specific questions during student registration that are designed to help identify students experiencing homelessness or forms of housing instability, such as “couch surfing.”

“That’s why there’s training needed for all the district staff, because it may be the bus driver that is seeing something when they’re dropping kids off, the nurses need to know the doctor, all of the teaching staff, everybody,” Sweeney said. “And some of it’s just eyeballs, something’s different, and then someone paying attention to that. Other times, it can be the community reaching out to the school.”

The McKinney-Vento Act requires school districts to post information about the educational rights of homeless children and youths on their websites, registration forms and common areas such as laundromats, public libraries, homeless shelters and soup kitchens.

Sweeney said school districts’ homeless liaisons undergo yearly training. She also regularly shares updated information and specialized training opportunities with other liaisons and ROEs across the region that can be shared with school staff, such as nurses and social workers.

The program is funded through a state grant that helps provide students with items from laptops and school supplies to shoes and incidentals.

“People so often just think of the paper, pencil part, and that’s usually the easy part to say to a local church, ‘Hey, could you get us five book bags,’” Sweeney said. “But that’s just the basics. They need to have laundry soap so their clothes could be clean. They need transportation help, oftentimes, to get from where they’re living to where they want to go to school. So, it’s much bigger than paper, pencils.”

The program also aims to assist a special segment of the student homeless population – “unaccompanied youths.”

“These are kids that are not living with a parent or a legal guardian, and some are living with good, stable adults,” Sweeney said. “Most are having a tendency to be couch surfing. So, two weeks here, one week there. The best we can do for those kids is to help them feel that there’s someone safe at the school that they can talk to. Other counseling support may be needed, helping them with getting applied for a medical card for themselves, food stamps, or if they’re going to be in college, the FAFSA.”

Kris Smith, the McKinney-Vento liaison for Rock Falls Township High School, reported the school currently has 20 identified McKinney-Vento-eligible students, most of whom are an unaccompanied youth.

Assistant Superintendent of Dixon Public Schools Doug Stansford said DPS currently has 36 students who are classified as homeless.

“The district has been using a grant to purchase needed items for students,” Stansford said. “This may include gift cards for meals, gas, clothing, etc. The district has also used grant funds to cover short-term temporary hotel stays for families waiting to get housing.”

Sweeney said parents have the final say in decisions affecting their child’s education in the program.

“Our goal as the educating society side of it is to make sure that the family is understanding what all their rights are,” Sweeney said.

One of the most important decisions involves school placement. Under McKinney-Vento, students experiencing homelessness have the right to stay at their “school of origin” – the school they attended before their housing situation changed – or enroll in the “school of residence,” which is based on where they are currently living.

“Maybe now they’re living in a different community, and so the child would have the right to continue where they had been going,” Sweeney explained, adding that most families prefer to keep their children in the school they are familiar with, a choice schools typically support.

“It’s transportation that’s usually the biggest problem,” Sweeney said. “So, then we have to be creative.”

If a student’s housing situation improves mid-year, they still qualify for support under the program through the end of the school year. This continued support remains even if a family signs a lease and moves into permanent housing. The reason, Sweeney explained, is rooted in national data.

“Unfortunately, three times a year, these children statistically, nationwide, will become homeless again,” Sweeney said. “So you do not take them off the supports just because they have reached that.”

There is also no limit to how long a student can be considered in transition. Each school year begins with a re-evaluation to determine if the family qualifies.

“And unfortunately, many times it’s yes, they do,” Sweeney added.

Program support does not end at high school. As students transition into higher education, McKinney-Vento liaisons help connect them with designated contacts at colleges and universities.

For more information on the program or to get started, contact the school your child is attending or call Sweeney at 815-266-1221.