NYS-TEACHS › Info and Forms

NYS-TEACHS
at Advocates for Children

151 West 30th Street
5th Floor
New York, NY 10001

TEL 800.388.2014
FAX 212.807.6872

info@nysteachs.org

Glossary of Common Terms and Acronyms

Click the links below to find commonly used terms and acronyms regarding students experiencing homelessness.

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ACS: Administration for Children's Services. ACS is a New York City organization that helps ensure that children in NYC grow up in safe, permanent homes with strong families.
BEDS: Basic Educational Data System. BEDS, the NYSED system for school data collection, includes two homeless related questions: 1. the number of homeless students that lack a fixed, adequate, regular, nighttime residence in grades K-8; and 2. the nighttime residence status of these homeless students
BOCES: Board of Co-operational Education Services. Schools receive BOCES aid from the State to encourage smaller New York school districts to cooperate and share resources. BOCES are considered to be LEAs in NYS and are therefore required to designate a homeless liaison.
CBO: Community-Based Organization. CBOs are committed to helping members of an identifiable group obtain health, education, and other basic human services.
Comparable Services: All students experiencing homelessness are entitled to services that are similar to the services provided to permanently housed students. These services include public preschool programs, programs for students with special needs, programs for students with limited English proficiency, vocational education, programs for gifted and talented students, before and after school programs, school nutrition programs and transportation.
Continuum of Care: HUD allocates homeless assistance grants to organizations participating in local homeless assistance program planning networks called Continuums of Care (CoCs). CoCs at the city, county and state level coordinate their efforts to produce annual plans that identify the needs of local homeless populations, the resources that are currently available in the community to address those needs, and additional resources needed to fill identified gaps. The CoC process is a community-based approach that encourages the creation of collaborative, comprehensive systems to meet the diverse of needs of local homeless populations.
CPS: Child Protective Services. Each county in New York State has its own branch of CPS, which is required to investigate reported cases of child abuse and maltreatment to protect children (under 18 years old) from further abuse or maltreatment, and to provide rehabilitative services to children, parents, and other family members involved.
CSE/CPSE: Committee for Special Education/Committee for Preschool Special Education. CSEs and CPSEs are primarily responsible for evaluating students with special needs, developing their IEPs, and arranging for students' special education programs and services. In New York City, each of the ten geographically defined regions has its own CSE and CPSE.
DHS: Department of Homeless Services. DHS aims to prevent homelessness when possible and provides short-term emergency shelter and re-housing support when needed. DHS is the New York City equivalent of DSS.
Doubled-up: A temporary housing situation in which a student or family shares the housing of relatives, friends, or others because of a loss of housing or economic hardship.
DSS: Department of Social Services. County Departments of Social Services provide or administer publicly funded social services and cash assistance programs as part of the OTDA. Families whose income meets state guidelines and who meet other criteria may be able to receive a subsidy to offset some of their child care costs. In New York City, DSS is called DHS.
D-V: Domestic Violence. The majority of homeless mothers have experienced family violence at some point in their lives. These families require special protection, care and support.
DYCD: Department of Youth and Community Development. DYCD facilitates youth and community development by awarding contracts to a broad network of community-based organizations throughout New York City. DYCD is the Youth Bureau for NYC.
EAF: Emergency Assistance to Families. DSS is responsible for providing transportation to the school of origin for students in families that are EAF-eligible and have been placed by DSS outside of the school district of origin.
EAU: Emergency Assistance Unit. The EAU was New York City's only entrance to the City's homeless family shelter system for 10 years, until the opening of the PATH Intake Center in November, 2004. In 2006, NYC closed the EAU and transferred all of its cases to the PATH Center.
Education Neglect: Students' parents or legal guardians are responsible for ensuring that school-age youth attend school. If a school has reason to believe that the parent/guardian is neglecting his child's education. The school has an obligation to report the parent/guardian for education neglect; however, if a student is missing a significant amount of school because of difficulties related to homelessness that the school or state is obligated to resolve (i.e. transportation has not been properly arranged), the parent should not be held accountable for education neglect.
EI: Early Intervention. Provides services for students with special needs age 0-3 years old.
FAFSA: Free Application for Federal Student Aid. FAFSA is a form that undergraduate and graduate students (and their parents) complete annually by to determine their eligibility for federal student financial aid, loans, and work-study programs. Most states and schools also use information from the FAFSA to award non-federal aid.
FAPE: Free and Appropriate Public Education. IDEA requires school districts to provide all eligible students with a free appropriate public education. FAPE is defined as: special education and related services that are provided at public expense; meet the standards of the State Educational Agency; include an appropriate preschool, elementary, or secondary school education in the State involved, and are provided in conformity with the individualized education program required under IDEA.