Liaisons: McKinney-Vento and the Role of the Liaison

This guide, published by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)and updated January 2008, describes several methods for identifying, counting, and learning about homeless people outside of shelters or other residential programs within a local homeless assistance network.

New York State Education Department

All schools districts are required to set-aside a portion of their Title I, Part A funding for students experiencing homelessness. This document provides information about allowable and unallowable uses for Title I homeless set-aside funding.

This document provides a list of examples of evidence that a parent, legal guardian, or unaccompanied youth may include in an appeal in order to show that the student is homeless under McKinney-Vento.

NYC Dept. of Education

This regulation updates and supersedes Chancellor’s Regulation A-780 dated June 29, 2009. It
has been amended to conform to the provisions of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act
of 2001, as amended by the Every Student Succeeds Act of 2015, and ensures that homeless
children receive the programs and services that children with permanent residences receive,
including services provided under federal programs.

NYC Dept. of Education

This Chancellor's Regulation Clarifies the process for students seeking enrollment into non-zoned schools for
elementary and middle school grades (§§ II.E.4, II.F.2.d, II.H).

• Modifies that Committee on Special Education or school will develop a Comparable
Service Plan to provide a child with services comparable to those described in a nonDOE IEP (§ V.B.1).

NYS-TEACHS

This worksheet, created by NYS-TEACHS, is a checklist of responsibilities for NYC Students in Temporary Housing School-Based Liaisons. It is intended for use as an organizational tool for School-Based Liaisons to keep track of activities and resources for serving students in temporary housing.

NYS-TEACHS

Centering Anti-Racist Approaches to Conversations with Families and Colleagues
McKinney-Vento liaisons are responsible for the identification, enrollment, and the removal of educational barriers for students experiencing homelessness. McKinney-Vento liaisons can create meaningful change in their districts and the lives of students experiencing homelessness by providing internal trainings and connecting students to educational resources and community referrals. Unfortunately, due to systemic racism across many aspects of American life, Black, Latinx, Native American, and Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander communities experience homelessness at disproportionate rates compared to white and Asian communities. Systemic racism exists in schools; therefore, it is crucial for McKinney-Vento liaisons to reflect on school protocols and narratives that reinforce racial bias and inequity. Even small intentional changes, such as in our semantics, can have positive effects on family relationships and ultimately, the well-being and success of students. We created this tip sheet to help McKinney-Vento liaisons and other school staff reflect on their own communication styles, race, and how institutional racism impacts students and families.

NCHE Brief
This issue brief from NCHE provides helpful information on what to do and what not to do when determining if a student is eligible for services under McKinney-Vento. Please note: with the reauthorization of McKinney-Vento under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), which went into effect on October 1, 2016, there are stronger privacy protections relating to the confidentiality of address information for students in temporary housing.

This page of the Resource Library contains resources for Liaisons to help identify the eligibility of homeless students.

This NCHE brief provides local homeless education liaisons and school districts with recommended steps to take and practices to avoid when seeking to confirm a student's McKinney-Vento eligibility.

This page of the Resource Library on this website contains resources for dispute resolution and the appeals process.

This guide by the NYS Early Childhood Advisory Council (ECAC) has information for parents, early care and education providers, school district staff, shelter providers, and other social service professionals about early care and education programs. This guide also provides information on determining eligibility for children in temporary housing, and their rights and protections.

You can also find a handy chart where community-specific information about early care and education programs can be included and then shared with parents. This document is a fillable PDF, so you can enter information about local programs and services on the chart itself, print it out, and easily share it with parents. Additionally, a link to a fillable Word document version of the chart can be found below.

This page of the Resource Library on this website contains resources for early childhood education and referrals.

This NCHE brief describes common enrollment barriers experienced by students in homeless situations, summarizes the key school enrollment provisions included in the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, and suggests strategies for ensuring the immediate school enrollment and full school participation of McKinney-Vento-eligible students.

NYS-TEACHS

The McKinney-Vento Enrollment Checklist, developed by NYS-TEACHS, outlines steps McKinney-Vento liaisons should take when enrolling students experiencing homelessness. The checklist includes links to key documents and referrals.

This page of the Resource Library contains resources surrounding Enrollment for homeless students.

This flowchart is meant to aid you in making decisions about a student’s eligibility as homeless under the McKinney-Vento Act (42 U.S.C. 11431 et seq.), but it may not capture every housing situation.

This report examines the growing problem of student homelessness by interviewing and surveying currently and formerly homeless students and the state coordinators and local liaisons assigned to help them. Written by a team of researchers at Civic Enterprises, a public policy and strategy firm, in association with Hart Research Associates, the study was released by America’s Promise Alliance, a leader of the GradNation campaign.

This page provides comprehensive FAFSA-related resources to help youth, K-12 educators, homeless service providers, and higher education professionals understand, prepare, and fill out the FAFSA.

The Housing Questionnaire should be used by all school districts as the first page of the enrollment packet for all newly enrolling students. The Housing Questionnaire should also be given to all students/families any time they report a change of address. The New York State Education Department (NYSED) requires all LEAs that receive Title I funds (including school districts, charter schools, and BOCES) to use the Housing Questionnaire. NYSED also encourages all other LEAs to use the Housing Questionnaire because it asks about students’ living arrangements in order to identify students experiencing homelessness in the school district.

The Housing Questionnaire should be used by all school districts as the first page of the enrollment packet for all newly enrolling students. The Housing Questionnaire should also be given to all students/families any time they report a change of address. The New York State Education Department (NYSED) requires all LEAs that receive Title I funds (including school districts, charter schools, and BOCES) to use the Housing Questionnaire. NYSED also encourages all other LEAs to use the Housing Questionnaire because it asks about students’ living arrangements in order to identify students experiencing homelessness in the school district.

This NCHE brief summarizes the key provisions of Subtitle VII-B of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act related to the identification of children and youth experiencing homelessness; and
provides an overview of implementation strategies at the state and local levels.

NYSED Field Memo

Under the federal McKinney-Vento Act, as reauthorized by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), McKinney-Vento liaisons are required to participate in professional development so they can better identify and meet the needs of children and youth experiencing homelessness (42 U.S.C. §§ 11432[f][6] & [g][6][A][ix]). The New York State Education Department (NYSED or “the department”) requires that the McKinney-Vento liaison from each local educational agency (LEA) attend at least one of the professional development sessions offered by the department’s technical assistance center, NYS-TEACHS, by June 30, 2023, to comply with the federal training requirement.

This Field Memo provides information about when a district can directly bill another district for tuition for a student who was homeless and has become permanently housed; and what documentation a district should submit to another district when requesting such reimbursement.

The McKinney-Vento Homeless Education Assistance Act is a federal law that protects the public education of children and youth experiencing homelessness. The text attached here is the latest version of the law since it was reauthorized on December 10, 2015 by Title IX, Part A of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA).

This brief explores caregiver living situations and offers strategies that local homeless education liaisons (hereafter referred to as local liaisons) and school staff can implement to ensure that these students and their caregiver families receive appropriate services.

NYC DOE

The forms posted on this site are for schools and Family Welcome Center staff to share with families. Each form is available in ten languages, and most forms are PDFs that can be filled out online. For children entering grades 3-K through kindergarten in September 2020, please reach out to the program where you’ve accepted an offer regarding specific registration instructions.

NYSED Guidance

This August 2019 guidance from NYSED provides basic information on the educational rights of students in temporary housing in NY State, including information on other NYSED guidance, forms, and resources.

NYSED Field Memo

This 2021 Memo from the New York State Education Department outlines important information and resources for Local Education Agencies (LEAs) regarding the rights of and services available to recently arrived unaccompanied children and youth. The memo includes information and guidance about immediate enrollment, free school meals, immunizations, and the English-Language Learner (ELL) identification process for unaccompanied children and youth.

This toolkit is intended to assist LEA liaisons by providing information on increasing access to and success in education for children and youth experiencing homelessness.

Please note: this resource does not include information on transportation protocols specific to New York State. For more information, please see our page on transportation

NYS Education Law Section 3209 describes the rights of students in temporary housing in New York State.

Important changes to New York Education Law Section 3209 went into effect on April 20, 2017. The changes to this law reflect changes to the federal McKinney-Vento Act that were made under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). Below, along with the link to download the new text of the law, you will find a link to a marked-up version of Education Law § 3209 that highlights the changes.

United States Department of Education

On March 2, 2017, the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) revised the Non-Regulatory Guidance for the Education for Homeless Children and Youths Program. This revised Non-Regulatory Guidance replaces the July 2016 Guidance and includes new questions and answers on the amendments to the McKinney-Vento Act made by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), which took effect on October 1, 2016, and new technical assistance on promising practices for implementing homeless education requirements at the State and local levels.

NYS-TEACHS offers FREE brochures and posters with information on the educational rights of children and youth who are homeless.

NYS-TEACHS

Our Quick Tip Sheets provide detailed information about the rights of students experiencing homelessness in a one-page format. Each guide is targeted to a specific school role.

NYS-TEACHS

McKinney-Vento Liaisons are required to refer students and families to key services and supports. These supports include early education, health and mental health care, housing, and other appropriate supports. Our template referral lists are intended to help you streamline your referral process and/or provide information that may be needed in a sensitive manner.

These supports include early education, health and mental health care, housing, and other appropriate supports.
Our template referral lists are intended to help you streamline your referral process and/or provide information
that may be needed in a sensitive manner. Please note that these forms don’t replace individualized assistance;
they are meant to give you and your families a starting point and summary of local referrals.

New York State Education Department

The STAC-202 form indicates that a student has been designated as homeless, and specifies the name of the district the student will be attending. It is also used by local districts to request reimbursement from NYSED for the costs of education a temporarily housed student who moves into the district from another school district in New York State.

In accordance with Federal and State legislation, all personally identifiable information (PII) must be sent to the STAC Unit via one of the following approved modes of transmission:

SED File Transfer Manager (FTM): Sign Up for access to SED File Transfer Manager here. Log in here.
Fax to (518) 402-5047, with notification to the recipient of when the information will be sent.
US Mail 1st Class/Priority, or with another service with tracking (UPS, DHL, or FedEx).

New York State Education Department

The STAC-202 form indicates that a student has been designated as homeless, and specifies the name of the district the student will be attending. It is also used by local districts to request reimbursement from NYSED for the costs of education a temporarily housed student who moves into the district from another school district in New York State.

In accordance with Federal and State legislation, all personally identifiable information (PII) must be sent to the STAC Unit via one of the following approved modes of transmission:

SED File Transfer Manager (FTM): Sign Up for access to SED File Transfer Manager here. Log in here.
Fax to (518) 402-5047, with notification to the recipient of when the information will be sent.
US Mail 1st Class/Priority, or with another service with tracking (UPS, DHL, or FedEx).

New York State Education Department
This is a sample policy that school districts may adopt in order to follow the New York State procedure for resolving disputes regarding the McKinney-Vento Act. This resource has been updated to reflect the changes made to the McKinney-Vento dispute resolution process under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) which went into effect on October 1, 2016.

Every Local Educational Agency (LEA) must ensure that students who are experiencing homelessness are immediately enrolled in school. This is a Sample Enrollment Process that school districts may follow for immediately enrolling students experiencing homelessness.

NYS-TEACHS

This Sample Transportation Protocol helps with communication and coordination between school districts and local departments of social services any time the local department of social services is responsible for arranging transportation for a student in temporary housing. This Protocol is a template that school districts and local departments of social services are encouraged to use. School districts and local departments of social services are also welcome to adapt this Protocol to meet their needs.

NYS-TEACHS

This tip sheet from NYS-TEACHS guides the user through best practices for having conversations about housing status with families. We provide best practices for common scenarios.

Interested in more tip sheets from NYS-TEACHS? See our Quick Tip Sheets series targeted to specific school roles.

NYC Department of Education

Federal law requires that all school districts reserve a portion of their Title I federal funds to address the specific needs of students in temporary housing (STH). To comply with this mandate, all NYC DOE schools are allocated Title I STH Funds (Title I STH). All Title I and non Title I schools with students in temporary housing receive this allocation.

This page of the Resource Library on this website contains resources about the McKinney-Vento Act and N.Y. Education Law § 3209 regarding transportation for students in temporary housing.

NYS-TEACHS

This chart provides concise information on the transportation rights of students in temporary housing attending school in New York State. It includes information on available services, the responsible agency, and funding sources when serving students in many different housing situations, including for students attending charter schools.

This NYSTEACHS.org page is in the Resource Library on this website. It contains many other resources and information about unaccompanied youth.

The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is the form you need to fill out to get any financial aid from the federal government to help pay for college. This guide is designed to help students and families navigate the U.S. Department of Education’s Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) in order to get financial aid for college. The guide will be particularly useful for students who are among the first in their family to go to college or are new to the country.