Students Experiencing Homelessness: Awareness and Understanding
Students experiencing homelessness face unique challenges that can create significant barriers to their education. This course will enhance awareness and understanding of students experiencing homelessness by exploring its prevalence, the complex causes behind it, and the impact it has on learning. Participants will also learn about federal laws protecting homeless students and effective strategies for identifying and supporting this vulnerable population.
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Learning Objectives
- Discuss how to identify students experiencing homelessness using the McKinney-Vento Act
- Review enrollment and transportation policies that can ease the negative effects of student mobility
- Explore two special populations of students experiencing homelessness
- Identify how to facilitate success in school for homeless students
Specs
| Intended Audience | K–12 Staff |
| Languages | English (US), Spanish (US), Spanish (European), Spanish (Mexican), French (Canada), French (European), Arabic, Chinese (Simplified Mandarin), Chinese (Traditional Mandarin), Filipino Tagalog, German, Hindi, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese (Brazilian), Portuguese (European), Russian, Thai, Vietnamese |
| Accessibility | Audio, Video, Interactive Transcript, Closed Captions |
| Course Features | Interactive Modules, Knowledge-Checks, Post-course Assessment |
Key Questions
The McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act ensures educational rights and services for children and youth experiencing homelessness.
What responsibilities do school districts have for the transportation of students experiencing homelessness?Schools have three specific responsibilities:
- Provide transportation to and from the school of origin, whether the student is staying in the same district or crossing district lines.
- Provide students in homeless situations with transportation services comparable to those offered to other students.
- The school is also required to eliminate barriers to school enrollment and retention.
Once homeless students are identified, some ways staff can help include informing them and their parents about their educational rights, providing storage space for their personal belongings, assisting them in getting necessary school supplies, offering encouragement and being available to talk, referring them to the school counselor or psychologist if available, and helping them access community support services.
Sample Video Transcript
Youth experiencing homelessness is on the rise. The causes of homelessness are varied and complex. They include a lack of affordable housing, foreclosures, poverty resulting from unemployment or economic recession, addiction disorders, physical health problems due to lack of health insurance, mental health issues, system failures such as inadequate discharge planning for people leaving hospitals, corrections, and mental health facilities, natural and man-made disasters, as well as abuse and neglect.
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