1987 McKinney-Vento Act: Protecting the Educational Rights of Homeless Children

Over a million homeless children are in need of educational assistance in the United States.
The 1987 McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act provides that support.

Families with young children now account for 40% of the nation's homeless population and in the course of the year, more than 1.3 million children are homeless. 

(Source: National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty) 

During my school guidance practicum at the middle school this week, I learned about a federal law and educational resources available to homeless children. These services are provided by the The Office for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth. The law is called the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, and it was passed in 1987 to protect the educational rights of homeless children who who are not able to advocate for themselves.

McKinney-Vento makes provisions for each school district to have a  McKinney-Vento Liaison who helps locate homeless children and their families to provide them with educational support and referrals to local services and agencies.

One in every 45 children in the U.S. is homeless each year. 

(Source: America’s Youngest Outcasts: State Report Card on Child Homelessness, National Center on Family Homelessness)

Homeless children lead unpredictable lives. For most, school provides them with the only sense of stability they know, and often the only two meals they'll see during the day. Everything -- their relationships, academics, behavior, physical and emotional health and safety are affected by the transient lives they lead. Think about it for a second. How could a homeless child concentrate enough to learn or be able to develop meaningful relationships if they're hungry and constantly on the move?

Over 40% of the children who are homeless are under the age of five. Ten percent of all children live in poverty.

(Source: National Center for Homeless Education) 

What causes homelessness for many of these children? Following are a few of the most common causes per the Office for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth:

• Lack of affordable housing
• Deep poverty
• Health problems
• Domestic violence
• Natural and other disasters
• Abuse/neglect

During my research for this post, I found two great videos. This first one was put together by a group of students who interviewed several McKinney-Vento Liaisons. It's inspiring and illustrates how much these educators care about the children and families in their districts.





So what are homeless children's McKinney-Vento Rights?

• To go to school, no matter where they live or how long they have lived there.
• To stay in their original or last school even if they move to another.
• To get transportation to their original school.
• To immediately enroll in a new school.
• To automatically receive free breakfast and lunch at school.
• To receive Title I services.
• To receive all the educational and supplemental services that all other children are provided.

In Massachusetts they also have:

• The right to immediate enrollment.
• The right to choose what school to attend.
• The right to transportation.
• The right to participate in the same programs and activities as other students.

This next video was produced by the Anoka-Hennepin school district discusses McKinney-Vento and how students are identified.





The video outlines the warning signs that educators should look for that might suggest a student is homeless:

• Erratic behavior and attendance
• Tardiness
• Numerous absences
• Lack of personal records needed to enroll
• Inability to contact parents
• Lack of participation in school activities and field trips
• Unmet medical and dental needs
• Lack of immunization or medical records
• Poor personal hygiene
• Respiratory problems
• Skin rashes
• Chronic Hunger
• Fatigue
• Disengagement in class
• Isolation from former friends
• Mood swings
• Abrupt changes in behavior

(Source: Anoka-Hennepin McKinney-Vento Homeless Grant Video)

School guidance counselors and all other educators, from the school bus driver to the cafeteria worker, who come in contact with children at school, are charged with helping to identify these children. I encourage you to find out who the McKinney-Vento Liaison is in your district and ask them if there are any school supplies, book bags or other items you might be able to donate.

Please visit the following sites to learn more about McKinney-Vento and homeless children and youth:

• Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
• National Coalition for the Homeless
• Education for Homeless Children and Youth Program
• Horizons for Homeless Children

Homeboy Industries: "Jobs Not Jails" and Boundless Compassion ...

"But isn't the highest honing of compassion that which is hospitable to victim and victimizer both?" Gregory Boyle, TATTOOS ON THE HEART

RAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT ...

"Tirate!" Our mother screamed as she fell to the floor in the hallway.

I watched as she went down. Bad as I wanted to sit up in bed, I resisted. The little voice that often whispered in my ear, said, "Don't get up."

RAT-TAT-TAT-TAT ...

Were those fireworks going off, or rocks bouncing off our home? Whatever they were, several hit the window above my head.

"Blanca!" My father called out to my mother from the living room.

THUMP.

I turned to check on my sisters. One was still in bed, white powder all over her dark hair. The other one, the little one hid under hers.

My thoughts can't catch up. ¿Qué pasa? What's happening, here?

The kitten poster hung only minutes earlier by our father, while my sisters and I jumped on our beds, now, looked as though it had been punched through with a hammer.

Seems minutes. Maybe hours. The next thing I know, I'm peering out from under my bed at darkly-clad policemen cramped between our three single beds. The air fills with crackling radios that emit incoherent voices, as shiny black, leather shoes walk across the floor.

"The bullets went through the window, wall, the two garages, and into the neighbor's living room," one of the uniformed men, said.

"Another two went through the front of the house and ricocheted off this door-jamb." Another officer points to the door frame my mother had stood at when the first shots were fired.

My mind screams, "Where are my parents?"

I was in the 4th grade the night the two-bedroom, white stucco duplex we rented was sprayed with bullets. By the grace of God, my family, and those living in the two houses flanking ours, survived the drive-by that night. 

That's how I remember events unfolding that night.

***

A couple of months ago, a friend I'd reconnected with on Facebook messaged me and said she had a book and some magazines she wanted to send me.

Source: Homebody Industries

When I received her package containing TATOOS ON THE HEART by Gregory Boyle and several issues of THE SUN, a literary magazine, I had to take a "time-out."

The magazines I loved. But the book? Why would I want to read non-fiction about gang members' lives? I had ZERO sympathy for them, but she didn't know that.

Although I'd worked alongside her for several years in Costa Mesa, CA, I'd never discussed my childhood growing up in the neighboring town of Santa Ana. As soon as I crossed the city limits into the surrounding towns, I disassociated myself from all the "bad" stuff that had touched my life, there. 

So many negative things happened to us at the hands of gang members over the years that when I finally had the courage and opportunity to move away, I did, and never looked back. The jumpy little girl, hiding under her bed didn't exist anymore. I'd effectively buried the past.

That was fifteen years ago. I moved, married, worked for some great companies, started my own business, traveled, had a baby. I did all the things that normal people do. It wasn't until I began to write for "fun" in 2008 that everything I'd buried came to the surface.

Understandably I read TATTOOS ON THE HEART with one-foot-in and one-foot-out. Within pages it absorbed me with the stories of gang members Father Boyle met and tried to help through his non-profit organization Homeboy Industries.

Homeboy Industries assists at-risk and formerly gang-involved youth to become positive and contributing members of society through job placement, training and education.

My hardened heart softened, as I experienced life through the eyes of the young men and women who didn't get to pick their circumstances, either. Many didn't have parents and those who did were either abused or neglected. Nobody had told them that they had other options, that they could make better choices. Resiliency held no meaning. Enter the lure of gang-life. The few who found their way out on their own? How many? Who knows? (Recommended: I Choose by Jen Marshall Duncan at Empathea)

TATTOOS ON THE HEART is a compilation of parable-like stories that each ends with an affirmation. As I read about the dangerous situations Father Boyle put himself into, I came to understand what it means to have boundless compassion. In spite of the despicable nature of these youths' acts, the indiscriminate killings, irrational thought, Father Boyle did not condemn them. Rather he guided them with kind words, tough-love and patience. He pushes forward knowing he'll save some, but lose many.

In the end, I'm glad I read it, because it gave me a level of clarity that I didn't have before. My loathing of what had caused much of the pain in my childhood had turned to empathy.

Thank you Father Boyle for opening my heart and showing me another perspective. Also, a big hug of gratitude to my friend, Rita, who somehow recognized that I needed to read this book, that I've since forwarded on to a friend. : )

NPR: On Point in California With Homeboy Industries

Listen.

Homeboy Industries Soundtrack

"Close both eyes; see with the other one. Then, we are no longer saddled by the burden of our persistent judgments, our ceaseless withholding, our constant exclusion. Our sphere has widened, and we find ourselves, quite unexpectedly, in a new, expansive location, in a place of endless acceptance and infinite love."