Program Highlight: Cumberland County Schools (CCS)

There are promising things happening in communities throughout North Carolina! This month's highlighted program is Cumberland County Schools (CCS). In partnership with the Cumberland Interfaith Hospitality Network (CIHN), CCS’ Homeless Education Social Worker Reta Elliott organized a monthly reading club for students living in transitional housing.
Learn more about Cumberland County Schools.

Monthly Tip: Completing the Annual Homeless Education Data Collection

The Consolidated Federal Data Collection website is open for you to enter your 2011-2012 homeless education data. The site will close June 15, 2012. This yearly data submission is required by DPI and the U.S. Department of Education.

NCID K-12 USERNAME

Each user must have a registered username to access the federal data collection site. If you already have an NCID K-12 username, please do not register for another username.

You can verify if you already have a username by clicking on "Forgot your User ID?" or "Forgot Your Password?" on https://ncid.nc.gov. All NCID usernames are in the form firstname_lastname.

If you do not have a NCID K-12 username, follow these registration steps:

1. LEAs and Charter Schools must register for an NCID K-12 account at https://ncid.nc.gov. For instructions on how to register, go to https://www.ncid.its.state.nc.us/library/pdf/Getting_Started_SLUsers.pdf.
2. LEAs and Charter Schools must register for the Consolidated Federal Data Collection (CFDC) system at https://schools.nc.gov/homeless.
   Download registration instructions.
3. Look for the confirmation e-mail you should receive after CFDC registration.

If you have questions related to NCID K-12 or CFDC-Homeless registration, contact the NC-DPI Service Desk at 919-807-4357 or dpi.incidents@its.nc.gov. Please include the acronym CFDC-Homeless in the beginning of the subject line of your e-mail, along with a brief synopsis (fewer than 100 characters total) of the issue.

DATA SUBMISSION STEPS

1. Visit https://schools.nc.gov/homeless when you are ready to submit your 2011-2012 homeless education data.
2. Enter your 2011-2012 homeless education data.
3. To complete your submission, you must click 2 (two) buttons:
   ⇒ Submit
   ⇒ Continue to homeless submission
   A confirmation of your data submission will appear on the screen in bright royal blue text: Submitted On: YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM. You will also receive a confirmation via email. You will not have the "submit" button if you have homeless students and all your students do not have the record status "M" for modified. Please make sure all of your students are modified.

If you have any questions about the data collection process, please contact Teresa Lewis at tlewis@serve.org.

Did You Know?...New Tool for College Financial Aid Administrators

Did you know that the federal College Cost Reduction and Access Act (CCRAA) grants unaccompanied homeless youth the right to apply for federal financial aid as independent students, without parent signature or consideration of parent income and assets? College Financial Aid Administrators (FAAs) are one of the parties authorized by the CCRAA to make a determination of independent student status for unaccompanied homeless youth. NCHE, in collaboration with NAEHCY, developed a resource with FAAs in mind. Please share this tool with FAAs working with students who are graduating or have graduated from your district!

Download Making Student Status Determinations for Unaccompanied Homeless Youth: Eligibility Tool for Financial Aid Administrators.