This August 2011 joint letter from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (US HHS) and the U.S. Department of Education (US ED) encourages schools and child welfare agencies to coordinate further to improve educational outcomes for children and youth in foster care through collaborative efforts to implement the Fostering Connections Act.
Read the joint letter.
Date posted: 9/01/11

This form, created by the Loyola University's Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid, guides university staff through a series of questions to use in evaluating whether a student meets the McKinney-Vento and College Cost Reduction and Acceses Act's definition of homeless.
Note: Homeless students must qualify not only as homeless, but as unaccompanied, to be granted independent student status as an unaccompanied homeless youth on the FAFSA. This form does not address the unaccompanied issue.
Download the form.
Date posted: 8/25/11

This 8˝ x 11 color poster, created by NCHE in collaboration with the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NASFAA) and based on the unaccompanied homeless youth provisions of the College Cost Reduction and Access Act, alerts unaccompanied homeless youth to contact the relevant authorities if they believe they may qualify for independent student status on the FAFSA due to lacking a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence. The poster is appropriate for posting across high school and college campuses, in HUD-funded and RHYA-funded shelters, and in other community locations where unaccompanied homeless youth may congregate.
Download the poster in English.
Download the poster in Spanish.

This annual report by The Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics presents a comprehensive look at critical areas of child well-being, including statistical indicators of trends in education, health status, behavior and social environment, and economic security.
Access the 2011 report in HTML format.
Download the 2011 report in PDF format.
Access reports from previous years.
Date posted: 7/29/11

OSEP Memo 11-07, entitled A Response to Intervention (RtI) Process Cannot Be Used to Delay-Deny an Evaluation for Eligibility under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) explains the relationship between the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and Response to Intervention (RTI) frameworks and encourages SEAs and LEAs to ensure that RTI usage is not being used to delay or deny timely evaluations of children suspected of having a disability. This issue may be of particular relevance to highly mobile students, for whom delays in evaluations may be particularly harmful.
Download OSEP Memo 11-07.
Date posted: 7/27/11

This booklet from the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty, updated in June 2011, outlines the main points of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, the federal law guaranteeing equal access to a free and appropriate public education for children and youth experiencing homelessness.
Download the booklet.
Date posted: 7/14/11