This webinar, recorded on December 8, 2011, and geared towards the homeless education community, provides important information about Higher Education Act provisions allowing unaccompanied homeless youth to apply for federal financial aid for college as independent students. Topics include: a brief primer on the McKinney-Vento Act and unaccompanied homeless youth, determining independent student status for unaccompanied homeless youth filling out the FAFSA, and building community collaboration to support unaccompanied homeless college students
Presenters:

Christina Dukes, Program Specialist, NCHE

Mark Delorey, Director of Financial Aid, Western Michigan University
View the recorded webinar.
Date posted: 12/15/11

America's Youngest Outcasts 2010 , from the National Center on Family Homelessness, documents the numbers of homeless children in every state, their well-being, their risk for child homelessness, and state level planning and policy activities. Using findings from numerous sources that include well-established national data sets as well as our own research, we rank the states in four domains and then develop a composite of these domains to rank the states from 1 (best) to 50 (worst). A page about the District of Columbia is also available.
Download the America's Youngest Outcasts 2010 report.
Date posted: 12/14/11

This November 2011 brief from Child Trends examines recent poverty data and trends over the past decade through a two-generation lens. The brief draws on data from the U.S. Census Bureau, and presents a sharpened two-generation lens on the poverty and low-income status of children and families in 2010, and on trends in poverty and low-income status among children and families during the first decade of the 21^st century. In addition, it presents data on differences in poverty and low-income status across race and ethnic origin, age, family structure, gender, education, full-time employment status, and geography.
Download the brief.
Date posted: 11/29/11

This brief from the National Center on Family Homeless, National Alliance to End Homelessness, Zero to Three, and the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, provides service providers who are contemplating collaborations with important knowledge and tools needed to create robust, sustainable partnerships that benefit their communities as well as each participating agency. The ten principles outlined in the brief provide practical guideposts for organizations that are considering or planning collaborative partnerships. Further, organizations that have already embarked on this work, and have encountered one or more of the challenges described in the brief, may find the suggestions helpful.
Download the brief.
Date posted: 11/09/11

This NCHE brief is designed for juvenile justice agencies and professionals (including law enforcement officers, juvenile probation officers, attorneys, juvenile court personnel, and detention facility staff), as well as State Coordinators for Homeless Education and local homeless education liaisons. It provides basic information to help educators understand the juvenile court process and explains why the McKinney- Vento Homeless Assistance Act is a critical tool for juvenile justice agencies to help homeless youth they work with to enroll and succeed in school.
Download the brief.
Date poated: 11/09/11

This video simulation, created by NYS-TEACHS, highlights something often encountered but rarely examined - the way discussions about homelessness impact whether students in temporary housing are properly identified and enrolled in school. The simulation demonstrates the powerful effect of speaking with sensitivity, and conversely how the lack of sensitivity can derail a conversation with a parent. Conversation choices can make an enormous difference between whether the school district gets the information it needs to make a decision about eligibility under McKinney-Vento and ultimately whether the district is able to carry out its mandates properly under McKinney-Vento. Use this video simulation exercise to increase staff competence and confidence in working with families and students in temporary housing, while ensuring that conversations are productive for all involved.
View the video simulation.
Date posted: 11/01/11