SUPTS. MEMO NO. 46

August 25, 2000

 

ADMINISTRATIVE
 

TO:	Division Superintendents
FROM:	Jo Lynne DeMary Superintendent of Public Instruction
SUBJECT:	School Enrollment of Homeless Children and Youth

This memorandum provides information about state and federal legislation related to the education of homeless children and youth and contact information for technical assistance. During the 1999-2000 school year in Virginia, the Commonwealth's Homeless Education Program, Project HOPE, estimated the number of preschool and school-age students who were homeless to exceed 17,000. These students were in rural, suburban, and urban settings. Enrollment requirements can be barriers for this population of students, and the requirements of the following legislation address many of these barriers.

Federal Legislation

Subtitle VII-B of the Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Act of 1987, Public Law 100-77, reauthorized November 29, 1990, (Public Law 101-645) and September 28, 1994, (Public Law 103-382) is intended to facilitate the enrollment, attendance, and success of homeless children and youth in school.

Definition of Homelessness

According to the United States Department of Education's Preliminary Guidance for the Education for Homeless Children and Youth Program (1995), homeless refers to an individual who lacks a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence and who has a primary nighttime residence that is:

    1)  A supervised publicly or privately operated shelter designed to provide temporary living accommodations (including welfare hotels, congregate shelters, and transitional housing for the mentally ill);

    2)  An institution that provides a temporary residence for individuals intended to be institutionalized; or

    3)  A public or private place not designed for, or ordinarily used as, a regular sleeping accommodation for human beings.
The following categories of children and youth should be considered homeless under the Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Act:

• Children and youth in transitional shelters;
• Children and youth living in trailer parks and camping grounds because they lack adequate living accommodations;
• Doubled-up children and youth, if they are doubled-up because of a loss of housing or other similar situation;
• Children of migratory families, to the extent that they are staying in accommodations not fit for habitation;
• Children and youth who have run away from home and are living in runaway shelters, abandoned buildings, the streets, or other inadequate accommodations;
• School-age unwed mothers and expectant mothers living in homes for unwed mothers (if they have no other available living accommodations);
• Sick or abandoned children and youth who remain in a hospital beyond the time that they would normally stay for health reasons because they have been abandoned by their families; and
• Throwaway children and youth (i.e., those whose parents or guardians will not permit them to live at home) if they live on the streets, in shelters, or in other transitional or inadequate accommodations.

As a recipient of McKinney funds, Virginia must ensure that every homeless child and youth in the state has equal access to services offered to other students in school and determined to be in the child's or youth's best interest. Each LEA has the responsibility to:

• Develop, review, and revise policies to eliminate barriers to the enrollment, retention, and success in school of homeless children and youth. Generally, these barriers involve transportation issues and enrollment delays caused by immunization requirements, residency requirements, lack of birth certificates, school records, and other documentation, and guardianship issues.
• Provide homeless children and youth with transportation services that are comparable to the services provided to non-homeless children.
• Enroll each homeless child or youth in the school that is determined to serve the child or youth most effectively. In determining the best interest of the child or youth, to the extent feasible, provide the parent or guardian of each homeless child the choice of enrolling in:
1. The school of origin for as long as the child remains homeless or, if the child becomes permanently housed, until the end of the academic year during which the housing is acquired; or
2. Any school that non-homeless students are eligible to attend.
3. Provide parents of homeless students the opportunity to indicate a preference for their child’s continued school placement at either the school of origin or placement at the school closest to their temporary living location.
4. Strive to eliminate barriers, including transportation barriers, to the enrollment and retention of the child in that school.
LEA Contacts

Local education agencies(LEAs)are encouraged to designate a liaison to ensure that homeless children and youth enroll in school and to coordinate services with local social service agencies and programs, including those funded under the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act. Since 1998, all Virginia school divisions have identified a homeless education contact person who is responsible for disseminating information or responding to questions related to the education of homeless children and youth. This listing is available from Project HOPE and can be found at the website listed at the end of this memo.

State Legislation

According to federal legislation, no school shall deny enrollment to any child or youth solely because he or she is living in a shelter, lacks a permanent place of abode, or is otherwise homeless. The Virginia General Assembly passed HB1812, effective July 1, 1997, that amended school residency requirements in the Code of Virginia to include shelters. Additional amendments resulted from SB147, effective July 1, 2000. The following provisions in the Code of Virginia address enrollment barriers homeless children and youth may face in being identified as homeless, and their birth certificates, Social Security numbers, physical examinations, and street addresses. The italicized statements below reflect options that can be used to facilitate enrollment of students who do not have such documentation. Attention to these provisions may alleviate unnecessary enrollment barriers.

Definition of Homelessness and Residency Requirements ( §22.1-3)

According to the Code of Virginia, a child or youth shall be deemed to reside in a school division:

4. When the person is living with a parent, guardian, or person in loco parentis in a temporary shelter in the school division, not solely for school purposes. . .

6. When the person lacks a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence and has a primary nighttime residencelocated within the school division that is:

a. a supervised publicly or privately operated shelter designed to provide temporary living accommodations, including welfare hotels, congregate shelters, and transitional housing for the mentally ill;

b. an institution that provides a temporary residence for individuals intended to be institutionalized; or

c. a public or private place not designed for, or ordinarily used as, a regular sleeping accommodation for human beings.

For purposes of subsection 4, "temporary shelter" means (i) any home, single or multi-unit dwelling or housing unit in which persons who are without housing or a fixed address receive temporary housing or shelter or (ii) any facility specifically designed or approved for the purpose of providing temporary housing or shelter to persons who are without permanent housing or a fixed address. Birth Certificate Requirement (§22.1-3.1) A. If a certified copy of the pupil’s birth record cannot be obtained, the person enrolling the pupil shall submit an affidavit setting forth the pupil’s age and explaining the inability to present a certified copy of the birth record. If the school division cannot ascertain a child’s age because of lack of a birth certificate, the child shall nonetheless be admitted into the public schools if the division superintendent determines that the person submitting the affidavit presents information sufficient to estimate with reasonable certainty the age of such child. Social Security Number (§. 22.1-260) B. For the purpose of this section, each student shall present a federal social security number within ninety days of his enrollment. The state Board of Education shall, after consulting with the Social Security Administration promulgate guidelines for determining which individuals are eligible to obtain social security numbers. In any case in which an individual is ineligible, pursuant to these guidelines, to obtain a social security number, the superintendent or his designee may waive this requirement. Physical Examinations (§ 22.1-270)
No pupil shall be admitted for the first time to any public kindergarten or elementary school in a school division unless such pupil shall furnish, prior to admission, (i) a report from a qualified licensed physician of a comprehensive physical examination of a scope prescribed by the State Health Commissioner performed no earlier than twelve months prior to the date such pupil first enters such public kindergarten or elementary school or (ii) records establishing that such pupil furnished such report upon prior admission to another school or school division and providing the information contained in such report. If the pupil has no fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence, and has a primary nighttime residence as described in subsection 6 of § 22.1-3, and for that reason cannot furnish

the report or records required by (i) or (ii) of this subsection, and the person seeking to enroll the pupil furnishes to the school division an affidavit so stating, the school division shall refer the student for physical examination by the county or city health department and admit the pupil to school pending receipt of the report from such physical examination. . .

E. The health departments of all of the counties and cities of the Commonwealth shall conduct such physical examinations for medically indigent children without charge upon request and may provide such examinations to others on such uniform basis as such departments may establish. . .

If you need assistance with physical examinations or immunizations, please contact your local health department or Project HOPE. A recently updated Directory of District and Local Health Department Offices is located at http://www.vdh.state.va.us/lhd/02.htm.

Street Addresses (§ 22.1-4.1)

Documents submitted for admission of any child to public schools in the Commonwealth, except such documents required in accordance with §§ 22.1-3.1 and 22.1-270, shall include the street address or route number of each pupil's residence. If no street address or route number exists for such residence, a post office box number shall be required. If the pupil has no fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence, and has a primary nighttime residence as described in subsection 6 of § 22.1-3, and for that reason the school division determines, on the basis of the affidavit of the person seeking to enroll the pupil, that a street address, route number, or post office box number cannot be provided, it may accept an address in an alternate form it deems appropriate. . . . Technical Support
Beginning in 1995, the Virginia Department of Education contracted with The College of William and Mary to administer the homeless education program funded by the federal McKinney Act. James H. Stronge, a professor in the Educational Policy Planning, and Leadership Department in the School of Education, is the state coordinator. Project HOPE, the name adopted by Virginia's Homeless Education Office, is available to provide technical assistance in the area of homeless education to all school divisions.

Requests for technical support should be directed to:

Project HOPE
The College of William and Mary
School of Education - Jones Hall 305
P. O. Box 8795
Williamsburg, Virginia 23187-8795
Attn: Patricia A. Popp
Phone: (757) 221-4002, Toll free: (877) 455-3412
Fax: (757) 221-2988, TDD: (757) 221- 2302
E-mail: homlss@wm.edu http://www.wm.edu/education/HOPE/Homeless.html

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