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McKinney Vento Liaisons, Districts, & ESDs

Liaison, District, and ESD Support

Eligibility

If your family lives in any of the following situations:
  • In a shelter 
  • In a motel or campground due to the lack of an alternative adequate accommodation
  • In a car, park, abandoned building, or bus or train station 
  • Doubled up with other people due to loss of housing or economic hardship
  • Lack of a fixed, regular, nighttime, adequate place of residence
Your school-age children may qualify for certain rights and protections under the federal McKinney-Vento Act. 
  • Receive a free, appropriate public education. 
  • Enroll in school immediately, even if lacking documents normally required for enrollment. 
  • Enroll in school and attend classes while the school gathers needed documents. 
  • Enroll in the local school; or continue attending their school of origin (the school they attended when permanently housed or the school in which they were last enrolled), if that is your preference and is feasible. 
    • If the school district believes that the school you select is not in the best interest of your children, then the district must provide you with a written explanation of its position and inform you of your right to appeal its decision. 
  • Receive transportation to and from the school of origin, if you request this. 
  • Receive educational services comparable to those provided to other students, according to your children’s needs.

​District McKinney-Vento Point of Contact​​

The Every Student Succeeds (ESSA) Act requires that all school districts identify a Point of Contact assigned to work with staff and provide assistance for students experiencing houselessness. 


Update your Liaison Contact
It is important to maintain current information as staff changes occur. Please revise the Contacts Section of your district's current school year Continuous Improvement Plan (CIP) Budget Narrative (BN) Application. The CIP BN can be accessed via the Central Login Application on the ODE District Website. For CIP Budget Narrative permissions and updates please connect with your District Security Administrator (DSA). ODE is unable to make these updates.​

Oregon’s Student Success Act has a Student Investment Account designed to support districts to reduce academic disparities and increase achievement of students navigating houselessness living situations, those who are navigating poverty, and other historically underserved student groups. District Liaisons and ESDs are essential partners in this work.

Office Hours

McKinney-Vento Liaisons are welcome to join us on the third Thursday of every month (except December), from 1:30 - 2:20 pm PT for updates impacting your students. You can email the McKinney-Vento team to receive the participation information. A summary of each Office Hours is sent to state points of contact, generally two weeks after each meeting. This newsletter includes the slide deck and a summary of questions asked during the meeting. Past newsletters can be found in the archive on Key Messages Page​. 


​What is the American Rescue Plan?

On March 11, 2021, President Biden signed the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARP) into law. In recognition of the extraordinary impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on students experiencing houselessness, the ARP included an unprecedented $800 million to support the specific needs of houseless children and youth via the American Rescue Plan Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief - Houseless Children and Youth (ARP-HCY) Fund. 

ARP-HCY I & II Reimbursement Process

In order to have claims approved in the Electronic Grant Management System (EGMS), districts must complete a reimbursement request form with each of their items listed and attached to an object and function code. This reimbursement form mirrors the McKinney-Vento Subgrant, ESSER and 21st Century grant processes, so we hope this will be a familiar process for all business managers and fiscal staff. 
The form includes instructions and District staff can schedule 1:1 with ODE staff using this Bookings Page for Technical Assistance. Once complete, districts can send the form to the ODE.ARP.HCY@ode.oregon.gov​ inbox. If you have any other questions about ARP-HCY I & II, please do not hesitate to reach out. 

​There are 12 McKinney-Vento Subgrantees who received federal funds to support youth navigating houselessness for the 2019-2022 and 2023-2025 grant cycles. 

McKinney-Vento Subgrant Reimbursement Process

In order to have claims approved in the Electronic Grant Management System (EGMS), districts must complete a reimbursement request form with each of their items listed and attached to an object and function code. This reimbursement form mirrors the ARP-HCY, ESSER and 21st Century grant processes, so we hope this will be a familiar process for all business managers and fiscal staff. 

The form includes instructions and District staff can schedule 1:1 with ODE staff using this Bookings Page for Technical Assistance. Once complete, districts can send the form to the OR-MV@ode.oregon.gov inbox. If you have any other questions about McKinney-Vento Subgrants, please do not hesitate to reach out. 


Resources

​​The following are links to federal and state laws for guidance on the McKinney-Vento Act, Education for Homeless Children & Youth Program.


​The following are downloadable Awareness Posters. 


​The following include the main national association links that provide information on program implementation, FAQs, training and other resources that may help LEAs manage local youth navigating houselessness education programs. If your Oregon LEA has a particular intake form, training manual or program method that should be considered for a link on this page, please email the document to our McKinney-Vento Inbox.

National Links

  • National Center for Homeless Education - Under federal contract, NCHE provides technical assistance, webinars, topical briefs, and toolkits for school district Homeless Liaisons and State Coordinators.
  • SchoolHouse Connection is a national organization providing strategic advocacy and technical assistance for McKinney-Vento Education programs in partnership with early childhood programs, public schools, higher education, service providers, families and youth.
  • National Homeless Law Center - The mission of NLCH is to prevent and end homelessness by serving as the legal arm of the nationwide movement to end homelessness.