Texas Education for Homeless Children and Youth (TEHCY) Program
Greetings,
We would like to take this opportunity to recognize your steadfast dedication during this unprecedented school year. We appreciate your leadership, advocacy, and resiliency that is demonstrated in all that you do. Thank you for your unwavering commitment to serve our students and families experiencing homelessness.
With spring in full swing, here are some strategies to assist with wrapping up the school year and planning for summer and fall McKinney-Vento program supports.
- Review LEA and campus policies, resources, and websites for the summer and upcoming school year
- Review and validate your McKinney-Vento student coding
- Monitor student attendance, assessments, and grades to ensure on-time promotion and graduation
- Monitor summer school enrollment, attendance, course progress, and completion
We will be providing a statewide webinar on Tuesday, May 18th from 10:00 – 11:30 am, that will provide systemic process and procedures to implement a multi-tiered level of TEHCY Program services to provide equitable opportunities and outcomes for students experiencing homelessness. Learn more here.
Competitive Grant Opportunity
2021-2022 Texas Education for Homeless Children and Youth Grant Program
Description
The purpose of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act is to identify and remove barriers for children and unaccompanied youth experiencing homelessness and ensure that students in these circumstances have equitable access to all available supports and resources to meet the same challenging state academic standards established for all students. One key component of the Act requires the administration and implementation of a competitive sub grant program.
The purpose of the 2021-2022 Texas Education for Homeless Children and Youth (TEHCY) grant is to administer and implement a discretionary competitive grant program that provides individual sub grant awards to local education agencies (LEAs) or education service centers (ESCs) that provide additional capacity, promote school stability, facilitate enrollment, identification, attendance, academic and overall outcomes for students experiencing homelessness. Sub grantees are awarded and selected every three years. The current grant competition is for the 2021-2022, 2022-2023, and 2023-2024 school years.
Eligibility
Eligible applicants are LEAs and ESCs. LEAs are required to join a SSA if their projected grant amount is less than $7,500. Only ESCs may serve as fiscal agents of an SSA. SSAs must have a minimum of 3 member districts. An eligibility list will be posted on the TEA Grant Opportunities web page.
Grant Period
- September 1, 2021 through August 31, 2022.
- This grant is expected to have up to two years of continuation funding subject to future appropriations by the U.S. Congress.
Funding
- A total of approximately $7,700,000 is available for this grant program.
- It is anticipated that approximately 80 grants will be awarded.
- Grant awards are expected to range from $7,500 to $375,000.
Application Deadline
Applications must be received by the Texas Education Agency by 11:59 p.m. (Central Time), Tuesday, May 18, 2021, to be considered for funding. For more information visit the TEA Grant Opportunities Page.
2021 Texas Education for Homeless Children and Youth (TEHCY) Program Summit
 We are excited to announce the 2021 Texas Education for Homeless Children and Youth (TEHCY) Program Summit, scheduled for Tuesday, August 3rd, and Thursday, August 5th, 2021. The summit will once again take place virtually and in collaboration with TEA's event partner, Texas Network of Youth Services (TNOYS). We look forward to building on the success of last year to make the 2021 TEHCY Program Summit even more engaging and informative.
Registration is Free! Led by the theme, The Road to Impact, attendees will have the chance to build skills, earn CEUs, and network with fellow education professionals from across the state. Our engaging lineup includes professional development tracks and presentations geared toward TEHCY subgrantees, LEAs, ESCs, and stakeholders. The summit will encourage attendees to draw on their perspectives and expertise as they build skills, forge partnerships, and learn strategies to positively impact the lives of students experiencing homelessness.
Interested in presenting at this year’s summit? The summit is a great opportunity to share your expertise with a wide audience, and we encourage staff from school districts and open-enrollment charter schools to present. The call for proposals deadline is this Friday, May 7th.
2021 Texas Education for Homeless Children and Youth Summit registration is now open. Learn more here.
Upcoming Trainings
Learn more about McKinney-Vento program requirements, best practices, and strategies to support students experiencing homelessness. The TEHCY Support Center will be providing several statewide trainings via Zoom during the month of May. We hope to see you there!
Title: Nuts and Bolts of McKinney-Vento School of Origin and Transportation Services
McKinney-Vento School of Origin transportation is a unique right and protection for students experiencing homelessness. Attendees will learn about LEA responsibilities for ensuring school of origin transportation and strategies to implement and support school of origin transportation services.
Date: Thursday, May 6th
Time: 10:30 am – 12:00 pm CST
Registration Link: https://esc13.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_EgAZ_ZOQ325pRV6Wf3ZQg
Title: McKinney-Vento 401 | McKinney-Vento Program Best Practices
This training will provide five best practices to support McKinney-Vento Program implementation. Attendees will learn strategies to assist in the development and evaluation of McKinney-Vento professional development, student coding, program data, identification, and intake process.
Date: Tuesday, May 11th
Time: 1:30 pm – 3:00 pm CST
Registration Link: https://esc13.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_m1sBuFtRSbivGZgqKTJkFQ
Title: McKinney-Vento 301 | Building Community Connections
This training will provide strategies and best practices to develop and maintain McKinney-Vento program community partnerships to support students experiencing homelessness.
Date: Wednesday, May 12th
Time: 10:30 am – 12:00 pm CST
Registration Link: https://esc13.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_NTKG26LGS1KODq8A0O-jCg
If you have any questions about these trainings, contact the TEHCY Support Center at: tehcy@esc13.net or call our TEHCY Support Center at 1-800-446-3142.
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LEA Spotlight
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Kimber Thompson, McKinney-Vento Liaison
Region 16
Amarillo ISD
Over the past school year, Ms. Thompson has been very busy supporting students and families experiencing homelessness. She collaborates with the City of Amarillo County Development Department to provide housing wraparound services for her families in the Amarillo area.
Ms. Thompson has also implemented a summer reading program. McKinney-Vento students enrolled in prekindergarten through fifth grade will receive three to four books which will be distributed at the end of this school year. The summer reading program ensures that McKinney-Vento elementary students have the resources to read over the summer to maintain and advance their literacy skills. To learn more about Amarillo ISD here.
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Sherity Meek, McKinney-Vento Liaison
Region 14
Anson ISD
Over the past school year, Mrs. Meek has been very busy supporting her secondary students experiencing homelessness at Anson High School. As the district McKinney-Vento Liaison and high school counselor, she takes a hands-on approach when it comes to assisting her McKinney-Vento students in preparation for their post-secondary endeavors. Mrs. Meek meets regularly with her secondary students to provide CTE certifications and dual credit course opportunities. She also closely monitors their progress towards on-time promotion, graduation, and post-secondary readiness.
Mrs. Meek takes her junior and senior students on college field trips to learn more about the college application process, scholarships, financial aid opportunities, and housing assistance.
Mrs. Meek has been the McKinney-Vento Liaison and high school counselor for 12 years. She calls these students "her babies" because she was their first-grade teacher before becoming a counselor. This is a special year for Mrs. Meek as she gets to see the last of her first-graders graduate. Mrs. Meeks loves working in the small district that she grew up in. This is her love and passion. Learn more about Anson ISD here.
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Division of Special Populations Employment Opportunities
The Highly Mobile & At-Risk State (HM&AR) State Coordinator will be a transformative leader that performs highly advanced consultative services and technical assistance work for HM&AR student groups.
The State Coordinator will lead and provide programmatic and technical assistance to agency staff, Education Service Center (ESC) staff, Local Education Agency (LEA) staff, school personnel, and other stakeholders that serve and support HM&AR students including students in foster care, dropout prevention and other highly mobile, at-risk groups.
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The Project AWARE State Coordinator serves as the lead at TEA for the Project AWARE (Advancing Wellness and Resiliency in Education) Texas grant. Project AWARE is a five-year federal grant to TEA from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration (SAMHSA) that provides mental health services and supports in three Education Service Centers (ESCs) and five school districts through multi-tiered systems of support (MTSS).
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The project places mental health professionals in ESCs and schools to implement evidence-based practices and to lead planning and service delivery. The Project AWARE State Coordinator works with a variety of partners and stakeholders to provide leadership for AWARE Texas, including producing statewide resources and tools; co-coordinating activities with the Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC); managing grant and contract processes and deliverables; coordinating professional development; building statewide capacity; policy coordination; data collection, evaluation, and continuous quality improvement.
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