|
|
Highly Mobile and At-Risk Student Programs
Texas Education for Homeless Children & Youth
|
|
|
We are excited to bring you the January edition of the Texas Education for Homeless Children & Youth (TEHCY) student program’s newsletter of the 2024-25 school year. Before we get into our program updates, we wanted to take a moment to thank YOU for all the hard work and dedication you have demonstrated to help our students overcome challenges and barriers associated with experiencing homelessness. You play a critical role in assisting our students and families with navigating complex situations.
We also want to remind you to register for our remaining webinars this school year. You don’t want to miss important content and updates, so be sure to reserve your spot today! See the ‘Upcoming MV Professional Development & More’ section towards the bottom of the newsletter for more information.
History
The McKinney-Vento Act was authorized in 1987 and re-authorized in 2015 by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). Under the McKinney-Vento Act, LEAs must ensure that each child and youth experiencing homelessness has equal access to the same free, appropriate public education as other children and youths.
Texas schools identified nearly 122,000 children and youths experiencing homelessness in the school year 2023-2024, and 12.81% of these students were living separate from their parent or guardian (i.e., unaccompanied youth). This is the largest number of students experiencing homelessness ever identified in Texas. We are grateful for your efforts to ensure all students who meet the definition of homeless are properly identified.
Families and students experiencing homelessness are frequently caught in a cycle of poverty and instability. Whether they are sharing housing with another family, staying in a hotel, or sleeping in a place unfit for habitation, the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act exists to remove barriers, mitigate challenges, and provide additional support to promote academic success.
Need technical assistance? Contact your Education Service Center’s designated Regional McKinney-Vento Liaison who can provide technical assistance with a phone call, email, or meeting. District and campus staff should reach out to their Regional McKinney-Vento Liaison for questions on implementation of their McKinney-Vento program.
Additionally, each ESC hosts a TEHCY webpage with available community resources, training, and points of contact for the local McKinney-Vento program. The list of regional TEHCY webpages is also included on the TEA TEHCY webpage. Connect with your ESC McKinney-Vento Liaison to find out more about what your ESC has to offer for McKinney-Vento.
Parents, guardians, and students can contact their district or open-enrollment charter school McKinney-Vento Liaison with questions on the program. The contact information for the local liaison can be found on the district or open-enrollment charter school’s McKinney-Vento webpage, or on the TEA AskTED database.
In instances, when TEA receives a technical assistance question directly from a district, campus, parent/guardian, or student, TEA will forward that request to the respective Regional McKinney-Vento Liaison. The liaison will then respond to that request on behalf of TEA. TEA collaborates with all 20 regional liaisons to provide updated and aligned information and guidance throughout the year.
|
|
|
We are excited to feature some of the celebrations and highlights from Fall 2024 across Texas LEAs and ESCs centered around the TEHCY program. Thank you to all who shared these accomplishments and events with us through our HMAR 24-25 Celebration Stories Across TX survey.
|
|
|
TEA-ESC Quarterly Meeting Hosted by ESC 5 in Beaumont
ESC 4, 5, 6 Collaboration for Navigating Paths to Stability Summit in Humble
ESC 20 Spotlight on Steve Lozano, Dilley ISD’s McKinney-Vento Liaison
 ESC 5, 18, and 20 presenting at AMET State Migrant Conference
|
|
ESC 11 MV Liaison Ashley Stevenson and TEA HMAR Program Specialist – demonstrating strong TEA-ESC collaboration even through style.
ESC 18’s 2024 Amazing Race Summit - participants were treated to testimonials from Ms. Liz Murry and Mr. Ernesto Majia regarding homelessness and the importance of parent and family engagement.
McKinney-Vento Dual Identification, Transition Assistance, and Transportation Presentations at 2024 Foster Care Summit in San Angelo
Melissa McGee of Brazosport ISD – Specialist supporting Acquiring Strength, Character, Employability, and Networking skills with Determination (ASCEND) Program!
Texas McKinney-Vento liaisons at the National NAEHCY Conference 2024 in Orlando, Florida
|
|
|
The TEHCY Program provides direction and leadership on the implementation of state and federal guidance regarding program services for McKinney-Vento eligible students. A number of resources are available to support LEAs and ESC stakeholders with implementation of The McKinney-Vento Act. In this edition, our team would like to highlight some updated and/or new resources.
TEHCY Web Portal
The TEHCY webpage is maintained and updated on a regular cadence to ensure timely and current information and resources are provided to the public. In addition to the TEHCY webpage, the program has developed an extension to the webpage – TEHCY Web Portal – where stakeholders can navigate through the multiple tabs to learn more about compliance and accountability, local and regional liaisons, access professional development and training resources, and browse through an extensive library of resources related to supporting students experiencing homelessness.
 .
TEHCY Infographics
An updated TEHCY Infographics with the most current 23-24 PEIMS data is available. The infographics is a valuable 2-page resource that can be a quick tool to understand homeless living situations, rights of McKinney-Vento eligible students, and data as they relate to the number of students experiencing homelessness in Texas by school year, percentages by living situations, graduation rates, and more.
|
HMAR’s AskTED How-To Guidance Document
AskTED is an online directory of Texas school information, including charter schools. This resource was developed to assist stakeholders in understanding how to use the directory to locate homeless liaisons by the school, district, and/or region. Additionally, it can help guide LEAs and charter schools in the steps to take to update their homeless liaison information as the role/designation changes within the school year. It is important for LEAs to keep this information regularly updated so that Homeless Liaison information is publicly available and these points of contact are available to support students and remove barriers related to school transitions and mobility.
|
TEHCY Discipline One-Pager
A TEHCY Discipline One-Pager was released in Summer 2024 to respond to identified needs to support disciplinary considerations for students experiencing homelessness. This is a valuable resource to have on hand for understanding McKinney-Vento eligibility, disciplinary challenges and considerations, the visual decision-making tree, and PEIMS Behavior Codes.
|
TEHCY Discipline Toolkit
TEA developed a comprehensive Discipline Toolkit related to students experiencing homelessness and discipline. Thank you for your overwhelming interest and support of this resource. TEA hosted an introductory webinar and walk-through of the guide in Fall 2024. If you missed it, please watch it here. We look forward to the deeper dive in our MV 401 webinar coming this Spring 2025 (registration information is included below).
A summary of what you can find in the toolkit is provided:
Discipline Toolkit Overview
- Comprehensive overview of how to support and respond to students experiencing homelessness related to discipline.
- Includes practices, procedures, and tools that LEAs will be able to use to strengthen services and supports for students experiencing homelessness.
- Serves as both an orientation manual and a ready reference resource for new and experienced LEA leaders.
- Released: October 23, 2024
|
|
|
The TEHCY program offers annual professional development opportunities to strengthen the support educators provide to students experiencing homelessness. These trainings are provided by your local ESC McKinney-Vento Liaison and TEA. For regional trainings, please contact your ESC MV Liaison. A list of TEA trainings for 2024-25 are provided below. Trainings are recorded and posted to the training library of the new TEHCY web portal.
|
MV 101 (Overview to Key Components of MV)
The MV 101 was presented on October 10, 2024. We were incredibly grateful to have over 500 attendees from across the state! During the presentation, we reviewed the roles and responsibilities of LEAs and MV liaisons to support students experiencing homelessness and addressed the key components of identification, enrollment, and access.
TEHCY Discipline Toolkit High-Level Walkthrough
The TEHCY Discipline Toolkit High-Level Walkthrough webinar was held on November 7, 2024, where we had a record 1400+ registered attendees. The one-hour training introduced educators to the contents and importance of the newly released TEHCY Discipline Toolkit.
MV 201 (State Provisions & McKinney-Vento)
The MV 201 was recently presented on December 19, 2024 with over 1250+ attendees. During the presentation, we reviewed strategies to mitigate challenges or barriers to school enrollment; strategies to identify students experiencing homelessness; and valuable resources to support implementation, including reviewing the RDA and Self-Assessment as they relate to McKinney-Vento eligible students.
Students Served by Special Education Who are Experiencing Homelessness or in Foster Care: Strategies to Support Highly Mobile Students 24-25
A TEALearn course to support Texas educators in meeting the needs of students who are served by special education and come from highly mobile situations. LINK
Upcoming Webinars
McKinney-Vento (MV) 301 will be held on Thursday, January 30, 2025, from 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM CST. This training will focus on supporting students experiencing homelessness and transportation. Register for MV 301 (Transportation).
McKinney-Vento (MV) 401 will be held on Thursday, March 13, 2025, from 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM CST. This training will focus on supporting students experiencing homelessness and discipline and will feature collaboration with the TEA Student Discipline Support Team. Register for MV 401 (Discipline).
|
 |
|
TEHCY Talks (formerly Office Hours)
The purpose of TEHCY Talks (office hours) is to provide the state with an opportunity to have a conversation about support for students experiencing homelessness. Discussion topics will center on questions, concerns, scenarios, and effective practices to support students' learning. Please register for these upcoming opportunities:
|
Upcoming In-Person Conferences
National Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) Conference
- Dates: February 19 to 21, 2025
- Location: Austin, Texas & Online
Association for Compensatory Educators (ACET) Spring Conference
- Dates: April 22 to 25, 2025
- Location: Houston, Texas
Please bookmark and submit ANY team, campus, or regional celebrations, events, or achievements. This project’s goal is to capture and commemorate all the hard work and dedication for our HMAR programs during the 24-25 SY.
|
|
|
|
The Texas Education Agency will improve outcomes for all public-school students in the state by providing leadership, guidance, and support to school systems.
     
|
|
|
|
|
