Schools and districts are seeing unprecedented numbers of students and families living without residential stability. Although the McKinney-Vento Act has been around for over two decades, many district- and site-level practitioners have a difficult time interpreting and implementing the Acts mandates within their local contexts. This book provides much-needed guidance to help educational leaders support students who are homeless and highly mobile students who face significant barriers related to access and academic success. The authors employ several different strategies to help translate complex state and federal policies into effective practices. They include policy analysis, examples of successful approaches, tools for training staff, youth experiences, and address the role of school districts in serving marginalized students. Serving Students Who Are Homeless can be used as a professional development tool at the local and district level, and as a textbook in higher education settings that prepare entry-level and advanced-credential administrators, counselors, school psychologists, and curriculum leaders.

Homeless kids of all ages exist in every community, but few realize this. Because of their invisibility, the needs of these kids, a population of over 3 million, go largely unmet. The Charlie Book not only offers a range of ways ordinary compassionate people can help in their own communities, but it also gives background information to help understand the scope of this hidden problem. Additionally, it directs readers to existing resources.Schools districts must have a trained homeless liaison to identify and assist students experiencing homelessness. The federal McKinney-Vento Education for Homeless Children and Youth Act, reauthorized in December 2015 as part of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), specifies duties and responsibilities of these liaisons. One is to develop local resources to help the students succeed in school. "Charlie," for whom the book is named, was instrumental in passage of homeless children and youth's educational rights. Society's choice in dealing with widespread angst about income inequality, racial strife, domestic and international violence, and personal challenges could angrily tumble into an apathetic stupor or embrace compassion that spurs action. The Charlie Book: 60 Ways to Help Homeless Kids grew out of the desire to create a "compassion epidemic" that would spill out across the country to ease the suffering of millions of homeless children and youth. It was created and reviewed by people with years of experience working with homeless kids.This concise handbook will provide the know-how for adults and kids, civic organizations and faith communities, scout troops and neighborhood associations to make a viable difference in their local communities for the mostly invisible families and youth experiencing a variety of shapes of homelessness.Those involved in this book believe that good people doing good things will mitigate the apathy and anxiety that grabs headlines and shatters lives. The Charlie Book offers a simple, doable approach to providing tangible help to young people striving to get an education despite the formidable challenges they face. The antidote to apathy is action. The Charlie Book, offers simple activities that can simply change lives for the better.

Schools and districts are seeing unprecedented numbers of students and families living without residential stability. Although the McKinney-Vento Act has been around for over two decades, many district- and site-level practitioners have a difficult time interpreting and implementing the Act’s mandates within their local contexts. This book provides much-needed guidance to help educational leaders support students who are homeless and highly mobile students who face significant barriers related to access and academic success. The authors employ several different strategies to help translate complex state and federal policies into effective practices. They include policy analysis, examples of successful approaches, tools for training staff, youth experiences, and address the role of school districts in serving marginalized students. Serving Students Who Are Homeless can be used as a professional development tool at the local and district level, and as a textbook in higher education settings that prepare entry-level and advanced-credential administrators, counselors, school psychologists, and curriculum leaders. Book Features: Guidance for understanding and implementing the law and tools for training staff. Case studies that include the voices of students, families, and practitioners. Questions and activities to facilitate professional development discussions. “I have worked in this realm for more than a decade and, sadly, the numbers of homeless families and children continue to rise. The information and strategies identified within the pages of this book will prove to be an invaluable resource to the work of counselors, school personnel, teachers, administrators, and advocates for homeless students.” —Melissa Schoonmaker, Los Angeles County Office of Education “Homelessness brings an array of daunting challenges to students, families, and schools. As more and more communities are experiencing these challenges throughout the US, Dr. Hallett and Dr. Skrla have skillfully developed a critical new resource that can help those in most need. I admire their work!” —Peter Miller, University of Wisconsin–Madison

The seminal work on homeless students and our responsibility to educate them Homelessness Comes to School provides substantial and far-reaching research that describes the plight of homeless children, the legal framework surrounding the issue, and ways to work together toward a solution. The text also outlines effective intervention programs and includes specific guidelines for teaching homeless students. Topics covered include: A history of homelessness, including its demographic patterns, causes, and impact on society The various programs schools have implemented to address the problem How schools, parents, and external community agencies can work together to educate homeless students

Publisher name from iPage.IngramContent.com.

Michelle Kennedy had a typical middle class American childhood in Vermont. She attended college, interned in the U.S. Senate, married her high school sweetheart and settled in the suburbs of D.C. But the comfortable life she was building quickly fell apart. At age twenty-four Michelle was suddenly single, homeless, and living out of a car with her three small children. She waitressed night shifts while her kids slept out in the diner's parking lot. She saved her tips in the glove compartment, and set aside a few quarters every week for truck stop showers for her and the kids. With startling humor and honesty, Kennedy describes the frustration of never having enough money for a security deposit on an apartment—but having too much to qualify for public assistance. Without A Net is a story of hope. Michelle Kennedy survives on her wits, a little luck, and a lot of courage. And in the end, she triumphs.

Students experiencing homelessness often face overwhelming obstacles that limit both their access to education and their prospects for success in life. The McKinney-Vento Act (1987) was created to ensure that schools provide services that support students in unstable housing situations but, unfortunately, effective implementation of important provisions continues to be elusive. In addition, adults charged with McKinney-Vento implementation in schools voice frustration with overload and lack of support or consistent resources. Through interviews with youth experiencing homelessness, Aviles de Bradley introduces readers to their remarkable resilience under fire and their determination to thrive despite the systemic inequities they encounter daily. The book also explores how poor people of color experience and interface with social institutions, namely schools, and uncovers important connections between homelessness and racism using a Critical Race Theory framework. Readers are challenged to see McKinney-Vento implementation not as charity, but as an issue of legislated social justice and to work towards educational equity for students experiencing homelessness. Book Features: Portrays how students and schooling are affected by homelessness.Shows how homelessness interacts with and impacts teaching and learning.Brings to life the personal stories and struggles of homeless youth.Examines school practices in light of existing federal law.Includes the voices of school personnel charged with supporting homeless students. “Ann M. Aviles de Bradley... draws on an intersectional framework to carefully examine the polices and practices that shape outcomes for homeless youth in large urban centers such as Chicago. Her carefully contextualized examinations of the racialized experiences of homeless youth of color brings a searing poignancy and richness to the work which sets it apart all the others. This book will completely transform the way we think about how to address the needs of homeless youth in our schools.” —Marvin Lynn, Dean and Professor, School of Education, Indiana University South Bend “Dr. Aviles de Bradley succinctly captures a conversation many in the United States are afraid to engage in: the relationship between race and homelessness. Her research contributes to the larger project of justice in education by challenging conventional notions of educational policy formation and implementation with dexterity and care. Moving us away from charity and toward equity is a bold and necessary move in any grounded struggle toward transformative education.” —David Stovall, Educational Policy Studies and African-American Studies, University of Illinois at Chicago