Federal Grant Programs

Annual Title I Count of Children in Community Residential Facilities – Funding for School Year 2014-2015

To:	Administrators of Community Residential Facilities for Neglected or Delinquent Children
From:	Matthew Pakos, Director, School Improvement Grant Programs
Date:	November 1, 2013

Each fall the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education conducts an annual count of community residential facilities for Neglected or Delinquent (N or D) children and youth that intend to apply for federal Title I funding for the following academic year. For your facility to be eligible for Title I funds for FY2015 (academic year 2014-2015), you must complete and return the enclosed form no later than December 13, 2013. If you do not plan to apply for Title I funds, please indicate this on the bottom of the count form and promptly return it to our office. Title I projects for community residential facilities for N or D children and youth operate in collaboration with local public school systems. The Title I director in the applicable school district must be informed of your intent to participate. This can be accomplished by forwarding a brief message and a copy of the completed count form to your local Title I director's office. These funds are made available to N or D sites to provide effective instructional/support services for your eligible students. It is expected that planning, coordination and collaboration between the local Title I director and the N or D site director will be established and continued throughout the year. This will ensure the services developed are equitable to those offered to public school Title I students. The count provides the United States Department of Education updated information on the numbers of eligible children residing at N or D sites and is used to determine state and district Title I allocations for the following school year. The method of identifying and reporting these children is as follows:

The reporting period is defined as 30 consecutive days, at least one day of which must be in October.
To be counted, a child must live in the institution for at least one day during the 30-day count period.

If the agency is applying for N or D Title I funding for more than one site, EACH site must complete an Annual Count form. Your agency assumes responsibility for ensuring that this application information is made available to the appropriate person(s) at other interested and eligible sites operated by your agency. Please note that each facility is required to provide the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education a roster that reflects the facility's aggregated count of eligible children/youth. In order to protect the identity of students, please only include in the roster locally-assigned identifying numbers (LASIDs) and dates of birth corresponding to each LASID. The roster can be provided in a format determined by your facility. Each facility should maintain on file detailed information regarding each of the students included in the annual count that could be used to verify their eligibility for inclusion in the count. Please keep a copy of the completed count form in your files, send one copy to the Title I director in your city or town, and return the original as indicated below. The money generated by your facility will be added to the local school district's FY 2015 Title I grant. Each eligible N or D program site will complete a grant application annually which is sent to the district Title I director. In turn, the Title I director will consult, review and approve the grant application which will include a budget, a Title I Program Plan, student enrollment data and program evaluation information. Application forms will be available during the late spring or early summer, consistent with the annual release of Title I funds to public school districts. The annual count forms for each eligible site must be fully completed, signed, dated and returned to this office along with the aforementioned roster by December 13, 2013 in order to meet the timelines established by the United States Department of Education. You may submit the student roster and an electronically signed (scanned) version of a completed form for each eligible site via email to drussell@doe.mass.edu. Alternatively, please send the original signed forms and rosters to the attention of: Dianne Russell
N or D Count
Education Data Services
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
75 Pleasant Street
Malden, MA 02148-5023 If you have any questions regarding the completion of the count form or require technical assistance, please contact Dianne Russell at 781-338-6824 - email: drussell@doe.mass.edu, or Russ Fleming at 781-338-6259 - email: rfleming@doe.mass.edu.

Last Updated: November 27, 2013