FY2021: McKinney-Vento Homeless Education Grant

Fund Code: 310

Purpose:

The purpose of these federal continuation grants is to provide funding for programs that ensure homeless students enroll in school, attend school, and have the opportunity to succeed in school through the following grant program purposes:

1. Support Services: to address the basic and ongoing needs of homeless students;

2. School-Housing Partnership: to stabilize and re-house homeless families with school age children or unaccompanied homeless youth by partnering with a homeless/housing services provider;

3. Regional Homeless Education Liaisons: to form a network of experienced homeless liaisons that provides technical assistance, training and mentoring to other districts in collaboration with the state coordinator of homeless education and other Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) staff; and/or

4. Homeless Migrant Student Support: to collaborate with the Massachusetts Migrant Education Program (MMEP) and to provide academic support of migrant students including summer programming, English language services, tutoring, and school supplies and uniforms.

Priorities:

McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act prioritizes funds to support the education of homeless students through high quality programming in any or all of the following:

1. programming designed to raise awareness throughout the district and community;
2. tutoring, supplemental instruction, and other educational services that help homeless students close achievement gaps;
3. providing developmentally appropriate early childhood education programs, not otherwise provided through federal, state, or local funding for homeless preschool children;
4. providing services and assistance to attract, engage, and retain homeless students, particularly those that are not enrolled in school, in public school programs and services provided to housed students;
5. before- and after-school programs, mentoring, summer programs for homeless children and youth, and services/assistance to attract, engage, and retain homeless students in these programs;
6. collaborating with external agencies to provide homeless students and families with medical, dental, mental health, and other community and state services;
7. providing for the meaningful involvement of homeless parents/guardians in their student's education;
8. providing violence prevention counseling, referrals to counseling and/or address the needs of homeless students who are domestic violence survivors;
9. providing supplies to non-school facilities and adapting these facilities to enable them to provide services; and
10. providing extraordinary or emergency services to eligible students as necessary to enroll and retain them in school.

Eligibility:

All districts that have been awarded a competitive McKinney-Vento Homeless Education Grant (FC 310, FC 310-2) in Fiscal Year 2020 (FY20) are eligible to apply for FY21 continuation funding under the categories for which they were awarded in FY20. See the Funding section below for information about opportunities for eligible applicants to apply for additional funding under new grant categories.

Applicant districts must include collaboration with community-based organizations through a local Homeless Education Service Coordination Committee or other established local committee or council addressing homelessness.

Funding Type:

Federal CFDA 84.196

Funding:

Approximately $1,100,000 is available to award FC 310 grants in FY21.

Using homeless student enrollment data submitted to DESE for the 2018/2019 school year districts/consortia should submit applications based on the following funding levels for each grant purpose:

1. Support Services:
   
   $40,000:   3,000 or more enrolled homeless students
   $30,000:   1,000 or more enrolled homeless students
   $25,000:   700 or more enrolled homeless students
   $20,000:   300 or more enrolled homeless students
   $15,000:   100 or more enrolled homeless students
   $10,000:   50 or more enrolled homeless students
   
   
   
2. School-Housing Partnership:
   
   The following districts are eligible to apply for continued funding of up to $75,000 per year: Boston, Holyoke, Lowell, North Adams, Worcester
   
   
   
3. Regional Homeless Education Liaisons:
   

   The following districts are eligible to apply for continued funding of up to $25,000 per year to include conference expenses: Framingham, New Bedford, North Adams, Worcester.

   Up to four new awards in this category will be made in FY21. Districts that have a homeless education liaison/coordinator with more than three years of experience and the ability to commit 0.2 FTE (8 to 10 hours per week) may apply for up to $25,000 per year. Applications for new FY21 funding in this category will be reviewed and scored using the same criteria as was used to score applications under the FY19 RFP.

4. Homeless Migrant Student Support:
   
   Using the funding tiers below the following districts are eligible to apply for funds to support their significant population of identified migrant students: Chelsea, Everett, Lynn, and Springfield.
   $50,000:   100 or more enrolled migrant students (Springfield)
   $25,000:   30 or more enrolled migrant students (Chelsea, Everett, Lynn)
   

DESE reserves the right to alter the award to each funded district. Funding is contingent upon availability. All dollar amounts listed are estimated/approximate and are subject to change. If more funding is to become available it will be distributed under the same guideline as listed in the initial RFP document.

FY21 is the final year of continuation funding, per the original grant award.

Fund Use:

Programs can either expand or improve services provided through a school's general academic program but cannot replace that program (supplement not supplant). To the extent practicable, activities and services are to integrate homeless and non-homeless students.

Districts may provide services through programs on school grounds, at other facilities, or may use funds to enter into contracts with other agencies to provide services for homeless children and youth. McKinney-Vento funds may provide the same services to housed students to ensure that program activities integrate homeless and non-homeless students.

Grant funds cannot be used to pay for the district's Homeless Education Liaison, a position required in all school districts unless the liaison has grant responsibilities in the district beyond those required by the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act.

Grant funds cannot be used for food or to support rent for families.

Grant funds cannot be used for transportation costs that are required by the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act. Other transportation costs may not exceed 10% of the grant.

Project Duration:

Upon approval (anticipated 9/1/2020) – 8/31/2021

Program Unit:

Student and Family Support

Contact:

Sarah Slautterback

Phone Number:

(781) 338-6330

Date Due:

Friday, July 10, 2020

Required Forms:

Part I — General — Program Unit Signature Page — (Standard Contract Form and Application for Program Grants)

 

Part II — Budget (Enter directly into EdGrants)

Part III — Required Program Information (including the McKinney-Vento Budget Narrative)

McKinney-Vento Homeless Education Activity Forms for FY20 and FY21 (as one document)

McKinney-Vento Homeless Education Grant Assurances, and Memorandums of Understanding for the Service Coordination Committee and the School Housing Partnership (if applicable), all as a single PDF.

Additional Information:

For applicants interested in C: Regional Homeless Education Liaisons grant sub-category, please see the McKinney-Vento Regional Homeless Education Liaison Job Description for duties of the Regional Liaison position.

Key Grant Requirements: All funded applicants will:

• convene a local Homeless Education Services Coordination Committee or actively participate in an established local committee/council designed to assess the needs and assist in the provision of services to the homeless student population in the district;
• attend grantee meetings twice a year; and
• provide an end-of-year report.

Submission Instructions:

Submit all required grant materials through EdGrants. In EdGrants, districts are required to create and name the project. Please use the following naming convention for your "Applicant Project Name" in EdGrants:

FY21 FC310 McKinney-Vento Applicant Number

For example, Boston (0035) would name the project as, FY21 FC310 McKinney-Vento 0035

Please upload all forms noted in the Required Forms section above to EdGrants.

For Guidance Documents regarding EdGrants, visit EdGrants: User Guides and Information.

Last Updated: April 17, 2020