PART II: K-12 Students Experiencing Homelessness That's 'Alarming' Those Who Work with Them
Funding for schools working to support homeless children is limited and comes with some surprising restrictions.
By Adele Uphaus
MANAGING EDITOR & CORRESPONDENT
This is Part II of Adele’s special report on homelessness in public schools. In Part I, published Thursday afternoon, readers met local McKinney-Vento liaisons, and learned of the harsh realities that homeless children face. Today, Adele explores funding and the challenges associated with it, as well as the community support so critical to filling gaps.
Stafford and Spotsylvania receive funding for eligible students through the McKinney-Vento subgrant program, which is funneled through Project Hope, the state liaison.
School divisions apply for the competitive subgrants to support their programs for homeless youth. Programs are approved for a three-year period, but funds are allocated on an annual basis, “contingent upon performance, evaluation, and continued funding at the federal level,” according to a 2023 memo from Jillian Balow, then the state superintendent of public instruction, introducing the new grant cycle.
Approximately $2 million in federal funding was available for Virginia schools for the 2023-24 school year, according to the memo, “allowing subgrant awards for 30 to 35 proposals ranging from $15,000 to $150,000 per year.”
There are 132 school divisions in Virginia. Balow’s memo encourages “multi-divisional/regional proposals.”
According to the memo, there are 16 allowable uses of McKinney-Vento funds, including tutoring, expedited student evaluations, professional development, referrals for health and social services, transportation, mentoring and summer programs, fees associated with obtaining and transferring student records, coordination between agencies, school supplies, and “extraordinary or emergency assistance to enable homeless children to attend school and participate fully.”
Housing assistance, however, is not one of the allowable uses.
In Stafford, the amount received through the subgrant only pays for Stafford County Public Schools’ McKinney-Vento liaison Cynthia Lucero-Chavez’s salary. In Spotsylvania, the subgrant pays for part-time staff, transportation support, professional development, materials and supplies, and other student supports.
Schools can also set aside funds received through Title I of the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act to provide services to homeless children and youth. This is the only source of funding Fredericksburg schools currently has for McKinney-Vento students.
“As a social work team, we try to just do our best to connect folks with resources,” Jennifer Bunn, the McKinney Vento Liaison for Fredericksburg City Schools, said.
According to a “Title I range analysis” posted on the Project Hope website, the average amount set aside per identified homeless student per year in 2020-21, for schools with between 101 and 200 identified students, was $288. The minimum was $8, and the maximum was $1,582.
There is also a small amount of federal McKinney-Vento funding available to schools that do not receive a subgrant. For the three-year cycle beginning in 2023, school divisions with five to 10 eligible students could apply for $1,500 grants, and those with more than ten could apply for funds “equal to the number of students identified multiplied by $150 per student,” according to a 2023 memo about the funds from Aimee Guidera, the state secretary of education.
Flexible Pandemic Relief Funds
School divisions did have access to pandemic relief funds allocated by the American Rescue Plan (ARP). Since this funding was more flexible, McKinney-Vento liaisons used it creatively, to purchase things like air mattresses, suitcases, toiletries, and clothes for their families.
In Spotsylvania, some of the ARP funding went towards putting together “bus kits” with activities to keep children busy on long bus rides, “calming kits” for children to use at school, and board games that reinforce SOL skills.
“Our families love those,” said Michelle Swisher, the McKinney-Vento liaison for Spotsylvania County Public Schools, about the board games. “How great is it to have games you can play with your children [while living in a hotel] and at the same time get some SOL skills?”
Spotsylvania also used ARP funding to establish a “girls’ group” for girls and their mothers who were living in hotels. The group met monthly for different activities and skill-building workshops. The organization I Support the Girls donated bras and menstrual hygiene products, and local businesses donated hair and facial care to the participants.
“It really gave some empowerment to these young women living in a hotel to know that there’s life beyond a hotel,” Swisher said.
The ARP funding expired on September 30. “So, I’m thinking, how can I make [the girls’ group] happen again. I think it’s going to depend on support from the community,” Swisher said.
Community Support
Donations from the community can help local McKinney-Vento liaisons stretch state funding to assist homeless students.
“It takes everybody, all hands on deck,” Swisher said.
In Spotsylvania, community donations alone support Treasure House, a food, clothing, and hygiene supply pantry for McKinney-Vento families.
Community donations to the homeless student fund support the purchase of field trip, homecoming, and prom tickets for identified students and pay for programs like Behind the Wheel Local and any special supplies students need for their academic programs.
Fredericksburg also has a clothing and supply pantry, the Giving Tree, which has both a permanent location at James Monroe High School and, as of this year, a mobile operation, thanks to a donation from Anderson Propane.
The company also made a donation in 2022 that established Tough City Suds, a fully equipped laundry facility located within the high school.
Bunn said that donations of Walmart store cards in increments of $25 are always “beyond useful” for her team to give to families.
Lucero-Chavez said Stafford families could use “simple things” like underwear, socks, undershirts, laundry sheets they can use to wash clothes in the sink in their motel room, and “mess kits” that they can use to eat meals in their rooms.
“With microfiber towels so they can wash dishes in the sink,” she added.
It’s hard for Lucero-Chavez to think about what families need, because they need everything.
“What’s most important: shelter, nutrition or safety?” she asked. “They all, to me, are important. I can’t even prioritize because they’re all equal, and we can’t assure any of it. Thats what our kids come to school with.”
Bunn said that it’s hard for people to confront the idea of a homeless child.
“At the end of the day, if you ask most people, ‘What do you think of when you think of someone who is homeless?’ they will think of an adult, probably a male, sleeping on the street,” she said. “I think it’s more uncomfortable to think that the face of homelessness is a child.”
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