NORTH VERNON, Ind. – At its recent school board meeting, it was revealed that Jennings County School Corporation (JCSC) has received another McKinney-Vento grant. McKinney-Vento refers to Subtitle VII-B of The McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act authorizes the federal Education for Homeless Children and Youth (EHCY) Program and is the primary piece of federal legislation related to the education of children and youth experiencing homelessness.
For the past seven years, the JCSC has applied for and received the McKinney-Vento grant to help students who qualify as homeless. During that time, JCSC has had between 200-300 students who qualify as homeless.
The McKinney-Vento Act defines homeless children as “individuals who lack a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence.” Examples would be:
- Sharing housing due to economic hardship or loss of housing
- Living in motels, trailer parks, and campgrounds, due to a lack of alternative accommodations
- Living in emergency or transitional shelters
- Whose primary nighttime residence is not an ordinary sleeping place (like a park bench)
- Living in cars, parks, public spaces, abandoned buildings, bus or train stations, etc.
Many JCSC students qualify under “Children Sharing Housing Due To Economic Hardship,” according to Todd Ebbinger, Director of Elementary Programs at JCSC. In these situations, students may move out of the JCSC district to live with relatives but still want to continue to attend JCSC.
Under McKinney-Vento, the school the student attended when they had a fixed, regular nighttime residence is responsible for transporting the student to and from school. Ebbinger said, “We are currently using corporation cars to transport students but our need has increased. We applied for an additional grant through McKinney-Vento to purchase additional vehicles that JCSC staff will use to chauffeur students who qualify as homeless to and from JCSC school buildings.”
