Due in the office by:

4:00 p.m. February 17, 2006

APPLICATION FOR APPROVAL

School Programs

and

Support Services

for

Homeless Children and Youth

2006 ‑ 2009

Department of Education

Bureau of Instructional Services

State of Iowa

Department of Education

Grimes State Office Building

Des Moines, Iowa

50319-0146

State Board of Education

Gene E. Vincent, Carroll, President

Sally J. Frudden, Charles City, Vice President

Charles C. Edwards, Jr., Des Moines

Sister Jude Fitzpatrick, West Des Moines

Rosie Hussey, Mason City

Wayne Kobberdahl, Council Bluffs

Gregory D. McClain, Cedar Falls

Mary Jean Montgomery, Spencer

Max Phillips, Woodward

Tara Richards, Indianola (Student Member)

Administration

Judy A. Jeffrey, Director and Executive Officer

of the State Board of Education

Gail M. Sullivan, Chief of Staff

Division of Early Childhood, Elementary and Secondary Education

Pamela Pfitzenmaier, Administrator

Jim Reese, Chief, Bureau of Instructional Services

Raymond E. Morley, Consultant

It is the policy of the Iowa Department of Education not to discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, gender, disability, religion, creed, age or marital status in its programs or employment practices. If you have questions or grievances related to this policy, please contact the Legal Consultant, Department of Education, Grimes State Office Building, Des Moines, Iowa 50319-0146, 515/281-8661.

Table of Contents

Introduction..................................................................................................................................... 4

Guidelines for Completing the Program Plan Narrative for Homeless Children and Youth………...6

School Programs and Support Services for Homeless Children and Youth Application................... 8

Appendix A: Definition of Homeless............................................................................................. 14

Appendix B: Chapter 33, Educating the Homeless........................................................................ 16

Appendix C: Duties of Liaison for Homeless Children/Youth....................................................... 20

Appendix D: Review Form for Applications and Appeals Process………………………………...21

Appendix E: Authorized Activities................................................................................................ 25

Appendix F: Grant Requirements Pertaining to School Placement, Best Interest, and Transportation 26

Appendix G: Examples of Measurable Outcomes for Authorized Activities................................. 27

Appendix H: Format for Aligning Needs ....................................................................................... 28

Introduction

The application contained herein responds to the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act of 2001, Title X, Part C of the No Child Left Behind Act http://www.state.ia.us/educate/ecese/is/homeless/txpc.html

and Chapter 33, Iowa School Rules “Educating The Homeless” (See Appendix B). School districts may apply for federal funds on a matched or unmatched basis for providing activities for, and services to, homeless children, including preschool-aged homeless children, and youth that enable such children and youth to enroll in, attend, and succeed in school, or, if appropriate, in preschool programs.

Eligible Applicants and Administrative and Fiscal Agents:

Applications must be submitted by a local school district, or jointly with other school districts, or in cooperation with other educational agencies or related service providers. In all cases, school districts must serve as the administrative fiscal agent. The administering school district must also be involved in the planning and implementation of direct and related services, in conducting evaluation activities, in the dissemination of grant funds, and in the preparation of reports for submission to the Iowa Department of Education.

Funding

Approximately $240,000 is available statewide to supplement existing services and/or to start new services. Since funds are extremely limited grant requests should not exceed $25,000 for a calendar year and cannot exceed $75,000 over the three-year grant period. Annual requests for continuation will be directed and coordinated by the Department of Education and based on the availability of federal funds.

Length of Grant Approvals and Annual Requirements

Grant approvals will be for a three-year period requiring annual evaluation reports and annual requests for reimbursement. The application should be designed/intended to be implemented over no less than a three-year period.

Provision of Services

Local school districts receiving approval are expected to meet the following requirements in providing services.

Services-

¨ may be provided through programs on school grounds or at other facilities;

¨ shall not segregate homeless children and youths in a separate school, or in a separate program within a school, based on such child’s or youth’s status as homeless, except as necessary for short periods of time (1) for health and safety emergencies and (2) to provide temporary services to meet the unique needs of homeless children and youths.

¨ shall, to the maximum extent practicable, be provided through existing programs and mechanisms that integrate homeless children and youths with non-homeless children and youths;

¨ may be designed to expand or improve services provided as part of a school’s regular academic program, but not to replace such services provided under such program.

¨ if provided on school grounds, schools may use funds to provide the same services to other children and youths who are determined by the local educational agency to be at risk of failing in, or dropping out of, school.

¨ must be implemented in such a manner as to meet school placement, best interest, and transportation requirements as specified in Appendix F.

Liaison for Homeless Children and Youths

All local school districts shall designate an appropriate staff person as a liaison for homeless children and youths to carry out the duties described in Appendix C. Liaisons should be involved in the development of and the implementation of grants supported under this grant program.

Procedures Used to Determine Approval

Each application will be reviewed by three members of the Statewide Advisory Committee for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth using the review form in Appendix D. Selection criteria are defined in the review form. Applications will be ranked according to their score on the review form. Reviewers will rank the applications in order from highest ranking to lowest ranking. The rankings of the review team will be considered final by the Department of Education. The Department of Education will determine the number of grants to be awarded based on the available funding and will negotiate budgets to accommodate the obligation of all funds.

All applicants will receive a letter of receipt, a letter of approval/disapproval for funding by March 27, 2006 and a review synopsis identifying specific strengths or weaknesses of their application.

Use of Grant Funds (McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, Title X, NCLB) mandates that grant dollars must be used for activities that enable homeless children and youth to enroll in, attend, and or realize success in school. A list of authorized activities is in Appendix E.

Grant funds may be used to support most all object cost categories identified in the “Uniform Financial Accounting System for Iowa LEAs” Department of Education, 2004 edition. The system identifies nine cost categories including salaries, employee benefits, purchased professional services, other purchased services, supplies, and equipment. Land or facility purchases (800 and 900 object codes) are not allowable under this funding. However, federal law does allow the adaptation of space for nonschool facilities to enable the delivery of services.

Appeals:

Any applicant of the Iowa “School Programs and Support Services for Homeless Children and Youth 2006-2009” grant funds may appeal the denial of a properly submitted competitive program grant application or the unilateral termination of a competitive program grant to the director of the Department of Education. Appeals must be in writing, in the form of an affidavit, and received within ten working days of the date of notice of the decision and must be based on the contention that the process was conducted outside the statutory authority; violated state or federal law, policy or rule; did not provide adequate public notice; was altered without adequate public notice; or involved conflict of interest by staff or committee members. Refer to 281 IAC r. 7.5, the legal authority for this process.

Guidelines for Completing the Application and Program Plan

Definitions of homeless can be found in Appendix A.

Guidelines for completing the application and program plan are presented below.

Guidelines for Completing the Program Plan

Narrative for Homeless Children and Youth

The application narrative must sequentially follow the format described below. Each section of the application should address, but not be limited to, the areas listed.

Abstract

Provide a one page, or less, summary of the program and/or support services to be provided. Include what is to be done, to what extent, for whom, by whom and when, and the expected outcomes.

Identification of Homeless Children and Youth

Describe the procedure used to identify the number of homeless children and youth presented in the table, “Local Statistical Needs Identification”, in Section IV of the application.

Establish Need

Prepare a statement describing the identified needs of homeless children and youth within the district. Document the magnitude of the needs by completing the Local Statistical Needs Identification Table showing percentage of homeless by age group. Document the lack of resources and/or the lack of awareness within the school and/or community to meet the needs.

Technical Assistance:

A suggested method for use in identifying needs and gaps in the provision of services is to complete, by significant school staff and community providers, the Basic School Service/Activity Checklist and the Basic Community Service/Activity Checklist in the Local Program Review Guide. Responding as a group (school staff and community providers) to both checklists might be more productive in identifying major needs. The guide is included on the Homeless Education web site.

http://www.state.ia.us/educate/ecese/is/homeless/doc/lprg04.doc.

Objectives

Prepare project objective(s) and include in each objective the following:

¨ Which of the authorized activity(ies) will be implemented to accomplish the objective.

¨ What will be accomplished (the expected outcome).

¨ With whom will the outcomes be accomplished.

Authorized activities are identified in Appendix E. Utilize these activities to help design objectives to meet identified needs. Objectives should be designed to help facilitate enrollment, attendance, and/or success in school. Refer to Appendix H for examples of formats for aligning needs, objectives, staff responsibilities, evaluation, and expected outcomes.

Location

Indicate the location of programs and support services (e.g., building and address, school attendance area being served).

Staff Utilization Plan

Indicate the person(s) responsible for the activities and the roles they will fulfill, and list the skills they possess that will enhance their successful completion of the activity.

Describe how the staff working with homeless children and youth will work with other staff—some coordination must be indicated.

Evaluation

Include in the description of the evaluation procedures the following:

¨ Specify who will monitor the implementation of project activities according to the project’s schedule of activities; and describe the accounting procedure that will be used to keep track of the activities provided. Teacher records would be an example of an acceptable method to do this type of accounting.

¨ Specify who will provide the supervision to ensure that the process being used to accomplish the objective(s) agree with what had been planned; and describe the accounting procedure that will be used to record the dates and results of the supervisory reviews.

¨ Specify who will conduct the progress and outcome evaluations; when they will be conducted, and describe the assessment methods to be used. Assessment methods must account for the numbers of children and youth served and the progress they make as a result of services. Academic achievement, attendance, truancy, dropout rates, etc, are examples of areas to measure. Refer to Appendix G for examples of measurable outcomes for the authorized activities and also refer to the Homeless Education web site. “ Standards and Indicators of Quality McKinney-Vento Programs” http://www.state.ia.us/educate/ecese/is/homeless/ppsd.html.

Student Identification

The implementation of identification activities is crucial in order to identify the homeless children and youth within the district that need programs and services. Describe the district-wide identification methods/procedures that have or that will be implemented. There are resources in the Homeless Education web site, http://www.state.ia.us/educate/ecese/is/homeless, including a power point presentation regarding identification and the document, Program Review Guide. Working drafts of the following have been emailed to local education agency liaisons for homeless children and youth (Contact Ray Morley if copies are needed):

EDUCATING THE HOMELESS CHILDREN AND YOUTH. A Process For Use By Iowa School Districts in Meeting the Requirements of Chapter33, Educating the Homeless, Iowa Administrative Rules and the Requirements of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, Title X, Part C, No Child Left Behind Act. Part II of this document pertains to identifying children and youth in homeless situations and assessing their educational and personal needs. http://www.state.ia.us/educate/ecese/is/homeless/doc.ehcy.doc.

Assurances

Identify what procedures will be used to meet the assurances identified in Section V.

School Programs and Support Services

For Homeless Children and Youth

2006-2009 Application

Due in the Department of Education by

4:00 p.m, February 17^th 2006

Submit one (1) original and three (3) copies to:

Dr. Raymond E. Morley, Consultant

Bureau of Instructional Services

Iowa Department of Education

Grimes State Office Building

Des Moines, Iowa 50139-0146

Section I – Basic Program Data

A. School District Name:

(School District Serving as Administrative Agent)

B. Mailing Address:

(AEA) (County)

C. School District Superintendent:

(Signature)

D. Local School Person Supervising Grant Activities:

E. Position: email address:

F. Telephone: ( ) FAX: ( )

G. Local School Liaison for Homeless Children and Youth:

H. Position: email address:

I. Telephone: ( ) FAX: ( )

J. List Target Grades for Direct Service Activities:

K. Total Program Budget: $

L. Local Budget Share: $

M. Grant Funds Requested: $

Section II – Checklist of Required Application Entries

Before this application will be reviewed for approval, it must include the following entries:

_____ Responses to all Section I items.

_____ Responses to Section IV Budget and Homeless Population Statistics,

_____ Responses required in Section V-Assurances, i. e., Specific date of local board review and the required signatures.

Section III – Plan Narrative

The specific procedures for developing the program plan narrative have been described above under “Guidelines for Completing the Program Plan Narrative for Homeless Children and Youth.” The criteria that will be used to review applications is contained in Appendix “D” which can also guide the development of the narrative. Attach additional information for clarifications as needed.

Note: A special form is included in Section IV for submitting budget information, therefore, you do not need to cover budget in the program plan narrative.

Section IV – Budget and Homeless Population Statistics

Budget Proposal

For School Programs and Support Services