laurene heybach november 15, 2015 naechy 27 th annual conference 1
TRANSCRIPT
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Moving It Forward: Advocacy to Create
Change in Policy and Practice in Your State
and School District
Laurene HeybachNovember 15, 2015
NAECHY 27th Annual Conference
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• Learn how change was achieved to overcome a barrier in another jurisdiction
• Understand the duty to make changes in policy or practice
• Learn how to apply that knowledge to bring about needed change
Goals for Session
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• Solve problems that impede enrollment,
attendance, retention or success of our homeless children & youth
• Remove or reduce one or more of these barriers
Focus
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• 1st formal homeless education policies in Chicago &
Illinois
• “Charlie’s Law”
• Legal recognition that doubled up = homeless
• Right of homeless students to play school sports
• Passage of Equal Access Regulation easing school
access for immigrant and homeless students
• Dedicated state funding for homeless education
programs
CCH Successes
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• In Chicago, adoption of non-stigmatizing language
• Illinois State Board of Education “Enrollment
Guidance”
• In Chicago, better utilization of Title I monies for
homeless students
• Comprehensive appropriate transportation rules
• In Chicago, much greater preschool access
Successes cont’d
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• What things get in the way of
serving homeless students and
their families?
• Was is persistent or repetitive?
What’s Your Problem?Exercise
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• Identify change needed• Look for opportunities for making
change• 2 types:
• Those we create through planning
• External events (good and bad) that open a space for input and action
A Methodical Approach
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• Examples of external events
• A compelling incident occurs• New leadership, turnover• Budget hearings• Proposed rule or legislative
change• Board meetings
Opportunities
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• Document instance(s)
• Studies, reports, data (existing or
creatable)
• Consider surveys
• Value personal, genuine stories
Factual Support
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• State must review and revise “laws,
regulations, practices or policies that may act as a barrier to the enrollment, attendance, or success [of homeless students]” Sec. 721 McKinney-Vento Act
• LEAs must review and revise “any policies that act as barriers to [enrollment]” and pay “special attention” to “the enrollment and attendance of homeless children and youth …not currently attending school.” Sec. 722(g)(7)
Legal Basis
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Assets & Allies
Within District:
• Parents • Youth• Staff• Board• Volunteers
External:• Service providers• Homeless
organizations• Legal aid• Public health• Advocacy groups• Child welfare
organizations• Legislative or
executive champions
• Law Enforcement
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Kaleyah & her mom, Marilyn,raising their voices
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Grow the collective power!
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• Strong leaders
• Support your parents & students to lead the change
• Have an inside/outside strategy
• Champions within the system
• Your power within your school or district: raise awareness, create events
• Allies outside the system (NAEHCY, NCHE, NLCHP, Legal Aid)
• Media presence
Letters
Traditional (news)
Special Tools
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• Illinois bill SB1931: if homeless 12 months in
another district, student to be forced out of
school of origin
• Important to defeat this bill but also became a
vehicle to do 2 other needed things:
• Require greater fairness in the dispute process
• Trained independent hearing officer
• Reduce school mobility
• Ability for students to stay until the end of the year
“1 Year: you’re out!”
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• Barrier: would increase harmful school
changes for homeless students to save money
on transportation costs
• Change needed: stop automatic school
change and ensure a fair process for deciding if
a student is no longer homeless
• Opportunity: chance to create fair,
reasonable process in the statute
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• Factual support:
• Stories of families and school staff
• Debunk the “too costly” transportation argument
• Legal Basis:
• Conflicts with federal McKinney-Vento Act
which imposes no limit on duration of
homelessness
• Refusal to enroll requires chance to “dispute”
• Fairness requires independent assessment
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• Allies:
• Families (homeless and not)
• Education advocacy non-profits
• Liaisons throughout state
• Legislators with whom CCH and others had
relationships
• State Coordinator/ISBE
• Message: No limit on length of homelessness so
no automatic change of schools is appropriate or
legal. A fair assessment of whether student still
homeless is possible.
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• Timeline: immediate action required
• Steps: create fact sheet and disseminate to allies
and legislators;
• have families and students tell stories to press;
• talk directly with legislative leaders and negotiate
with sponsor and her allies;
• have a “call in” day to get educators and families to
influence legislators,
• propose reasonable compromise language
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• Stopped automatic school change after 12 months
• Amended bill to:
(a) require that a determination of whether
homelessness continues after 18 months is subject to a
dispute;
(b) mandate fair, impartial and independent hearing
officers be appointed in all disputes;
(c) allow for families to submit affidavits;
(d) ensure student who is determined to be no longer
homeless can stay through the end of the year
Achievements
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• Reducing absenteeism for homeless students
in the Chicago Public Schools
• Tribune in-depth report on rampant truancy in
Chicago
• Used it as a vehicle to document and address
missed school days for CPS homeless students
“Empty Desk Epidemic”
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SOURCE: Tribune analysis of Chicago Public Schools records ALEX RICHARDS AND KATIE NIELAND
Truancy in grades K-8 (by percentage)
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• Barrier to school attendance & success
• Change: adopt practices to reduce
absences
• Opportunity: Press investigation
• Factual support: anecdotal data,
experience, models
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• Legal basis:
• duty to address barriers,
• obligation to reach out and enroll
• School Code responsibilities re: truants
• Allies:
Media
legislators,
Task Force members
Community groups
Child welfare groups
Illinois State Board of Education
District research staff
Sheriff
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• Message:
• Homeless students cannot learn with low
attendance and are put in danger when not in
school. Attendance is a fixable problem.
• Timeline: 1 year;
• Steps: Articulate solutions, harness Task Force
authority, secure “rolling” implementation at CPS
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• State Task Force formed
• Raised awareness statewide on homeless students
• Secured specific recommendations and oversight
• Sharply focused attention on everyday attendance
• Production of “hot data” in Chicago with special
analysis of homeless students
• Schools must have teams which include the liaison
in timely intervention supports
Achievements
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• Find your Worksheet
• Join your color group
• Use Worksheet to methodically plan how
to remove a barrier/solve a problem in
your district or school (15 minutes)
• Report back to the large group
Exercise
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• Identify barrier• Change needed• Opportunity• Factual Support• Legal basis• Allies• Message• Timeline• Steps• Media
Report Back
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• Some Illinois districts: students in doubled-up
living situations not within definition of homeless
• CCH Law provided legal analysis to State Coordinator
• Formal legal opinion was requested from ISBE Counsel (2000)
• Illinois became 1st State with clear legal decision
• CCH Law drafted McKinney-Vento definition for 2001 reauthorization
Doubled-up = homeless
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Thank you
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Law Project of the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless
Laurene M. Heybach
www.chicagohomeless.org