Homeless Education Liaison Project
Homeless students are entitled to choice of school,
immediate enrollment, transportation, and dispute resolution.
These rights were originally legislated at the state and federal level
almost 20 years ago. Under No Child
Left Behind, the law strengthened and now every school district must designate
an individual to be responsible for identifying homeless students and assisting
them so they might have every opportunity to meet the high academic standards
expected of all students.
The law says that any student that lacks a fixed, regular and adequate nighttime
residence is homeless. This includes
youth in shelters, motels, campgrounds, trailer parks and those that are living
with relatives or friends due to loss of housing, economic hardship or a similar
reason. This includes the hidden
homeless – those who are constantly moving from one place to another without a
permanent, adequate nighttime residence.
The Opening Doors – Homeless project is an Illinois State Board of Education
grant funded project under the McKinney-Vento Homeless Children and Youth
Program. The goal of this statewide
initiative is to disseminate information to
Illinois
schools and shelters as to the educational rights and needs of homeless
children and youth. Each regional
office has a homeless liaison which in turn disseminates information to the
designated local school liaison which has direct access to the schools, children
and youth in their districts.
Use the links below to find resources
for children and families:
Http://homelessed.net
Opening Doors: Statewide
Access to Education for Homeless Children and Youth.
http://www.serve.org/nche/
National
Center
for Homeless Education at SERVE
http://www.nlchp.org/
National
Law
Center
on Homelessness and Poverty
http://nationalhomeless.org/
National Coalition for the Homeless
http://naehcy.org/
National Association for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth
Homeless Liaison
s:
Regional Office of Education #46
Homeless Education Liaison
-
Judi James
, 217-323-5559, jjames@roe46.k12.il.us
A-C
Central
School District – Rebecca Canty, 217-476-8112, bcanty5@yahoo.com
Beardstown
School District
-
Robert Bagby, 217-323-3099, rbagby@beardstown.com
Bluffs
School District
- Richard Basden, 217-754-3351, rbasden@roe46.k12.il
Brown
County
School District
– Marvin Meservey, 217-773-3359, mmeservey@bcsd1.net
Franklin/Alexander
School District
– Fred Roberts, 217-478-3011, froberts@roe46.k12.il.us
Jacksonville
School District
– Cyndee Hurst, 217-245-7005, churst@jax117.morgan.k12.il.us
Meredosia-Chambersburg School District- Eugene Link,
217-584-1744, elink@mcsd11.net
Triopia
School District
- Elizabeth Pressler, 217-457-2283,
bpressler@triopiacusd27.org
Virginia
School District
-
Lynn Carter, 217-452-3085, carterL@go-redbirds.com
Waverly
School District
-
Debra Rust, 217-435-8121, drust@waverlyscotties.com
Winchester
School District
-
Lecie Hall
, 217-742-9551, lhall@roe46.k12.il.us