The purpose of this memo, and the attached documents, according to Improving America's Schools Act amendments to PL 103-382, the Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistant Act, is to provide federal regulatory guidelines in order to:
1) properly and accurately identify the homeless children and youth, and
2) collect student data for the federal and state homeless offices from each school district.
There is a requirement of the Arkansas Department of Education (ADE) from the U.S. Department of Education to acquire data pertaining to the Arkansas homeless population of children and youth. This requirement assures continued funding of services for this population. The local education agency (LEA) is requested to utilize the provided descriptors, Components of the Homeless Children and Youth, in order to complete the Education for Homeless Children and Youth Program Data Collection Form.
Although the homeless population of children and youth is difficult to identify, the Public Law 103-82, Section 721, Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistant Act: Education for Homeless Children and Youth (42 U.S.C. 11431 et seq.) of 1990, as amended in Subtitle VII B of Improving America's Schools Act (IASA) of 1994, declares in the policy of Congress, "…each child of a homeless individual and each homeless youth has equal access to the same free, appropriate public education, including a public preschool education, as provided to other children and youth."
Submit the completed Education for Homeless Children and Youth Program Data Collection Form on or before June 30, 2000, to: Susan Underwood, Homeless Coordinator; Arkansas Department of Education; #4 Capitol Mall, Room 302-B; Little Rock, AR 72201. The statewide data will be processed and collated to generate a report for the U.S. Department of Education for Homeless Children and Youth.