2026 Region 7 Spring Liaison ECYEH/Foster Meeting

Jeff Zimmerman, Region 7 Coordinator

Darci Berti, Community Liaison

Andy Kuhl, Program Consultant

Agenda

• Intro/Stats/Trends
• Homeless/Foster updates/reminders
• New data system/monitoring
• Act 67/Act 47/Act 1
• Foster/BID meetings with C & Y
• C & Y/Homeless
• Barriers (Foster and Homeless)
• New documents
• Summer checklist
• Billing/ECYEH 7 Office
• Doubled-up situations
• Liaison duties/choosing a liaisons
• Scenarios
• Q& A

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www.ecyeh7.com

Region 7 Statistics/Trends

• Homeless numbers are steady
• 52,347 identified in 2024-2025 school year
• 5% increase from 2023-2024
• 3,611 homeless students in Region 7
• 62% were economically disadvantaged
• 15% were under the age of 6
• 56% doubled-up, 30% in shelters/transitional housing, 12% hotels/motels, 2% unsheltered
• 17% were unaccompanied youth (614 total)
• 30% were Special Education

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www.ecyeh7.com

Updates/Reminders

• Document and report children in early childhood
• Check Act 1 eligibility for all homeless/foster students
• ECYEH 7 Office/Cyber billing
• Data website/old data website
• Documents for monitoring (ECYEH 7 website)
• Transportation Plans
• Liaison documentation (logs, contacts, etc.)
• Transportation options (mileage, residing district, etc.)

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www.ecyeh7.com

ECYEH Monitoring/New Data System�

• Make sure someone from the district is in new system
• Can be multiple people, but liaison should be identified
• Old data system still being utilized for monitoring documents
• LEA profile for monitoring is located under Help/Resources.
• Can login anytime to enter data
• Region 7 office checks quarterly
• Foster students who have not been homeless should not be entered into system
• Can enter homeless siblings that are not of school age
• Download a copy of your report for yourself
• System is wiped clean every year. Continuing homeless students from previous year have to be re-entered.

ACT 67

• Children have right to remain in their current school during the pendency of a residency dispute
• Homeless determination must be made
• If the district claims the student does not qualify as homeless and/or is not a resident, the district must:
• Advise families of McKinney-Vento and right to school stability (Student/family can appeal)
• Provide families with sufficient notice that they believe the student is not a current resident
• Entitled to due process hearing
• Should be sent notice of decision and appeal

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www.ecyeh7.com

Act 47 – Cyber Truancy

• Applies truancy laws to cyber charter schools
• Tracks participation, not just log-ins
• Requires documentation of attendance efforts
• Clarifies enforcement responsibilities
• Impacts homeless and highly mobile students

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Act 1

• Check Act 1 eligibility
• Remove graduation and educational barriers for students experiencing educational instability
• Contact must be assigned for student
• School of origin rights
• Full access to educational and extracurricular programs

Act 1

To qualify for Act 1, students must meet at least one of the criteria listed under column A and column B:

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Children & Youth/BID Meetings

• Region 7 Office has met with 10 counties and over 200 C & Y workers
• BID meetings/protocols discussed:

-Who participates?

-Who initiates?

-Dispute procedures

• Transportation plan updates coming soon
• Contact information/resources
• Schedule trainings with Region 7 office (caseworkers)

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Children & Youth ECYEH Role

• Placement decisions impact school stability
• Must coordinate with LEA for transportation
• Shares records while maintaining confidentiality
• Supports educational best interest decisions
• Works with families in crisis situations
• If Children and Youth does not have custody, foster laws do not apply. McKinney-Vento eligibility should be considered

Barriers

• Enrollment (missing documents)
• Transportation
• High Mobility (change schools frequently)
• Unmet Basic Needs (food, hygiene, clothes, medical)
• Stigma and Trauma (stress causes depression, anxiety, etc.
• Academic Gaps (needs identified late)
• Adults outside of school (abuse, neglect, etc.)

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Barriers/Solutions and Strategies

• Protections under McKinney-Vento (immediate enrollment)
• Dedicated school liaison
• Trauma-Informed Care
• LEA policies and procedures (clear, consistent and implemented upon identification)
• Staff training
• Wraparound services (academic support and on-site assistance)
• Financial Aid (FAFSA)
• Community coordination

Summer Checklist

• Verify all 2025-2026 school year has been recorded in the state data system.

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• Update individual student records for all homeless students in Liaison files

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• Review LEA policies and procedures, modify as needed

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• Review McKinney-Vento Information available on LEA website, in handbooks and other documents. Revise as needed.

Summer Checklist

• Review new monitoring questions and required documents (found on ECYEH website), revise as needed

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• Contact all McKinney-Vento families and revise demographic information as needed. If student will not be considered McKinney-Vento for 2026-2027 school year, family should be notified in writing
• Consider using “End of Year verification letter” found on Region 7 website: www.ecyeh7.com

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• Meet with LEA administrators (Transportation Director, Title I Coordinator, etc.) to review and plan McKinney Vento activities

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• Plan LEA McKinney-Vento professional development for 2026-2027 school year. If training is desired from Region 7 staff, please schedule in advance

Billing/ECYEH Office

• Refer to Child Accounting Guidelines from PDE to determine billing (foster and homeless)
• Regional offices do not decide billing
• Region offices determine school of origin
• Region 7 will offer guidance but is NOT the final decision-maker
• Cyber school billing stays with school of origin until no longer homeless
• New students from out of state…area in which they are residing will be the school of origin

Doubled-Up Determination

• Is the housing fixed, regular, and adequate?
• Was the move due to loss of housing or hardship?
• Is there risk of being asked to leave?
• Lease or rental agreement?
• Long term goal?
• Overcrowding and safety considerations
• Case-by-case determination is critical

Choosing a Liaison/Duties

• Identify and verify homeless status
• Ensure immediate enrollment
• Coordinate transportation
• Provide support (academic, social-emotional, etc.)
• Collaboration (business office, transportation, counselors, etc.)
• Make families aware of right under MV
• Provide community resources
• Provide dispute resolution support
• Check on student/family
• Train staff and maintain compliance
• Must be able to carry out duties

Choosing a Liaison/Duties

• Allocate sufficient time for role (meetings with students)
• Experience and attributes
• Authority
• Legal knowledge

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Do Not:

• Overload the liaison (other positions in districts)
• Liaison should have easy access to families and staff

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Scenario 1

• Family evicted; doubled-up with another family
• 3 families in a 2-bedroom apartment
• Host family threatens eviction due to overcrowding
• Parent working but cannot secure housing yet
• Question: Fixed, regular, adequate?
• Options for family?

Scenario 2

• Student living with aunt due to parent substance abuse
• No formal custody or CYS involvement yet
• Parent occasionally takes student on weekends
• Aunt states arrangement is ‘temporary but indefinite’
• Question: Homeless?

Scenario 3

• If a family is forced out of their home due to foreclosure, and relocates to a less expensive residence in another school attendance area, is the family eligible for assistance under McKinney-Vento?

Scenario 4

• Can students who are doubled-up remain eligible for McKinney-Vento services over multiple school years?

Scenario 5

• We are working with a family that struggles financially. Mom is dealing with some medical challenges and is needing brain surgery; she currently can’t be left alone. Since mom can’t be alone, our student and her mom are doubled up with grandma three to five days out of the week. The other days they are able to be at their home, because grandma can be there with them. Grandma lives out of our school district and has reached out for help with transportation. We know they are struggling financially, but we can’t decide if the living situation is one that would be eligible under McKinney-Vento.

Scenario 6

• Under the McKinney-Vento Act, are we able to provide services/support without a parent signature on our McKinney-Vento paperwork? We’ve had some instances where a parent will not fill out the McKinney-Vento paperwork, because they do not think they are experiencing homelessness.

Scenario 7

• What is the best way to handle situations where a parent has been untruthful about their living situation? A family told me in August they had lost their housing and were living doubled up with a sister outside of our district (20 miles away). We set up transportation. Recently, another staff member was talking with the mom about another issue, and the mom revealed that she actually had bought the new house and was not living with a sister. Should I revoke the bus even though we’ve been transporting for almost half of the year? Remove the McKinney-Vento flag and automatic free lunch status?

Scenario 8

• A student’s unmarried parents share 50/50 legal custody. One parent has a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence. The other is experiencing homelessness. Does this student qualify for McKinney Vento services?

Scenario 9

• A student qualified for McKinney-Vento services and has been absent from school for quite some time. The family has not responded to communication. Are we required to keep this student enrolled, or can we dis-enroll the student?

Scenario 10

• If an unaccompanied youth’s caregiver has a fixed, regular, and adequate place to stay, does the youth meet the McKinney-Vento definition of homeless? Should my thinking be more geared to the living situation of the youth’s parents/guardians, the youth, or the caregiver?

www.ecyeh7.com

Resources

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(PA ECYEH Program) http://homeless.center-school.org

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(Schoolhouse Connection) www.schoolhouseconnection.org

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(NAEHCY) www.naehcy.org

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(National Center for Homeless Education) https://nche.ed.gov/

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(PA Foster Program) pafostercare.org

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�Contact Information

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Jeff Zimmerman Darci Berti Andy Kuhl

Regional Coordinator Community Liaison Program Consultant

570-718-4613 570-718-4697 570-718-4646

jzimmerman@liu18.org dberti@liu18.org akuhl@liu18.org

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www.ecyeh7.com

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ecyeh7@liu18.org

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www.ecyeh7.com