Announcing Local Educational Agency Homeless Liaison Training Dates

INFORMATIONAL LETTER NO: 11
POLICY CODE: JLG

TO: Superintendents of Schools
FROM: Susan A. Gendron
DATE: September 8, 2008
RE: Announcing Local Educational Agency Homeless Liaison Training Dates

Subtitle B of Title VII of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11431 et seq.), amended and reauthorized as part of the No Child Left Behind Act, requires that “local educational agencies will designate an appropriate staff person, who may also be coordinator for other Federal programs, as a local education agency liaison for homeless children and youth.” Training sessions for local homeless liaisons will be held September through November.

Participants will receive training pertaining to:

local implementation of the McKinney-Vento Act;
identification of homeless youth and children in their school administrative units
conducting sessions to raise awareness of and sensitivity to homeless issues with staff and students, and
ensuring the enrollment and educational participation of homeless children and unaccompanied youth.

The training sessions are integrated training for school homeless liaisons and Keeping Maine’s Children Connected liaisons. Keeping Maine’s Children Connected is a Children’s Cabinet initiative which helps youth who experience educational disruption due to homelessness, foster care placement, in-patient psychiatric care and correctional facility placement. The initial training is designed for new liaisons and for those who have not been previously trained. Cross training provides the opportunity for sharing of youth practices and policies across agencies. Since the liaisons in schools may be the same person for both positions, the training is now integrated.

The training session dates and locations are:

Portland	Portland Department of Health and Human Services 161Marginal Way room C	9:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m.	September 16, 2008
Bangor	Bangor United Technology Center 200 Hogan Road	9:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m.	September 25, 2008
Rockland	Rockland Mid-Coast School Of Technology 1 S Main Street	10:00 a.m.-3:30 p.m.	October 2, 2008
Presque Isle	Presque Isle Career Center 66 Spruce Street	8:15 a.m.-1:00 p.m.	October 29, 2008
Machias	Machias Department of Health and Human Services	8:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m.	November 20, 2008

Two-hour regional meetings are held twice a year in the Fall and Spring for a discussion on general information and updates on issues and polices affecting youth who have experienced school disruption due to homelessness, foster care placement, in-patient psychiatric care, and correctional facility placement.

The Fall Regional Liaison Meetings dates and locations are as follows:

Lewiston	Lewiston Dingley Building 36 Oak Street	10:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m.	October 21, 2008
Biddeford	Biddeford Department of Health and Human Services 208 Graham Street	10:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m.	October 23, 2008
Presque Isle	Presque Isle Career Center 66 Spruce Street	1:00 p.m.-3:00 p.m.	October 29, 2008
Bangor	Bangor United Technology Center 200 Hogan Road	11:30 a.m.-2:00 p.m.	November 19, 2008
Machias	Machias Department of Health and Human Services 15 Prescott Street	1:00 p.m.-3:00 p.m.	November 20, 2008
Augusta	Augusta Department of Health and Human Services 35 Anthony Avenue	9:30 a.m.-12:00 p.m.	December 2, 2008

Please confirm attendance with Susan Lieberman at 822-0172 or susan.lieberman@maine.gov . For additional information contact Shelley Reed, Homeless Education Coordinator, Department of Education, 23 State House Station, Augusta, Maine 04333-0023, telephone 624-6637 or e-mail at shelley.reed@maine.gov .