Witnesses: Lack of Funding for Transportation Hurts Homeless Kids
Washington, April 29 — The lack of sufficient federal funding under the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act creates a disincentive to identify homeless children and youth because of the high costs associated with transporting those students to their school of origin, witnesses today told members of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee (HELP).
Although ensuring the stability of a school of origin typically is in homeless students' best interest, Denise Ross, homeless supervisor for the Prince George's County (Md.) Public School System, said some districts fail to identify students for services or push them to attend the school nearest their temporary residence in order to avoid the costs associated with transportation.
McKinney-Vento provides direct funding to support the education of homeless students, but the money is limited and only a handful of districts receive subgrants. For the 2009-10 school year, approximately 9 percent of districts received McKinney-Vento funds. Congress appropriated $135.4 million this year ($65.4 million in annual appropriations and another $70 million in one-time funding in the stimulus package).
