Paula Gumina, Operations Coordinator Colorado Department of Education Mary Giggy, Financial Aid Advisor Aims Community College Cyekeia Lee, Director of Higher Education Initiatives NAEHCY Heidi Markey, Associate Director of Financial Aid University of Denver Breaking the Cycle of Poverty: A Blueprint for States in Supporting Unaccompanied Homeless Youth in Achieving Postsecondary Goals November 15, 2015

 Strategies for the creation and implementation of a statewide Single Point of Contact model;  How unaccompanied homeless youth are engaged in postsecondary workforce readiness efforts;  Efforts to support unaccompanied homeless youth from SPOCs themselves;  Promising practices in your state for building state level networks, and training and supporting SPOCs Participants will leave with an understanding of: 2

“I knew that I didn’t want to be homeless for the rest of my life, and I saw education as the sure path to a more secure future. Hard work does not intimidate; a vacuous future does. To succeed in college is to succeed in life, and never again have to live the way I am living now.” - Ashleigh, 2005 LeTendre Scholar and Formerly Homeless Student Move toward a brighter, more stable future Break the Cycle of Poverty 3

Landscape 4

 In the school year, 1,360,747 homeless children and youth were reported as enrolled in U.S. Public Schools  2/3 of homeless adults do not have a high school diploma or GED  10% of all children living in poverty are homeless A National Perspective Source: National Center for Homeless Education and National Association for the Education for Homeless Children and Youth

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 Expanded definition of “independent student” to include UHY  Youth who are:  Unaccompanied and homeless, or  Unaccompanied, self-supporting and at-risk of homelessness any time during the school year in which they sign the FAFSA  CONSIDERED INDEPENDENT College Cost Reduction and Access Act of

 Verification is not required  If choose to verify, authorized entities are:  McKinney-Vento Act school district liaison  HUD homeless assistance program director or their designee  Runaway and Homeless Youth Act program director or their designee  A Financial Aid Administrator (FAA)  Sample verification template at College Cost Reduction & Access Act Verification 8 July 29 th Dear Colleague Letter

What is the SPOC Model? 9

 A safe, single point of contact (SPOC) at each college/university to serve UHY  Access  Wrap- around retention model  streamlined process to other services within college/university  Created common resources and processes for assisting UHY get to and through postsecondary. It’s Replicable!

 Understand the definition of homeless used in the College Cost Reduction and Access Act  Distributing awareness materials  Referring homeless students to campus office or community agencies that can provided needed support  Training, encouraging collaboration and building relationships among offices or programs that can provide support to students in need How SPOCs help to serve Unaccompanied Homeless Youth 11

Single Point of Contact Model National Efforts State Level Partners Grassroots efforts  State Policy Institutions of Higher Education National Supports Levels of Collaboration Blueprint

“ Alone we can do so little. Together we can do so much.” – Helen Keller Who is on the bus? 13 FAFSA

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Strategic Opportunities 15 Partnership Communication Support Information

 Who are the like minded champions?  What audiences can be trained to make meaningful impacts?  How can you offer supports through partnership and communication?  Where can you access meaningful data and information? Action Planning 16

The Grassroots Implementers Institutions of Higher Education 17

 Engaging like minded champions at the higher education campuses  Creation of the “SPOC” network to continue the good work of our K-12 district liaisons.  Need for a common understanding of the LAW.  Conversations around access and unnecessary barriers.  Overview of McKinney-Vento program eligibility  Discussions about specific situations, resources, and best practices The First SPOC Training 18

 NAEHCY Higher Education Helpline and Support   Gained the Colorado Association of Financial Aid Administrator’s support of a common verification form.  Helped revise Application and Verification Guide (AVG) for financial aid professionals.  New “Dear Colleague Letter” from the Department of Education (July 29, 2015) regarding verification and proper interview techniques. Continued SPOC Training and Support 19

Maintaining What Has Been Built Systems of Support 20

 Orientation  Toolkit Toolkit  Tip sheet  Local resources and partners  AVG Excerpt  Annual training  Who are UHY?  CCRAA  Role of the SPOC  Recommended Practice for Financial Aid Administrators  Building Regional Coalitions  National Efforts  Technical Assistance Contact  Updated SPOC list  Website  revention/homeless_highered revention/homeless_highered Colorado Department of Education 21

 Updates from NAEHCY Higher Education Committee  Addressing Common Barriers  State Updates  K-12 Liaisons Colorado Taskforce on Higher Education for Unaccompanied Youth Experiencing Homelessness 22

 Create a support system on campus  Housing for Students Living on Campus  Award Work-study  Gift Cards  Care Packages  Rental Resources  Food and Hygiene Pantries  Familiarity with county and state support services  Check-ins  Don’t be afraid to advocate for your students! Recommended Practice 23

 After CCRAA  Federal Student Aid Handbook’s Application and Verification Guide outlined Financial Aid process for UHY   2015 U.S. Department of Education’s Dear Colleague Letter  Clarifies Institutional role and responsibility to UHY determinations  Includes homeless status determinations for 22 and 23 year olds meeting definition of being unaccompanied and homeless  Federal Guidance 24

 Composed of higher education and homeless education professionals that meet regularly to discuss topics related to homeless youth and higher education access  2012 Director of Higher Education Initiatives role emerged out of growing need to support homeless youth that access higher education  Statewide networks development and TA expanded with under NAEHCY’s HEI (Higher Education Initiative)  2012 Higher Education Helpline Established: or NAEHCY Higher Education Services Committee 25

 Podcast Series: resources/podcastshttp://naehcy.org/educational- resources/podcasts  Webinars:  Toolkit: serieshttp://naehcy.org/higher-ed/access-success-web- series  Other resources on higher education webpage: NAEHCY Resources 26

National Snapshot 27

 Start Small  What Are Other Networks Doing?  Watch for Changes in Policy and Recommended Practice Practice Across the Nation 29

 Financial Aid Determinations  State Residency  Yearlong Housing  Continued Work with Federal Student Aid  Continued Partnerships  Ongoing Legislative Efforts Working to Address Challenges 30

31 Cyekeia Lee, Director of Higher Education Initiatives NAEHCY Toll-free helpline: (855) Paula Gumina, Operations Coordinator Colorado Department of Education P: Heidi Markey Associate Director, Advising Financial Aid University of Denver P: Mary Giggy Financial Aid Advisor Single Point of Contact for Independent Youth Aims Community College P:

Thank you! 32