Caring Conversations About McKinney-Vento Eligibility
Learn how to use a caring conversations approach with families to gather information about their living circumstances and determine McKinney-Vento eligibility for Head Start programs.
Family well-being occurs when all family members are safe, healthy, and have chances for educational advancement and economic mobility. Support services such as early care and education, housing and food assistance, and physical and mental health care positively contribute to the well-being of families and their children. When families face challenges that cause stress, including poverty and homelessness, their health and wellness can be negatively impacted. Engaging families as active participants in problem-solving and goal-setting can help them identify and use their own strengths to address the challenges they face. When families are healthy, safe, and economically stable, their children's health and well-being can thrive.
Learn how to use a caring conversations approach with families to gather information about their living circumstances and determine McKinney-Vento eligibility for Head Start programs.
Explore the Office of Head Start's answers to common questions about serving families experiencing homelessness.
Use this tool to reflect on your program’s relationship-building practices and plan for next steps in supporting families experiencing homelessness.
Consider how you might enhance what you already do to partner with families experiencing homelessness. Use this tool to reflect on your program’s relationship-building practices and plan for the next steps in supporting families experiencing homelessness.
Use this tool to determine a child and family's situation or status using the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act’s definition of “homeless children and youth.”
Working with local partners is a key strategy for identifying and reaching out to families experiencing homelessness.
Learn about the Maternity Group Homes (MGH) program. Discover how one MGH and Early Head Start program are working together to meet the needs of pregnant and parenting youth who are experiencing homelessness.
Hear how programs can partner with community agencies to help families who face homelessness. Learn how this effort can help programs reach children and families who are in need of services.
Enhance your knowledge around family homelessness and discover the importance of the McKinney-Vento Homelessness Assistance Act's definition of homelessness as it refers to children and youth.
Watch this three-part webinar series features exemplary practices from Head Start programs and collaboration directors.