Orange County Education Department Equips Educators to Support Homeless Students

The Orange County Classical Academy in Orange, Calif., on March 10, 2021. John Fredricks/The Epoch Times

The Orange County Department of Education last month unveiled an online training program for district educators to support homeless students.

The department’s homeless outreach program seeks to remove barriers for homeless students to attend school and to give them the educational and physical support they need to succeed.

Jeanne Awrey, coordinator of the program, said the online training was designed to help educators understand the ways they can support homeless students under the 1987 McKinney-Vento Act, which ensures that minors without a place to regularly sleep at night have equal access to free public education.

“We want to make sure educators have the tools they need to identify and support students experiencing homelessness,” she said in a Jan. 30 statement.

According to the department about 26,000 students countywide—or six percent of its students—are eligible for services under the act.

Common issues that prevent such students from attending school include not having transportation, an area to study and do homework, as well as a lack of basic survival needs such as food and hygiene tools, according to the training program.

Under the McKinney-Vento Act, schools are required to remove such barriers.

(L-R) The Orange County Board of Education trustees Tim Shaw, Lisa Sparks, Jorge Valdes, Mari Barke, Ken Williams, and the county Superintendent of Schools Al Mijares during a meeting at the Orange County Department of Education in Costa Mesa, Calif., on Aug. 17, 2022. Micaela Ricaforte/The Epoch Times

Educators can assist students by waiving fees, providing students access to after-school activities, and providing referrals to resources such as housing assistance, childcare, medical care, food banks, school supplies, and clothing.

Wendy Rogan, a department program specialist who recently took the online training course, said many students who come into the program also have specific education needs—typically missing credits or who frequently miss school.

“To help combat inconsistent school attendance, we come in and tailor the alternative program and classes to the students’ needs,” Rogan told the Epoch Times.

But the best advice, Rogan said, is for educators to build connections with such students.

“Relationships with our students can [help us] be aware of what circumstances might change,” she said. “When you have that relationship, and you have that open communication, students share what’s going on at home.”

The department shared the training with districts throughout Orange County and hopes to also do so for districts throughout the state, according to Ian Hanigan, a spokesperson for the education department.