FY2025: McKinney-Vento Homeless Education Grant (Competitive)

Fund Code: 0310

Purpose:

The purpose of this federal competitive grant is to provide funding for programs that ensure students who are homeless enroll and attend school and engage in learning that values and builds on their background knowledge, lived experiences, and cultural and linguistic assets. Students are active participants and have a voice in shaping their learning experiences through the following grant program purposes:

1. Support Services & Family Engagement: to address the basic and ongoing needs of homeless students and families, and to engage families in removing any barriers for students to attend schools. (Please refer to the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education's (DESE's) definition of Family Engagement, and Family Engagement Initiatives and Resources.)

2. Regional Homeless Education Liaisons: to support a network of experienced homeless education liaisons that provide technical assistance, and training, to other local homeless education liaisons in collaboration with the state coordinator for homeless education.

3. Homeless Migrant Student Support: to collaborate with the Massachusetts Migrant Education Program (MMEP) and to provide racially equitable and culturally responsive academic support to homeless migrant students including summer programming, English language services, tutoring, and school supplies and uniforms.

Priorities:

The McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act prioritizes funds to support the education of students who are homeless through racially equitable and culturally responsive high-quality programming in any or all the following:

1. programming designed to raise awareness of the needs and rights of students who are homeless throughout the district and community;
2. tutoring, supplemental instruction, and other educational services that help students who are homeless close achievement gaps;
3. providing developmentally appropriate early childhood education programs, not otherwise provided through federal, state, or local funding for preschool children who are homeless;
4. providing services and assistance to attract, engage, and retain students who are homeless, particularly those that are not enrolled in school, in public school programs and services provided to housed students;
5. before- and after-school programs, mentoring, summer programs for children and youth who are homeless, and services/assistance to attract, engage, and retain students who are homeless in these programs;
6. collaborating with external agencies to provide students and families who are homeless with medical, dental, mental health, and other community and state services;
7. engaging homeless families in their student's education stability, such as attendance, learning and other related issues;
8. providing violence prevention counseling, referrals to counseling and/or address the needs of students who are homeless and domestic violence survivors;
9. providing supplies to non-school facilities and adapting these facilities to enable them to provide services; and
10. providing extraordinary or emergency services to eligible students as necessary to enroll and retain them in school.

Competitive priority will be given to districts and schools in chronically underperforming status.

Competitive priority will be given to districts proposing a Regional Homeless Education Liaison that have previously experience serving this capacity.

Eligibility:

Based on the number of identified students who were homeless during the 2023-2024 school year submitted to DESE, all Massachusetts public school districts (including charter school districts) with twenty (20) or more enrolled students who are homeless are eligible to apply.

Two or more districts with a combined total of twenty (20) or more enrolled students who are homeless may apply as a consortium, or they may designate their collaborative to apply on their behalf as a consortium.

Applicant districts must include collaboration with community-based organizations committed to advancing racial equity through a local Homeless Education Service Coordination Committee or other established local committee or council addressing homelessness.

Funding Type:

Federal CFDA 84.196

Federal grant funds must adhere to:

• UGG (2 CFR 200)
• EDGAR As Applicable
• EDGAR General Fiscal Administration 34 CFR Part 76

Funding:

Approximately $2,500,000 is available.

Using homeless student enrollment data for the current (2023/2024) school year submitted to DESE, districts/consortia can submit applications based on the following funding levels for one or more of the grant purposes:

1. Support Services:
   • Up to $60,000:   2,000 or more enrolled homeless students
   • Up to $50,000:   1,000 or more enrolled homeless students
   • Up to $40,000:   500 or more enrolled homeless students
   • Up to $30,000:   200 or more enrolled homeless students
   • Up to $20,000:   20 or more enrolled homeless students
   
   

   *Any district proposing to serve 25 or more homeless students in a summer 2024 program may apply for up to an additional $20,000.

2. Regional Homeless Education Liaisons:

   • Up to $25,000 to support work serving as Regional Homeless Education Liaisons (to include but not be limited to conference expenses). Competitive priority will be given to districts proposing a Regional Homeless Education Liaison that have previously experience serving this capacity.

3. Homeless Migrant Student Support:
   • The districts that serve 30 or more migratory students are eligible to apply for funds to support the identified migrant students.
   • Up to $50,000:   100 or more enrolled migrant students
   • Up to $35,000:   30 or more enrolled migrant students

This RFP is the governing document for these grant funds.

Funding is contingent upon availability. All dollar amounts listed are estimated/approximate and are subject to change. If more funding becomes available, it will be distributed under the same guidelines that appear in this RFP document.

Fund Use:

Programs can either expand or improve services provided through a school's general academic program but cannot replace that program (supplement and not supplant). To the extent practicable, activities and services are to serve students who are homeless and students who are housed inclusively.

Districts may provide services through programs on school grounds, at other facilities, or may use funds to enter contracts with other agencies that are committed to racial equity to provide services for children and youth who are homeless. McKinney-Vento funds may provide the same services to students who are housed to ensure that program activities integrate students who are homeless.

Grant funds cannot be used to pay for the district's Homeless Education Liaison, a position required in all school districts, unless the liaison has responsibilities in the district for students who are homeless beyond those required by the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act including the work of the Regional Liaison described in Category B above.

Grant funds cannot be used for food, gift cards, or rent for families or unaccompanied youth.

Grant funds cannot be used for transportation costs that are required by the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act. Other transportation costs may not exceed 10% of the grant.

Project Duration:

Upon Approval (No earlier than 7/1/2024) – 6/30/2025

Program Unit:

Student and Family Support

Contact:

Shirley Fan-Chan

Date Due:

Friday, June 7, 2024

Proposals must be received at the Department by 5:00 p.m. Eastern time on the date due.

All responses must be received by the due date listed above. Failure to do so will result in disqualification. Responses not received on time will not be reviewed. Applicants applying after the due date may be notified their application was received late and will not be reviewed. Applications must be submitted as directed in the Submissions Instructions below. Failure to do so may result in disqualification. If you need assistance with submitting your application, please reach out to the contact person listed on this funding opportunity.

Competitive grant applications are considered submitted when the Superintendent / Chief Executive approves the grant application in GEM$. To be considered for competitive funding, applicants must submit a grant application through the LEA Superintendent Approved stage by the due date listed in the RFP.

Required Forms:

All required program information and forms will be submitted in DESE's new Grants for Education Management System (GEM$). See Submission Instructions for details.

Additional Information:

Questions and Answers — Applicants can find all the questions asked regarding this funding opportunity and DESE's responses posted in the DESE Resources section of GEM$. Please send questions to achievement@mass.gov with the Subject Line: FY25 FC 0310 Question.

Regional Homeless Education Liaisons grant sub-category B, please see the DESE Regional Homeless Education Liaison Job Description for duties of the Regional Liaison position.

Key Grant Requirements
Funded applicants will:

• convene a local Homeless Education Services Coordination Committee or actively participate in an established local committee/council designed to assess the needs and assist in the provision of services to the homeless student population in the district;
• attend grantee meetings twice a year; and
• provide an end-of-year report - details will be provided to all grantees.

GEM$ Submission Instructions:

The FY25 0310 McKinney-Vento Homeless Education Grant will be submitted in our new GEM$ system. GEM$ is a cloud-based fiscal and program management grant system that will eventually phase out the use of EdGrants.

Grants for Education Management System (GEM$)

Competitive grant applications are considered submitted when the Superintendent / Chief Executive approves the grant application in GEM$. In order to be considered for competitive funding, applicants must submit a grant application by the due date listed in the RFP.

The Superintendent / Chief Executive Approved Step allows for the organization lead to review and approve the grant application. Removing the requirement for the Part I Standard Contract Form, this step signifies Superintendent /Chief Executive sign off. Any grant budget changes requiring signature will re-execute this step when amended signifying the organization lead is approving these changes.

New Organizations: Grant Submission requires applicants to have their organization established in GEM$. Entities that do not have an organization established in GEM$ must contact the DESE Program Unit issuing this grant at a minimum 5 business days prior to the grant due date for temporary organization access.

Failure to provide DESE with GEMS Request Form at least 5 business days prior to the due date may result in not meeting the submission due date listed above. DESE cannot accept or review applications after the due date.

Please Note: Grant Submission at the LEA level requires roles to be established for Grant writer for the specific fund code, LEA fiscal for financial review/approval, and Superintendent/Chief Executive sign off. All these roles should be established prior to the grant due date and all appropriate forms should be either uploaded to GEM$, maintained at the LEA level or sent in to the DESE RFP contact as described on the individual forms. The user guidance documents and forms are found on the GEM$ homepage under DESE Resources. This form can be accessed without logging in to the system.

Last Updated: May 30, 2024