Research, advocacy at UNCG for homeless students

UNCG Now

Twenty minutes north of UNCG’s main campus is the National Center for Homeless Education (NCHE), a technical assistance center that has been a part of the university for nearly 20 years.
The center, funded by the U.S. Department of Education, is driven by data. And there’s one number that stands out above the rest.
It’s the number of children and youth across the country identified as homeless: 1.3 million.
Homelessness in the United States takes on different forms. Families might be staying in a shelter, spending nights in a car or couch hopping, relying on the kindness of friends and family and bouncing from home to home at a moment’s notice.
In schools, it’s not easy to identify young people in these situations. Homeless students often go unnoticed and, as a result, lack the educational resources they desperately need.
That’s where NCHE steps in. Housed in UNCG’s SERVE Center – whose mission is to work with educators and policymakers to improve education – NCHE is the technical assistance and information center for the federal Education for Homeless Children and Youth (EHCY) program.
EHCY oversees the implementation of the McKinney-Vento Education of Homeless Children and Youth Assistance Act. The law grants specific rights to homeless children and youth, such as immediate enrollment in school, transportation, free meals, clothing, school supplies and tutorial services. However, accessing these resources can be difficult, and many families are unaware that they are available.
“Homeless children and youth and their families don’t have the time and resources to try to navigate systems across cities or states,” says George Hancock, NCHE director. “We work with coordinators and liaisons to provide a coordinated point where these families have access to the resources they need.”
NCHE publishes hundreds of different briefs, handbooks and toolkits, holds more than 40 webinars each year and fields approximately 200 emails ...

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