McKinney-Vento and DCFS Liaison

MCKINNEY-VENTO/HOMELESSNESS

The McKinney-Vento Homeless Education Assistance Act ensures the educational rights and protections of homeless children and youth. The legislation requires Komarek School and the Komarek School McKinney-Vento Liaison to assist homeless children and unaccompanied youth to easily enroll in school, attend regularly, and be successful. The following are rights of homeless children and youth:

  • The right to immediate enrollment, even if lacking paperwork normally required
  • Immediate enrollment in the Free and Reduced Breakfast and Lunch Program
  • The right to attend school in his/her school of origin (if requested by the parent and is feasible) or in the school in the attendance area where the family or youth is currently residing
  • The right to receive transportation to his/her school of origin, if requested by the parent
  • The right to services comparable to those received by housed schoolmates, including transportation and supplemental educational services
  • The right to attend school along with children not experiencing homelessness
  • Segregation based on a student's status as homeless is strictly prohibited
  • Educational organizations and schools
  • Where appropriate, referrals to food bank and meal programs, local service organizations (Goodwill, Salvation Army, etc.), family shelters, medical services, and other support

To obtain additional information regarding establishing homeless status and resources available, please contact Komarek’s McKinney-Vento Liaison, the Director of Student Services.

DEPARTMENT OF CHILD AND FAMILY SERVICES (DCFS) NOTICES/LIAISON

Beginning the 2022-23 school year, school districts are required to appoint a liaison for the purpose of facilitating the enrollment of as well as transfer records for students in the custody of DCFS. The DCFS Liaison for Komarek School District is the Director of Student Services.

Districts are also required to inform DCFS’s Office of Education and Transition Services (OETS) of the following for any student in the care of DCFS (parent written consent is not needed to disclose the records of a student in DCFS’s custody to OETS):

  • Provide notices of school-initiated Parent/Teacher conferences and any other meeting concerning the student that would otherwise involve a parent, with the DCFS caseworker allowed to attend said meeting
  • Provide copies of records/reports of student progress
  • Provide reports of student emotional and physical health
  • Provide notices of major school-sponsored events that involve student-parent interaction
  • Provide the school calendar 

For students with disabilities, the school must provide DCFS with copies of special education documentation, including prior written notice and written notice regarding Assistive Technology. School districts must also provide OETS with prior notice when the records of a student in the custody of DCFS are to be deleted or destroyed, as well as an opportunity to copy said records. DCFS’s OETS has a right to inspect the records of a student in their legal custody, copy the records at the school district’s expense, and to have the school provide a professional to interpret the information in the records.