Supporting the Success of
Homeless & Foster Children
Clark-Wilkins School Contacts
Tricia Towne - Homeless Liaison
Sheila Quick - Foster Care Liaison
Nancy Zerega - Clark School Registrar
Tori Burke - Wilkins School Registrar
It is the homeless liaison’s responsibility to ensure that any student who is experiencing homelessness is identified and enrolled in school. The liaison must ensure that students receive all eligible services to facilitate student academic success.
Liaison responsibilities include (but are not limited to) awareness, guidance, determining eligibility, enrollment and school selection, access to services such as food and transportation, working with parents and guardians and working with unaccompanied youth.
Please click this link Supporting the Success of Homeless Children and Youth for a fact sheet with tips for teachers, principals, school leaders, counselors, and others. Please click on this link Confidential Referral Form for Students in Transition for a questionnaire that addresses the requirements of the McKinney-Vento Act.
McKinney-Vento Act
The McKinney-Vento Act states homeless young people are those that lack a fixed, regular and adequate nighttime residence. It is important to note that students and families experiencing homelessness are not alone. The Souhegan School District has adequate resources and policies in place to accommodate the needs of every student. The district has an appointed Homeless Liaison to provide you with necessary assistance.
Under the federal McKinney-Vento Act, children and youth in homeless situations have the right to:
- Go to school, no matter where they live or how long they have lived there.
- Attend either the local school or the school of origin, if this is in their best interest. The school of origin is the school the child attended when he/she was permanently housed or the school in which the child was last enrolled.
- Receive transportation to and from the school of origin.
- Enroll in school immediately, even if missing records and documents normally required for enrollment such as a birth certificate, proof of residence, previous school records, or immunization/medical records.
- Enroll, attend classes, and participate fully in all school activities while the school gathers records.
- Have access to the same programs and services that are available to all other students, including transportation and supplemental educational services.
- Attend school with children not experiencing homelessness; a school may not segregate a student because he or she is homeless.
Who is eligible to receive assistance under the McKinney-Vento Act?
If you have lost your housing and now live in a shelter, hotel, motel, vehicle, campground, or temporary trailer; on the street; doubled‐up with family or friends; or in another type of temporary or inadequate housing, you may be able to receive help for your child through a federal law called the McKinney‐Vento Act.
For more resources, please visit the NHDOE website for educating homeless children and youth.
Our dispute resolute form can be found here.