Vern Hee
ARP HCY program specialist
May 2023
Dear Awesome LEAs,
We talked a lot about sustainability these past months. I know I am beating it to death, but it is important. I just want to leave you with my final thoughts on the subject. This was from a Department of Labor source:
One should also look at sustainability through different eyes. What is it in your eyes? Sustainability refers to the continuation of a project’s goals, principles, and efforts to achieve desired outcomes. Although many grantees think that guaranteeing the sustainability of a project means finding the resources to continue it “as is” beyond the grant period, ensuring sustainability really means making sure that the goals of the project continue to be met through activities that are consistent with the current conditions and resources that are available. (U.S. Department of Labor).
In order to start thinking about the sustainability of ARP HCY, one must first lay down a game plan. The success of sustainability all stems from your vision of your program and where you see it going. The McKinney-Vento State Coordinator from Louisiana, Antiqua Hunter, presented an outline for her plan. She suggested charting it out like this:
McKinney-Vento Sustainability Plan
NCHE worked with a small group of state coordinators to produce a framework that Nevada participated in, here is the link to that framework.
From this framework, I put together some of the most useful questions:
What criteria will be used for choosing which ARP-HCY initiatives to sustain?
The framework called for a survey or questionnaire to ask for feedback. Nevada’s survey was sent out in April.
What is working?
Categories for impact
How do you review and revise enrollment procedures to reduce barriers/increase identification
How did you connect families to CBOs
Another question asked about resources that currently exist to sustain chosen ARP-HCY initiatives.
The answers given:
Title 1 set-aside
Consortiums
Title IV
Current funding streams that have eligibility for braiding/blending and layering
We talked a lot about sustainability, and I have met with other state coordinators to talk about sustainability. I think we should meet as a state to talk about sustainability ideas before the end of the year is out. I want to dedicate the May office hours to conducting a forum on sustainability and the first learning piece will be on Braiding and blending of funds given by Lauren Ohlin and Karen Holley.
ARP HCY Spending Effectiveness survey
I sent out the ARP HCY effectiveness survey on April 14. The survey was created to provide NDE an idea of the effectiveness of the ARP HCY spending. Now is the time to look at the money spent and the money you are going to spend to see how effective your activities were. This will allow you to make any course adjustments in your spending. The survey is intended to get you to think about your spending now and not when it is too late.
In addition to this, at the summit, we highlighted a few districts and their ARP HCY efforts to further get you thinking about the use of fund spending. Most of the LEAs have a good idea of what they will be spending their funds on, but it is always good to see what your neighbors are doing.
If you missed this video, we have the link to the summit posted.
I had the pleasure of listening to the discussion between state coordinators and John McLaughlin in late April, He is the USED team leader for the homeless education programs. During this discussion, the state of Tennessee brought up an initiative they started in their state, ARP Homeless System Navigator role: The ARP Homeless Systems Navigator will support the LEA and school homeless liaisons in identifying homeless children and youth and providing homeless children and youth with wrap-around services and the assistance needed to enable them to attend school and participate fully in school activities. The Systems Navigator will assist the LEA and school homeless liaisons in meeting the urgent needs of children and youth experiencing homelessness, including academic, social, emotional, and mental health needs. The systems navigator will work closely with the LEA homeless liaison to ensure the LEA follows the McKinney-Vento Education for Homeless Children and Youth.
I think something like this could be useful in Nevada. During times like this, it may be time to expand homeless activities in the state now before things get far worse. The bottom line is how can we support you better? I am always happy to hear from you.
Be Part of the Conversation
This new section will highlight one question of the month and then publish the responses next month.
The question for this month: There is a push by SchoolHouse Connection to go before Congress and extend the deadline for ARP-HCY. If this happens, how will it help your ARP HCY initiatives?