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News Releases » Monterey Peninsula Unified School District Receives $500,000 to Support Homeless Youth Statewide and Nationally

Monterey Peninsula Unified School District Receives $500,000 to Support Homeless Youth Statewide and Nationally

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

January 6, 2023


Contact: 

Marci McFadden, Chief of Communications & Engagement

831-706-6971


Monterey Peninsula Unified School District Receives 

$500,000 to Support Students Facing Homelessness Statewide and Nationally

Innovative Education Support for Homeless Youth Program


Seaside, CA - The Monterey Peninsula Unified School District recently received a two-year grant totaling $500,000 from the California Department of Education to support students who have unstable housing. The grant was awarded in October 2022 and the district is in the early stages to plan and implement the grant funding. Specifically, MPUSD was recognized for its exemplary work serving students facing homelessness, and tapped on to provide resources to other districts statewide and nationally so they are able to replicate a similar program in their community. The district’s partnership with the National Center for Youth Law contributes to its work to support its most vulnerable students.


“Students who have unstable housing face significant challenges, difficult, and interrelated challenges outside of the classroom that inevitably impact academic performance and the ability to participate actively in school,” said Donnie Everett, Assistant Superintendent, Multi-Tiered Systems of Support. “As a district we are working diligently to address the needs of our McKinney Vento students, including supporting hunger, limited access to healthcare, and social and economic exclusion.”


“We have a very innovative program showing a lot of success,” continued Everett. “And, this two-year Model Innovative Practice grant tasks us to take our model and create a digestible toolkit for other districts to learn from.”


Some of the innovative services that MPUSD has provided to students include:


    • Case management and connection to resources: Program staff collaborate with teachers, healthcare providers, counselors and school administrators to help students and their families access basic needs, such as housing and food.
    • Homeless education and Family Resource Center: The district operates a robust, centrally located Family Resource Center that provides a safe space for students, parents and family members to access personal hygiene and grooming products, clothing, and information on critical community resources, such as food and shelter. Each high school also has on-site resource centers, and this year elementary and middle schools have smaller centers to access basic needs on a smaller level.
    • Emergency housing: In the spring of 2022, MPUSD partnered with Motel 6 to refer families in need of short-term emergency housing while the district and community partners assisted in identifying long-term housing. This program is the first of its kind.
    • Ed-TeamConnect data sharing platform: All support services provided by the district are coordinated and tracked in a data platform that identifies key family members and other important adults in each student’s life and records interactions with those individuals. This system helps maintain staff connections and allows for ongoing continuity of service.
    • Collaboration with community partners: The district collaborates with community partners to better serve its students facing homelessness. These partners include homeless coordinators at the county office of education to support interagency collaboration and capacity building to improve identification and educational outcomes for students. MPUSD partners include the National Center for Youth Law, the Monterey County Office of Education and the Coalition of Homeless Service Providers.

 

The success the district is experiencing can be seen in:


  • Improved graduation rates: students achieved a graduation rate of 85 %, which exceeds that of local McKInney-Vento students (59%); statewide McKinney-Vento students (79%), and all students statewide (81%).
  • Strengthened school stability: students experienced lower rates of school mobility at an average of 1.8 schools compared to the local McKinney-Vento average of 2.1 schools.
  • Gains in grade point average: Students experienced dramatic gains in GPA. Students served in the 2019-2020 school year saw continual increases each semester. Starting in spring of 2018-2019 right before entering the program the average GPA was 1.76. In the fall of 2019-2020 after entering the program the average GPA was 1.98. In the spring of 2019-2020 the average GPA was 2.45. 

 

In Year 1, the district will hone its practice and develop a suite of resources and training modules that can be shared and replicated in other communities across the state. A statewide rollout of the program and communication plan will occur in Year 2. This rollout includes presenting the model statewide over the next three years. “We will even present this model nationally,” states Everett.


The complete grant proposal is available upon request and outlines MPUSD’s implementation, analysis and demonstrated success of its program.


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About Monterey Peninsula Unified School District

 

The Monterey Peninsula Unified School District is home to approximately 9,600 students in grades transitional kindergarten through 12th grade. The district also houses preschool and adult education. The district is built on a solid foundation of effective instruction, positive school culture, systems of support, and collaborative leadership. The district is nestled along the Monterey Bay, and stretches from the city of Marina to the north to the city of Monterey to the south, and includes the communities of Del Rey Oaks, Marina, Monterey, Sand City and Seaside.