Homeless Innovative Program Toolkits

A portion of California’s American Rescue Plan – Homeless Children and Youth (ARP-HCY) funds were used to select LEAs, through a competitive grant process, to administer a Homeless Innovative Program (HIP) grant. The purpose of the HIP grant is to identify innovative practices previously implemented and aligned with the provisions of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (Title 42 of the United States Code, Section 11431 et seq.) and to improve the educational stability, access, support, and academic achievement of children and youth experiencing homelessness. LEAs were required to demonstrate effective previously-developed innovative practice(s) that support students experiencing homelessness in order to have been eligible for HIP funding.

A Reason to Hope: Alhambra Unified School District
A homeless education program with new practices developed to meet the changing needs of students and families, includes procedures for identifying, assessing their needs, and providing case management. The MIP Toolkit contains a video series of six parent education workshops (multiple languages) through community agency partnerships and provides linkage to resources included in the MIP Toolkit.
LCFF Priority Areas: 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8

Hope Scholar Mentoring Program: Antelope Valley Union High School District
The MIP Toolkit for Hope Scholar Mentorship Program provides professional development resources to train educational partners to meet the unique needs of youth experiencing homelessness.
LCFF Priority Areas: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8

Moving From Traditional Collaboratives to Building Systemic Alliances: Chino Valley Unified School District
The MIP Toolkit focuses on equipping LEAs to explore, fully leverage, and integrate city-county-district community partnerships to form systemic alliances of support. Examples of innovative alliances include a shared staffing model between Chino Valley USD and cities, a faith-based led food delivery program for MV families, and youth/family sponsorships from local prison unions/institutions. This toolkit also includes practical guidance on staffing, funding, assessment, and outreach, along with supplemental resources to aid in implementation.
LCFF Priority Areas: 3, 5, and 8

Strategies for Building Brighter Futures: Cotati-Rohnert Park Unified School District
This MIP Toolkit provides local educational agencies with a blueprint of Cotati-Rohnert Park Unified School District’s model that supports families with basic needs, parent education, and support through the development of a Family Resource Center in a high need community school.
LCFF Priority Areas: 2, 3, 5, 7, and 8

Da Vinci RISE High Above the Most Challenging Types of Disruptions to Academic Journeys: DaVinci Rise High
The MIP Toolkit offers access to best practices, resources, and trainings to enable the transformation of the practice of establishing non-classroom-based schools, with co-location partnerships, and community-based service providers. This MIP Toolkit provides a highly responsive, holistic, and integrated model that meets the unique needs of youth navigating the most challenging types of disruptions to academic journeys.
LCFF Priority Areas: 3, 5, and 6

Restorative Practices: The Art and Science of Talking Circles: Fusion Charter School
The MIP Toolkit includes strategies to build skills to identify housing instability and support students experiencing homelessness with the, "Talking Circles." This MIP Toolkit includes training videos for school and community members to easily replicate this practice.
LCFF Priority Areas: 3, 4, 5, and 6

HEART Program: Hacienda La Puente Unified School District
What is your McKinney-Vento identification Process? The comprehensive Homeless Education and Resource Toolkit (HEART) includes strategies to: increase identification, augment educational outcomes, expand collaboration with community agencies, and improve effective collaboration which requires planning and outreach. The MIP Toolkit contains innovative ideas and strategies, templates, forms, videos, and materials that can be easily replicated and effectively implemented in districts of all sizes.
LCFF Priority Areas: 3, 4, 5, and 6

Students Speaking Their Truth for Change: Kern County Superintendent of Schools
What young people have to say about their experience in school matters, but unfortunately, their voices are too often ignored. This MIP Toolkit can change that! Utilize this MIP Toolkit to help LEAs implement student voice projects, which are critical in helping lower chronic absenteeism & high school dropout rates for homeless students.
LCFF Priority Areas: 5, 6, 8, and 10

Strengthening Your Relationships with Your Community Partners: Kings County Office of Education
Breaking Barriers is a referral system that works interchangeably with K-12 schools, post-secondary institutions, and partnering community agencies. The MIP Toolkit is a guide of the referral process among shelter coordinators, housing navigators, and/or case managers that supports the identification of students experiencing homelessness to our county school districts’ homeless district liaisons.
LCFF Priority Areas: 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, and 8

Creating Sustainable Solutions for Homelessness with Tiny Homes: Latitude High School
A MIP Toolkit full of realistic and practical resources and step-by-step curriculum guides, from start to finish, to encourage local educational agencies, schools, and/or career technical education programs, to feel empowered and equipped to build tiny house villages that provide shelter and community for unhoused youth.
LCFF Priority Areas: 2, 4, 5, 6, and 7

AVANZA-Moving Forward: Lennox School District
AVANZA-Moving Forward provides families with resources to build a strong foundation for a better future based on a whole-child/whole-family approach. The MIP Toolkit offers trauma informed practices that support and promote healing; a curriculum for art-centered parent engagement groups, art expression groups for at-promise students led by trained JUNTOS (social work interns), expanded learning opportunities, clothes closets located at each school site, and wrap-around services with referrals for crisis care, legal assistance, and tenants’ rights advocacy.
LCFF Priority Areas: 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7

Building Equitable Support though a Tiered System (BESTS): Monterey Peninsula Unified School District
The MIP Toolkit, BESTS, provides a deep overview of a three-tiered approach to McKinney-Vento services in schools and includes a variety of resources such as a template for a referral form, an outline of services offered in each tier, and needs metrics to prioritize identified students.
LCFF Priority Areas: 3, 5, and 6

Increase Unhoused Family Identification and Bridging County-Wide Supportive Services: Placer County Office of Education (PCOE)
The PCOE Request for Assistance (RFA) process is a quick, accessible way for school district staff, community, and city services to request support in accessing county and community resources for students and families. The RFA process is flexible and applicable to different situations with multiple complex needs including needs resulting from major natural disasters.
LCFF Priority Areas: 5 and 8

RCSD T.H.R.I.V.E. (Teamwork, Housing, Resourceful, Impactful, Voices, Empowerment): Redwood City School District
Learn about partnerships and processes put in place to increase identification, case management, and support for students and families for better educational outcomes. The MIP Toolkit’s e-manual focuses on systems and protocols put in practice to provide wrap-around services for students and families to stabilize households and prevent loss of housing.
LCFF Priority Areas: 1, 2, 5, and 7

SBC HERO's: San Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools
San Bernardino County (SBC) HERO's Toolkit to inspire Hope, Empowerment, Resilience and Opportunity! A student-based curriculum designed through the Give Back Academy's three trauma informed, evidence-based core competencies: Relational Wealth, Resiliency Building, and Economic Stability.
LCFF Priority Areas: 2, 4, 5, and 7

Stay Over Program (SOP) A School-Based Emergency Shelter: San Francisco Unified School District
San Francisco Unified School District’s Stay Over Program MIP Toolkit assists LEAs to provide a school-based emergency shelter for students and families leading to the first step towards stable housing. The toolkit provides considerations for liability, community resistance, legal concerns, and implementation to be housed on a fully operational community school campus.
LCFF Priority Areas: 3, 4, 5, 6, and 8

SAFE (Services Affirming Family Empowerment) System of Care: San Luis Obispo County Office of Education
SAFE System of Care is a strength-based, multi-agency, school-linked support collaboration team that individualizes support with families in the community to overcome barriers to access services. The MIP Toolkit offers resources and protocols to tailor SAFE team meetings to the family’s individualized goals and priorities.
LCFF Priority Areas: 2, 3, 4, 5, and 7

Community Meetings: Creating Safe Spaces, Safe Adults, and Belonging for Students: Scholarship Prep
This MIP Toolkit will assist you in developing a schoolwide classroom-based daily Community Meeting to create consistent and systemic physical and emotional safety for homeless students. Understand how a special platform is used for a weekly universal screener which assists with identification of students experiencing homelessness.
LCFF Priority Areas: 5, 6, and 8

Building Bridges: Torrance Unified School District
The MIP Toolkit will include strategies to leverage limited resources through collaboration, innovation, and multi-disciplinary efforts to get the most out of your McKinney Vento Programs. The MIP Toolkit includes a multi-tiered case management system partnering with a local university for mental health social worker interns to work with students experiencing homelessness.
LCFF Priority Areas: 3, 4, and 5

Safe Harbor for Students Experiencing Homelessness: Wheatland Union High School District (WUHSD)
The Safe Harbor program offers an innovative way to support McKinney-Vento students in small, rural settings. The MIP Toolkit provides an overview of the Safe Harbor program whole-child approach and includes resources to remove barriers, meet the physical needs of students, supports for mental health, and address individual learning needs.
LCFF Priority Areas: 5 and 8