Does Offering Social Work Services Via The McKinney-Vento Program to Homeless Youth Improve Academic Functioning?

The purpose of the McKinney-Vento Program is to assist homeless and unaccompanied students with enrollment and ensure the protection of their rights. Students who are identified by the McKinney-Vento Program receive services such as transportation, food stamps, clothes, assistance in documentation and case-management. This study examines the effectiveness of the services provided by the McKinney-Vento Program to homeless students through grades and attendance over the time period of the first six weeks and the fourth six weeks in the 2020-2021 school year. McKinney-Vento identified students from two schools, Clack and Craig Middle Schools, within the Abilene Independent School District. These students from Clack and Craig Middle Schools were used to create the sample (N = 53). Findings demonstrate that there was not a statistically significant change in grades or attendance from the first six weeks to the fourth six weeks. Furthermore, Craig had a statistically significant higher grade average than Clack for both the first and fourth six weeks. In addition, remote students had a statistically significant decreased grade average for the fourth six weeks than non-remote students. Implications for practice, policy, and research are addressed in this study