ALPENA – ACES Academy Principal Michelle Cornish and McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act grant coordinator Vicki Denstaedt presented the Alpena Public Schools Board of Education with information regarding homeless youth in Alpena and the surrounding areas, and how the numbers of homeless youth have climbed over the last few years.

“When we say homeless, we’re talking about those youth who lack a fixed and adequate nightime residence,” Denstaedt said. “Many youth are doubled up, and within the first six weeks of this school year, 100 youth have been registered on the program already.”

Homelessness can include those students living in a motel, hotel or trailer park, campground, homeless shelter or foster care, and public or private places not designed for human living such as trailers in yards with no water or heat, or living out of a vehicle.

“There are a lot of grandparents without legal guardianship raising their grandchildren, but they have power of attorney,” Densteadt said. “There has been a 57 percent increase in homeless youth since 2006, and the Michigan Department of Education estimates that 2 percent of school-aged children will find themselves homeless during any given school year.”

Last year, the grant used to help these children identified 245 children as homeless. In Alpena, there were 182 homeless children, and as of last week, 80 homeless children already have been registered in the APS district. The McKinney-Vento grant funds assistance for these children with just $18,000 spread throughout Alpena, Alcona, Hillman and Atlanta school districts.

The grant helps to provide tutoring for these students, transportation, early childhood programs, participation in school activities, clothing, school supplies, emergency assistance and other things that will help the child continue to have an education.

“Identifying homeless youth is not something that only staff members do, but students help to identify those who may need assistance,” Cornish said. “They will bring the person’s name up and talk to someone who can help.”

The largest of the program costs is transportation, according to Cornish, which can range from personal transportation to and from school to having the child ride the school bus by using a card they show bus drivers to help them get where they need to go for the night.

As an indicator of homeless youth, Cornish said some of the free and reduced lunch numbers generally give staff an idea of how many students may be homeless.

Last year the area served 1,582 students free lunches, and 404 students reduced lunches. That equates to around 49 percent of the total enrollment of the district receiving free or reduced lunch.

“We also will work with head start and early head start to ensure these students get the education they need,” Cornish said. “Participating in school activities is a big part of helping these children.”

Cornish and Densteadt also work with community organizations to ensure these students can have the help they need not only while they are in school, but during the summer months and when they aren’t at a school facility.

“The definition of homeless is broader in schools,” Superintendent Brent Holcomb said. “Children need an education, and even if they have no records, we can’t deny a child access to an education. We take them and work backwards to try to help catch their records up. It’s important to make sure schools don’t put barriers in front of students that are homeless. This grant doesn’t have a lot of funding, but it has fostered a culture of caring enough about our students to go the extra mile and tap into resources that may not have been utilized otherwise. The staff does a great job with these children and we will continue to help these students get the education they deserve.”

Nicole Grulke can be reached via email at ngrulke@thealpenanews.com or by phone at 358-5687. Follow Nicole on Twitter @ng_alpenanews.