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Halley White DDS, MPH and Brian Talley DMD
www.wrightsvillebeachmagazine.com WBM
Hanover County Schools
The names and numbers change.
The situations are different.
But each year, families with
children live without adequate
housing in New Hanover County.
The 1987 McKinney-Vento Homeless
Assistance Act defines homelessness more
broadly than the federal homelessness definition.
The act, which was originally documented
in the 1980s and reauthorized in
2001, defines homeless children and youth
as “individuals who lack a fixed, regular
and adequate nighttime residence.”
At the end of the 2012-13 school year,
682 students were identified as eligible for
assistance under McKinney-Vento in
New Hanover County Schools.
Lisa Burriss, New Hanover County
Schools lead social worker and school
counselor, explains that the definition
includes families doubled up with other
families under one roof.
She describes these children as resilient.
“The doubled up piece is a reality for
a lot of families right now,” she says.
“They have a roof over their heads, but
oftentimes there are financial struggles
that result in them needing to move back
in with the grandparents or friends, and
it adds stress and strain on both families.
This year we began seeing tripled up
more than doubled up.”
Through McKinney-Vento, parents are
able to choose whether their child stays at
the school of origin or attends a new area
school. Other needs like transportation,
clothing, food and school supplies are met
with the support of the federal grant money.
The program also helps keep students
in school and on track to graduate, working
with credit hours, online courses and
summer programs.
Of the 682 students identified as
homeless, 403 were doubled up, 155
were transitional, 39 were staying in
hotels or motels, 29 were awaiting foster
care, 29 were in shelters and 27 were
unaccompanied youth.
Yet Buriss says, “Our numbers the
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