A McKinney-Vento program that puts displaced students in class the same day, with a ride within 48 hours
Displaced students in class the same day, with a ride to school within 48 hours.
See one case, screen by screen ↓McKinney-Vento & Foster Youth Services is software for a district's McKinney-Vento program and foster youth services: it coordinates immediate enrollment, transport and services for students experiencing homelessness and youth in foster care. Each arrival becomes a board of tasks with their own clocks, and eight agents read the housing questionnaire in the family's language, cite the statute, enroll the student, certify free meals, plan the ride and its cost share, chase records and draft the best-interest determination. The homeless liaison approves each decision with the evidence beside it.
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A McKinney-Vento program runs on a clock the law sets: a student who loses housing enrolls at once, even without the records normally required, and may stay in the school they knew. In practice one district liaison, often part-time, works a paper housing questionnaire, an email to transportation, a call to the nutrition office, a records request to the last school and, for a child in foster care, a cost-sharing conversation with the child welfare agency. Front offices still ask for a lease or a shot record, and a single day out of class becomes a week.
The risk sits in what is hard to see and harder to prove. Most identified students are doubled-up with others, the situation front-office staff miss. School-of-origin rides cross attendance zones and district lines and need a coordinator, a vendor and an agreement on who pays. Not-eligible findings and best-interest decisions are rarely written down, which is what state monitoring now asks for. And a student's housing status is an education record, never directory information, while the spreadsheets passed between offices leak it.
Estimated split for one arrival, in school days, by hand and with the solution. By hand the steps run one after another while the liaison calls each office; with the agents they run at once.
Eight agents enroll, plan the ride, chase records and draft every decision; the liaison approves and signs.
Thursday, January 14, 2027. A fire at the Las Brisas Apartments in the neighboring Corvan Hills Unified district on Tuesday night left Lucía Herrera and her children, Sofía, 15, and Mateo, 8, in the Bayline Motor Inn inside Marlow Bay. At 8:15 a.m. Lucía arrives at Marlow Bay High School with no documents. Here is the next hour, screen by screen, in the working solution.
Luis helps Lucía complete the housing questionnaire in Spanish on a tablet at the front office. The Intake agent reads it with the Spanish original beside the English, each answer tied to the clause of the law it meets. Question 4 is highlighted in both columns.
“Vivimos en un motel desde el martes, después del incendio en nuestro apartamento.” — “We have been living in a motel since Tuesday, after the fire in our apartment.”
The Intake agent proposes “Eligible · McKinney-Vento” at 97% confidence, citing §11434a(2)(B)(i) and the fire district's notice, and sets the primary nighttime residence for the state report: hotels and motels. One click on the citation opens the passage itself, with the motel clause highlighted. At 8:58 Luis checks the answers with Lucía; the liaison is the checker.
“are living in motels, hotels, trailer parks, or camping grounds due to the lack of alternative adequate accommodations”
Sofía is enrolled at Marlow Bay High at 8:44 with no documents asked, and is in class from 9:08. She is directly certified for free meals from lunch today, her transcript is requested from Corvan Hills High, a ride is planned from 3:05 p.m. today, and the best-interest determination and the notice are drafted in Spanish. On the left, today's 9 new arrivals across Marlow Bay Unified.
“3 decisions need you · Decide 3 items”
From the Bayline Motor Inn to Marlow Bay High is 2.6 miles. The agent compares three options: a contracted ride Thursday and Friday, then stop 14-22A on route 14 from Tuesday, for $82; a transit pass with a transfer, 46 minutes, $32 a month; and mileage, not possible because the family has no vehicle. Monday is Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Transportation coordinator Ray Castellano confirms option A at 9:10, paid from the Title I homeless set-aside, $18,420 of $46,000 left.
“47 h 19 min left of 48 hours”
Mateo stays at his school of origin, Juniper Ridge Elementary in Corvan Hills Unified. His ride across district lines is $58 a day, and the agent drafts the equal split the statute sets when the two districts have not agreed otherwise: $29 for Marlow Bay Unified and $29 for Corvan Hills Unified, ready to send to the Corvan Hills liaison.
The law presumes the school of origin, Corvan Hills High, 11.2 miles away, except when that is contrary to the parent's request (§11432(g)(3)(B)). Lucía asks for Marlow Bay High, 2.6 miles away. The draft quotes her first, then lists the student-centered factors for both schools — distance, courses, attendance, health and safety, special services, activities — each with its source, and drafts the notice of rights in Spanish.
“Marlow Bay High School. Her cousin studies here and Corvan Hills is very far from the motel.”
Danielle opens Sofía's board and presses “Decide 3 items”. Step 1 of 3 shows the proposal — “Sofía Herrera is eligible: she has lived in a motel since Tuesday, after a fire” — with its citations to the questionnaire, the statute and the fire notice, and who has touched it: prepared by the Intake agent v3.2 at 8:33, checked with the family by Luis Ortega at 8:58. She can approve, change it with a reason code, leave it for later or ask the agents about it.
Nobody approves their own work: the person who prepared a decision cannot be its checker.
Eligibility approved at 9:14, the ride at 9:16, the best-interest determination signed at 9:18, and the notice sent to Lucía in Spanish at 9:19. Sofía was in class at 9:08, 53 minutes after arriving, and her first ride is at 3:05 p.m., 6 h 34 min after she was identified. Every decision is on the audit trail with its evidence, reasons and signatures.
Grace Adeyemi, grade 2 at Harbor View Elementary, has lived with her grandparents since August; the questionnaire does not say why. The agent's confidence is 58%, below the 85% threshold, so it writes no finding: it writes four plain questions for a short call with her mother. Only a person decides, and a “not eligible” goes to the Director of Student Services for a second signature.
Jaylen Okafor-Price, grade 7, moved on January 13 to a foster home 14.2 miles from Kessler Point Middle, his school of origin. The Foster care coordination agent read the notice from the child welfare agency portal and drafted the agenda for the joint best-interest meeting, Friday at 10:00 a.m., with Teresa, caseworker Priya Deshmukh, the foster parents, Jaylen and his counselor. His ride is $64 a day against $11 for a bus seat; the extra $53 is shared, $26.50 each, under the 2025 local agreement, which Priya agrees in the portal.
Caseworker note: “wants to stay at Kessler Point with his robotics team”.
The same arrival, seen by the five people at Marlow Bay Unified who carry it — what their week looked like, and what it looks like now.
Eight agents enroll, plan the ride, chase records and draft every decision; the liaison approves and signs.
Reads the housing questionnaire in the family's language, original beside English, and any placement letter or notice; proposes eligibility with the clause of 42 U.S.C. §11434a(2) cited and sets the primary nighttime residence for the state report.
Enrolls the student in the student information system the moment the family asks, with no documents, sends direct certification for free meals and flags Title I services.
Asks the routing system for a stop near the student's nighttime residence, proposes a contracted ride until it starts, compares options by time, cost and safety, and drafts the cost share across district lines or the note to the child welfare agency for foster youth.
Drafts the best-interest determination with the family's request first, the school-of-origin presumption as the statute applies it, and the student-centered factors for each school, each with its source.
Requests records from the last school and immunizations from the state registry, sends reminders, and switches channel to secure email when a source fails.
Reads placement notices from the child welfare agency portal, opens the student's board, schedules the joint best-interest meeting and drafts its agenda.
Drafts written notices in the home language, runs the dispute clock, keeps the student enrolled where the family asked and assembles the dispute file.
Counts students by primary nighttime residence for the state report, reconciles with the student information system, builds the monitoring pack and drafts the FAFSA letter for an unaccompanied homeless youth.
Approves and signs. The agents propose; a named person decides.
Ask in plain words, or say what to draft. Every answer points to its source and opens the screen it is about.
Why is Sofía Herrera eligible?
Her mother wrote on the Spanish questionnaire: “Vivimos en un motel desde el martes, después del incendio” — living in a motel since Tuesday, after the fire. That meets §11434a(2)(B)(i): children living in motels for lack of alternative adequate accommodations. The fire district's notice confirms the fire on January 12. Luis Ortega confirmed the answers with her at 8:58; it waits for your approval.
Which ride clocks run out today?
Two, both from Tuesday's arrivals: Kai Lindgren, 9 h left, with a route 22 stop proposed and Ray Castellano confirming; and Lena Kowalczyk, 11 h left, stop 3-12, the coordinator confirming. I escalate to Dr. Arbuthnot 12 hours before a clock ends, so Kai's goes to her at noon unless it is confirmed.
Draft the cost-share note to child welfare for Jaylen
Drafted. Jaylen's ride from Westshore to Kessler Point is $64 a day; a regular bus seat costs the district $11. Under the 2025 transportation agreement with Marlow County DCFS the extra $53 is shared equally, $26.50 each. It goes to Priya Deshmukh in the portal when Teresa sends it; the ride keeps running meanwhile.
Is Grace Adeyemi eligible?
Not decided, and I will not decide it. Grace has lived with her grandparents since August, and sharing housing counts only when it is due to loss of housing, economic hardship or a similar reason; the questionnaire does not say why. My confidence is 58%, below the 85% threshold, so I wrote four questions for a short call with her mother. A no would need Dr. Arbuthnot's second signature.
13 screens from the working solution, on its sample data. Pick one to see it large.
The clocks, thresholds, approval limits and privacy rules every arrival runs on are settings, versioned and on the audit trail; changes to the agents need the Director.
| Setting | Default | Choose from |
|---|---|---|
| Transport arranged, from identification to the first ride | 48 hours | 12 to 72 hours, in steps of 12 |
| Records request to the last school and the immunization registry | Within 1 school day | Same day · Within 1 school day · Within 2 school days |
| District decision on a dispute | 5 school days | 3 · 5 · 10 school days |
| Escalate before a clock ends | 12 hours | 2 to 24 hours, in steps of 2 |
| Eligibility proposal threshold | 85% | 70% to 95%, in steps of 5; below it the Intake agent writes a conversation guide |
| Rides above this a semester need the Director | $2,500 | $1,500 · $2,500 · $5,000 |
| Keep determinations and evidence | 5 years after the student exits | 3 · 5 · 7 years after the student exits |
| Notices go by | Text message and printed copy | Text message and printed copy · Email and printed copy · Printed copy only |
Every figure is labelled: a target the solution is built to, an estimate, a typical published result, or a proven one.
“demo” = seen in the working solution, on its sample data · “target” = the design goal, measured in the live solution · “estimated” = our estimate · “typical” = published federal counts of students identified as homeless by U.S. public schools in 2022–23 (1,374,537, 2.8% of enrollment; doubled-up 75.0%). Statute references: 42 U.S.C. §§11431–11435 as amended by ESSA, and ESEA §1112(c)(5). People, schools, districts, motels and agencies named on this page are fictional — characters and sample data in the working solution.
McKinney-Vento & Foster Youth Services is software for a district's McKinney-Vento program and foster youth services: it coordinates immediate enrollment, transport and services for students experiencing homelessness and youth in foster care. Each arrival becomes a board of tasks with their own clocks, and eight agents read the housing questionnaire in the family's language, cite the statute, enroll the student, certify free meals, plan the ride and its cost share, chase records and draft the best-interest determination. The homeless liaison approves each decision with the evidence beside it.
It does not decide; a person does. The Intake agent reads the eligibility questionnaire with the original beside English, ties each answer to the clause of §11434a(2) it meets and proposes a finding with its confidence. Below the 85% threshold it writes a conversation guide instead, and it never proposes not eligible. The enrollment clerk checks the answers with the family, the liaison approves, and a not-eligible finding needs the Director's second signature and a notice of dispute rights.
The Transport agent asks the routing system for a stop near where the student is staying, proposes a contracted ride until it starts, and compares the options by time, cost and safety. The transportation coordinator confirms the route and the liaison approves; the 48-hour clock is a district setting. For a school of origin in another district it drafts the equal cost share unless an agreement says otherwise, and for foster youth the note to the child welfare agency.
A placement notice from the child welfare agency portal opens the student's board. The Foster care coordination agent schedules the joint best-interest meeting with the caseworker and drafts the agenda, the student stays at the school of origin with an interim ride meanwhile, and the cost-share note goes to the caseworker in the portal. The caseworker sees only her assigned youth, without housing details.
The student stays enrolled in the school the family asked for while the dispute runs, and the written explanation and appeal rights go to the family in writing. The Notice and dispute agent keeps the clock — 5 school days for the district decision by default — and assembles the dispute file. The liaison prepares and the Director of Student Services decides, or escalates to the state coordinator.
Housing status is never treated as directory information. Enrollment clerks, counselors and nurses see their own school's students, external caseworkers see only their assigned youth, and the student systems administrator cannot open housing details. Determinations and evidence are kept 5 years after the student exits, then deleted with a record of deletion, and monitoring packs replace names with state student IDs.
Yes. The agents propose, cite and draft; they never sign, never book a ride before approval and never send a notice unsigned. Every decision has a maker and a checker, every change to an agent's proposal needs a reason code, and every no, every school other than the family's request and every dispute decision needs the Director's signature.
The Agentic Solution Engine builds and deploys it from your requirements and documents — your procedures, housing questionnaire, notice templates and agreements with neighboring districts and the child welfare agency — and it goes live once every quality gate has passed. We will walk you through it on de-identified samples of your own arrivals first.
Families enrolled in one visit; staff review only the exceptions, each tied to its proof.
1-min demoSchool Immunization ComplianceEvery missing dose found and named to the family before exclusion day.
1-min demoChronic Absenteeism & Truancy InterventionOutreach starts at 5%, in the family's language, long before the review board.
1-min demoWe'll run McKinney-Vento & Foster Youth Services on de-identified samples of your own housing questionnaires and placement notices.