About COHHIO Course to HOME

COHHIO Course to HOME is an exciting new opportunity for Ohio school districts and educational service centers. The Ohio Department of Education (ODE) received federal formula allocated funds through the American Rescue Plan to provide increased support, and professional development opportunities to districts specifically in meeting the need of the following vulnerable student populations experiencing homelessness:

  • rural children and youth
  • students of color
  • children and youth with disabilities
  • English learners
  • LGBTQ+ youth
  • students in foster care
  • justice-involved youth and
  • pregnant, parenting, or caregiving students

ODE has teamed up with the Coalition on Homelessness and Housing in Ohio (COHHIO) to provide communities of practice and other professional development supports, called COHHIO Course to HOME. You can read more about the partnership by reviewing Ohio’s ARP-HCY state plan here. The purpose of COHHIO Course to HOME is to increase resources and coordinate intentional responses for districts in order to meet the need of vulnerable students experiencing homelessness. Additionally, COHHIO Course to HOME provides on-demand technical assistance to help districts respond to the needs of student homelessness. If your district has technical assistance (TA) needs regarding student homelessness resources, you can send an email to homelesseducation@cohhio.org requesting TA  at any time. COHHIO Course to HOME does not provide direct services to students and families rather COHHIO Course to Home provides support to districts in order to ensure districts can meet the needs of students and families in an effective manner. Students and families may access the housing information line directly (not associated with COHHIO Course to HOME) here. Students and families seeking affordable housing are encouraged to explore Ohio Housing Finance Agency’s Ohio Housing Locator which maintains a listing of available units throughout the state (not associated with COHHIO Course to HOME). Youth and young adults seeking answers related to housing are encouraged to visit COHHIO’s Youth Initiative here.

Request Technical Assistance

COHHIO’s Course to HOME technical assistance is designed to provide McKinney-Vento and American Rescue Plan-Homeless Children and Youth (ARP-HCY) grantees and sub-grantees, schools, districts, and homeless education liaisons in the state of Ohio with the necessary support and resources to better assist students and families experiencing homelessness. These services are provided at no cost to districts. These services are scheduled individually and are intended to provide a resource or consultation on a specific topic to enhance district practices or address a challenge. Technical assistance will be provided by COHHIO staff based on individual request and may be delivered via email exchange, one-on-one video or phone consultation, small group facilitation, etc. Topics may include problem solving, capacity building within the district, system, and community. Lessons learned in technical assistance inform the overall approach of COHHIO Course to HOME. ODE highly encourages districts to engage in technical assistance.  COHHIO Course to HOME does not provide direct services to students and families. Instead it provides support to districts in order to ensure districts can meet the needs of students and families in an effective manner.

When requesting general technical assistance districts are encouraged to provide the following information as part of the request:

  • Requestors name
  • Requestors district role
  • County of district
  • Explanation of the need or question

When requesting technical assistance for resources and supports regarding a specific student(s) experiencing homelessness or situation districts are also encouraged to provide the following in the request:

  • County or current location of the student(s) experiencing homelessness
  • A brief overview of the situation and what steps have been taken including community referrals made by the district
  • Age(s) of the student(s) and head of household

When requesting technical assistance for resources and supports regarding a specific student(s) experiencing homelessness or situation(s) districts are highly encouraged to have the McKinnney-Vento Liaisons take the lead on making the request. However the district personnel that know the student(s) experiencing homelessness or situation(s) most closely should be included in the request. This can be accomplished by copying (cc-ing) all relevant staff in the email request for technical assistance and/or inviting relevant staff to participate in the video/phone consultation. A team approach to problem solving in the preferred process for technical assistance. For More information on technical assistance view the COHHIO Course to HOME Guide to Understanding Technical Assistance here.

Requesting technical assistance is easy! Simply send an email to homelesseducation@cohhio.org.

Documents

Community of Practice

COHHIO Course to HOME offers communities of practice to Ohio school districts and ESC’s. The Ohio Department of Education highly encourages districts to engage in community of practice. Having a common understanding of community of practice is a foundation of participating. We use a widely understood definition of community of practice that comes from Etienne and Beverly Wenger-Trayner, who helped articulate the concept in 1991 – Communities of practice are groups of people who share a concern or a passion for something they do and learn how to do it better as they interact regularly. The motivation for convening a community of practice at the most fundamental level, is a group of people coming together driven by a shared learning need, in this case student homelessness with an emphasis on vulnerable groups. By engaging each other, over time, in collective learning, we develop a bond that in turn fuels the production of resources to influence our own practices. The combination of a shared field/area of expertise, community, and practice lie at the heart of a community of practice.  For More information on community practice view the COHHIO Course to HOME Guide to Understanding Community of Practice here. For a 2022-2024 Calendar of community of practice view the COHHIO Course to HOME Community of Practice Calendar here.

Ohio McKinney-Vento Community of Practice

The Ohio McKinney-Vento Community of Practice is a quarterly peer learning opportunity organized by sessions. The intended audience of the Ohio McKinney Vento Community of Practice is McKinney-Vento liaisons, ARP-HCY I sub-grantees, ARP-HCY II sub-grantees, McKinney-Vento sub-grantees, ESC Liaisons, and public-school staff who are striving to increase knowledge and response for students at-risk of or experiencing homelessness in an Ohio school district or region. Each session is a time to join at your leisure (join if/when you can, leave when you want) and receive virtual training, discussion, and sharing of resources with a focus on meeting the needs of vulnerable youth at risk of or experiencing homelessness. All session are recorded and content is collected and made available below. View the 2022-2024 Ohio McKinney-Vento Community of Practice Calendar here.

Materials

HomeRoom Network Community of Practice

The HomeRoom Network Community of Practice is a bi-monthly interactive, workshopping experience organized by sessions. The intended audience of HomeRoom Network Community of Practice is ARP-HCY I sub-grantees, McKinney-Vento sub-grantees, and ESC liaisons striving to increase knowledge and response for students at-risk of or experiencing homelessness in an Ohio school district/region. Each session is a time to join at your leisure (join if/when you can, leave when you want) and participate in virtual learning, discussion, workshopping and sharing of resources with a focus on meeting the needs of vulnerable youth at risk of or experiencing homelessness. All session are recorded and content is collected and made available here. View the 2022-2024 HomeRoom Community of Practice Calendar here.

Materials

Listserv Messages

HomeRoom Network Messages

Ohio McKinney-Vento Community of Practice Messages

Newsletters

Contact

Contact the COHHIO Course to Home team by sending an email to homelesseducation@cohhio.org or call us at 614.280.1984 ext. 143.