Need to Know FAQs for Attendance Teachers

STH (Students in Temporary Housing)

407 comment code for Students in Temporary Housing.
  • 407 Comment CodeSTX describes a student who enrolls in a school based on a move into a shelter, but attends for only a few days before another move or who never attends the school, and the family cannot be contacted.
    • It is important to use the code if it applies so we have a better understanding at the central level of this scenario and can assist centrally with a discharge, if it applies.
    • Read more about 407 comment codes and code 12 investigations, below.
  • Continue to use 407 comment code STH to describe a student in a shelter who has poor attendance or difficulty attending school regularly. In this case, the comment code indicates you can make contact with the family.

What are the guidelines for sharing information from/with a shelter family worker?

  • Confidentiality does not apply for DOE staff doing their normal tasks, as long as the information about the student and family is pertinent to the work. There may be reasons a family worker cannot share information in domestic violence cases.
  • Contact the STH Regional Manager (content expert) for questions from the STH family assistant about sharing information. Their contact information is on the family STH page.

What is the process for a school placement when the family goes through PATH? Is the school location a priority?

  • Placement is based on space availability of housing and the school location of the youngest child. Parents also have the right to remain at the school of origin.

Do immunization rules apply to students in temporary housing?

  • Pursuant to the McKinney-Vento Act, a homeless student may not be denied admission or excluded from school because he/she lacks documentation verifying that immunizations have taken place.
  • The school must assist the parent to help obtain documents. If a student lacks such documentation, the school must provide assistance to the student to obtain the necessary immunizations.
    • The DOE STH team has built a relationship with the Floating Hospital located at 41-43 Crescent St, Long Island City, NY 11101 to assist STH families in fulfilling DOE's immunization requirements.
  • If the student does not meet immunization requirements, the student may be excluded from school in accordance with the procedures set forth in Chancellor's Regulations A-701.
    • With some evidence of immunization (but not written confirmation from a licensed medical provider), families have 30 days to meet the requirement. Otherwise, families have 14 days to comply before exclusion from school.

How can we help expedite issues with busing? Who can we call?

  • If a shelter student (grades K-6) is not attending school because of transportation, first determine if the family is deemed eligible by DHS or is the family still in a “conditional status.”
    • Consult the STH Regional Manager (content expert) to determine status.
    • Families in conditional status will not be routed for busing, but can get MetroCards, including a card for the parent, from the STH family assistant.
    • It can take up to seven business days for a student to be routed, even when a family is eligible, so MetroCards should be available during that time.
  • Students in grades 7-12 who are grade and distance eligible are eligible for MetroCards.
  • Bus routes are automatically set up by Office of Pupil Transportation (OPT) based on a daily file of students in shelters received from Department of Homeless Services (DHS).
    • OPT uses the shelter address in the DHS file. There is no trigger in ATS that starts a new bus route for STH students nor does the home address in ATS have to be the shelter address. 
    • The school can use CSAC function to update the home address to the shelter address, as necessary.
    • The school should also keep the housing status flag up-to-date.
  • When a student is given a route, or a new route, two letters automatically goes to the school’s ATS printer the next day. One letter is for the student and one letter for the school.
    • The school copy instructs the school to update the Stop Number in TUTD (Update Transportation Data). strictly for information; it will not impact the actual bus route.
  • You can see if the student has a bus route using the OPT website: http://www.optnyc.org/. Use the link Find Student Transportation Information and enter the Student ID, date of birth and relevant transportation type. Use this information to see if any connections or corrections might help expedite bus services.
    • Schools can also use the School Ridership System which provides them with all of the route information for their students, updated daily.

Who are the liaisons to contact when we know or suspect a family is in a domestic violence shelter?

  • The STH Regional Manager (content expert) is the first point of contact. Their contact information is on the family STH page.

Does the shelter family worker collect up-to-date email address for families in shelters?
  • They may, but STH family assistants have limited access to update biographical information in ATS. Ask them to enter the email (if they have it) as an ILOG entry.

Enrollment and Options

What documents do families need to bring to the Welcome Center to enroll?

  • Please see the pre-registration checklist.
  • In addition we review the Enrollment Assignment Letter, and complete the provisional admissions form, when necessary.

What is the input process for students new to NYC (K-8)? Is there any circumstance when students are sent away or told to wait? 

  • Please see the enrollment site on the DOE family web site.
  • K-8 new arrivals only wait if they are seeking a seat in a screened or audition program, typically during the summer. 
  • Sometimes a kindergarten family may willing to stay on a wait list during the summer until a capped overflow may be identified.
  • All other students are placed without waiting. 

What is the input process for students new to NYC (HS)? How are high school students placed?

  • High schools are chosen by the families, and students are either assigned or referred based upon seat availability and interest.
  • See Who Can Apply to High School?

What are the transfer options for families?

  • You can learn about transfer options under Enrollment Help on the family DOE site.

How do attendance teachers help when the parent thinks a special education placement is wrong and keeps the student at home?

  • Consult with the District Attendance Point and District special education point who can work with the school’s assigned administrator for special education (ASE).

Home Instruction or Home Schooling?

Home Schooling

  • Home schooling is when the parent takes the responsibility for the delivery of instruction in the home, and does not send the student to school at all.
    • This is an increasingly popular choice for families who are often supported by networks of like-minded parents.
    • The only requirement to begin home schooling is to submit a letter of intent to the Office of Home Schooling.
      • The move to home schooling is not a discharge. The student will be transferred to the home schooling DBN and the Office of Home Schooling manages the minimum reporting requirements going forward.
      • The transfer means the school (and attendance teacher) are no longer connected to the student.
    • Read the NY State Education Department's answers to Frequently Asked Questions about home schooling.

Home Instruction

  • Home instruction is for students deemed too ill to attend school, based on physical or psychiatric barriers and must be medically approved.
    • Students receive tutoring by DOE teachers during home instruction.
      • The move to home instruction is not a discharge. The students remain on the register of the school and move to a shared instruction official class code HOM.
      • Attendance teachers may still be asked to follow up with students in home instruction. Connection with the school must be maintained.
    • Learn how parents apply for home schooling at Home Instruction Schools.
  • In both home schooling and home instruction there may be delays in the ATS transactions, or students might stop attending the school based on the parents' understanding they are eligible for the alternative setting.
    • In these cases, as absences accrue, escalating outreach or threats of educational neglect will generally not be helpful.
    • The best approach to resolve the absences is to understand the family’s plan and expectation and connect with the Office of Home Schooling or Home Instruction, as relevant.

Who can help address the issues of overage middle school students who do not attend school?

  • You, the attendance teacher, can start by defining the non-attending reason using the best 407 comment code. For example, is there a pregnancy? Is the student above compulsory school age? A runaway? Has there been a placement dispute? Has the student been out of school for one year or more?
    • In other words, are you pursing a likely discharge, or a likely return to a new school or program?
  • For students who are 17 years old (including turning 17 this year), or older, you can visit the Referral Center (not the Welcome Center).
    • Bring the specifics of the case and ask a counselor about what options are available.
    • The Referral Center can match students to services like childcare, counseling, substance abuse treatment and additional programs.
    • After your visit, you will be able to tell the family exactly what to expect when they visit the Referral Center.
  • When parents need help with the student, visit the Family Assessment Program.
  • Read more about existing alternative middle schools.
  • Share your overage middle school success stories so we can build our knowledge of potential outcomes to benefit all attendance teachers. Send them to attendance@schools.nyc.gov.

What are the ways we can support pregnant students?

  • Be familiar with the requirements and ways schools and attendance teams can plan ahead for pregnancies and for other reasons for extended absences.

Planning Interviews (PIF)

What is the attendance teacher’s role in Planning Interviews?

  • Part 1 of the Planning Interview Form (PIF) must be completed by a guidance counselor, in consultation with the school’s special education team and dean, if relevant. The Planning Interview form documents the student’s progress toward graduation and all the efforts the school has made to engage the student.
  • Part 2 of the Planning Interview form documents the actual conference, the discussion of the student by the guidance counselor and other relevant school staff about the student’s path to graduation. The student may or may not be in attendance, but the conference must be held.
  • If the student is voluntarily withdrawing and participates in the conference, no letters are required and no address verification is necessary.
  • If the student stops attending school and the school initiates the Planning Interview, students must be notified of the process. Prior to sending Letter #1 as notification, which may be delivered concurrently with completing Part 1 of the PIF, the school must take the following steps, to the extent necessary, to confirm the student’s address or otherwise ensure that the student and parent will receive written notification of the Conference:
    • Telephone contact
    • Home visit by the attendance teacher or other outreach staff
    • In-school conference/meeting with student and/or parent; and/or
    • Return receipt letter to the home.
  • Attendance teachers cannot complete Part 1 of the form. Attendance teachers have no role in the conference and attendance teachers cannot complete Part 2 of the form.
  • A student or parent does not sign the form without having participated in the conference and an attendance teacher cannot be asked to get a student or parent to sign the form.

Attendance and ACS

Why does an educational neglect case close if student doesn't return to school?

  • An initial investigation may be closed, even if evidence supporting an allegation is found. The investigation is closed as “indicated” and the family is referred to an ACS service provider for help in overcoming the barriers they might be facing.
  • ACS case workers have no special tools for combatting truancy and truancy is not considered educational neglect. In this scenario a case would be closed without a student returning to school.
  • Sometimes schools call the State Central Register alleging educational neglect when the school cannot make any contact with the families, for example during Clearance of Register when a student new to the school does not show up. ACS case workers have no special tools for locating families that may have moved. In this scenario a case would be closed without a student returning to school.

Walk through an ACS case from call-in to closing.

Family Assessment Program (FAP): Walk through a case. How or is counseling mandated?
  • Calling all attendance teachers! We are looking for anyone who has successfully brought a family through FAP to tell us about this. Please email attendance@schools.nyc.gov with a case study example.
  • The ACS Family Assessment Program (FAP) helps parents and young people make well-informed decisions about how to resolve issues such as running away or skipping school.
    • Any family can receive assistance from the Family Assessment Program; an open ACS case is not required.
    • FAP cannot be mandated. The parent must volunteer to participate in the assessment or receive any services.
    • A Family Assessment Specialist at FAP will interview the family to determine needs and make referrals for family counseling, substance abuse intervention or other social services.
    • If services fail to resolve a crisis, the Family Assessment Specialist will set up and facilitate a conference between the Department of Probation and the family to discuss Persons In Need of Service (PINS), the court process, and other possible (mandated) outcomes.
    • Download a FAP brochure for families.

Investigations, Code 12, ACS and HRA

What does an attendance teacher do if an ACS case closes and the attendance teacher cannot find students?
  • Note: A family that cannot be located is not a reason to call the State Central Register alleging educational neglect.
  • If somehow an investigation (case) was opened for a family that cannot be located, and ACS closes the investigation without finding the family, the attendance teacher can still pursue new leads and continue his/her investigation. ACS case workers have no special tools for locating families that may have moved.

Will every attendance investigation lead to a conclusion?

  • Yes, for every non-attending student, there will be one of these four conclusions:
    1. Administrative resolution (for example, duplicate student ID or error in programming).
    2. Student returned to regular attendance.
    3. Appropriate discharge (other than code 12 discharge) or transfer to a new school or program.
    4. Student flagged with non-attending reason (for students who cannot be discharged and cannot return to regular attendance). Some of these students will be escalated for a Code 12 discharge.

What is required for a code 12 discharge submission?

  • Portfolio cover which consists of the BIOD screen and RSHP report (in RSHP select all options: PARENT, ADMIT, ATTD, ADDR).
    • This allows the reviewer to have all the known facts about the family in one place.
  • Premise stated (best guess about where the family might be) and non-attending reason.
    • The premise cannot be “address unknown.” It must be a statement about where the evidence led, for example, “family moved out of NYC,” or “moved back to Yemen.”
    • The 407 that opens after the ten consecutive days of absences should have the best comment code to describe the code 12 scenario:
      • NAN NEW ADMIT NO SHOW
        • Student placed on school register by list notice or by Family Welcome Center and did not report to school, or reported for a few days and stopped attending. Contact cannot be made with family.
      • NOC NO FAMILY CONTACT/ACTIVE INVEST
        • Student stopped attending and likely moved but there is not enough evidence for a regular discharge. Contact cannot be made with family.
        • For new admit no shows, use NAN. For students who did not return from extended vacations, use XEV. For STH students, use STX.
      • RUN RUNAWAY
        • Have supporting documents on file.
      • STX STH SHORT TERM/NOT FOUND
        • Student who are new admits with STH designation who never attended or stopped attending. The shelter reports that a family left without new address. Contact cannot be made with family.
      • XEV FAMILY TRAVEL DID NOT RETURN/NO CONTACT
        • Update comment code UEV when return date passes and evidence suggests that the family will not return and contact cannot be made with family.
      • For code 12 scenarios that do not fit into the above codes, please request new comment code: attendance@schools.nyc.gov
  • List of facts or evidence that supports the premise.
    • Brief statement of what the investigation yielded (or failed to yield). Write the facts as a summary. Any evidence/documents may also be attached. 
    • There is no rule about the quantity of evidence but there should be two or more corroborating facts. A single piece of evidence is not enough.
  • Attach documents, as applicable.
    • Generally interviews are saved as ILOG statements. If the entire RSIV is attached, highlight the relevant entries.
  • The investigation can continue after submission!
    • The FSC or Central conducts new or follow-up inter-agency research with HRA, DHS, or immigration services partners.
    • Other databases will be checked: NYS simultaneous enrollment report, incarceration databases, foster care reports, etc.

Don’t I have to contact HRA for a Code 12 discharge?

  • No, it is not necessary to contact HRA (NYC Human Resources Administration) for a Code 12 submission. There is no current HRA contact for investigation inquiries.
  • If, based on your experience with similar cases you believe HRA will be able to provide an address where the family can be located, include the request in the code 12 submission.
  • State the evidence that indicates HRA should be contacted, for example:
    • Student indicator Meal Code =A.
    • History of requesting Face-to-Face Letters.
    • Student disability that could qualify for Medicaid.

Do I have to send a postal tracer for a Code 12 discharge?

  • No, it is not necessary to send a postal tracer for a Code 12 submission. This is not a service USPS generally provides.

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