Community Schools, Homeless, and Foster Care Programs District Coordinator

Homeless Education, Foster Care, and Community Schools District Liaison

McKinney-Vento Education for Homeless Children and Youth

Charles County Public Schools provides services to each child of a homeless individual or homeless youth ensuring equal access to the same free, appropriate, public education provided to other non-homeless students with the opportunities to meet the same challenging state content and student performance standards with success. Every school district is required to have a Local Education Agency (LEA) homeless education liaison whose duties include addressing barriers that homeless children and youth may face in enrolling, attending, and succeeding in school. You may contact Bethany Goodwin, Youth in Transition Coordinator, at 301-934-7210 or at bgoodwin@ccboe.com for additional information.

The McKinney-Vento Definition of Homelessness

The term “homeless children and youths” means individuals who lack a fixed, regular, or adequate nighttime residence. This group includes:

• children and youths who are sharing the housing of other persons due to loss of housing, economic hardship, or a similar reason;
• are living in motels, hotels, trailer parks, or camping grounds due to the lack of alternative adequate accommodations;
• are living in emergency or transitional shelters; or are abandoned in hospitals;
• children and youths who have a primary nighttime residence that is a public or private place not designed for or ordinarily used as a regular sleeping accommodation for human beings such as children and youths who are living in cars, parks, public spaces, abandoned buildings, substandard housing, bus or train stations, or similar settings;
• migratory children; and
• unaccompanied youth who do not live in the physical custody of a parent or guardian

Foster Care

A child or youth in state-supervised care who is in the custody of, committed to, or otherwise placed by a placement agency. This includes foster care, group homes, or other agency placement. The children and youth have a right to education; prompt enrollment in school; and the prompt transfer of school records.

Refer to the Enrollment of Child in Foster Care Form for registration of children and youth in foster care. Every school district is required to have a fostering connections liaison who serves as the point of contact with child welfare agencies to ensure school stability of children in foster care. You may contact Bethany Goodwin, Foster Care Coordinator, at 301-934-7210 (office) or bgoodwin@ccboe.com for additional information.

Community Schools Program 

Community schools are schools that develop and utilize partnerships to connect the school, students, families, and surrounding community to the resources needed in order to thrive. At its core, the community school strategy is deeply rooted in equity; it highlights the assets in traditionally underserved communities and leverages additional partnerships, ultimately providing students, families, and communities with essential services. Maryland is home to more than 260 community schools throughout the State, serving students and families from birth to adulthood. Through strategic partnerships, community schools work to provide access to health services, mental health support, academic enrichment, out-of-school time programming, crisis support, adult education classes, leadership development, and more. 

To learn more about the Community Schools Programs, please visit this link: https://www.ccboe.com/departments/student-services/community-schools-program and Community Schools (marylandpublicschools.org)

Summer Meals Program

Charles County Public Schools, in partnership with other county agencies, is offering a free summer lunch program. "Lunch on Us" is a free lunch program for all children and teens ages 18 and younger who live in Charles County.

Lunches are served Monday through Thursday during the summer at various times and locations. Lunches must be eaten on site. No lunch will be served on July 4.

Summer Meals- Lunch on Us