Region #6 consists of the following counties.ArmstrongBlairCambriaCameronCentreClearfieldClintonElkIndianaJeffersonPotterThe ARIN Intermediate Unit was one of first rural homeless programs that began in 1992 that services Armstrong and Indiana counties.Beginning with the 2005-2006 school year, the Pennsylvania’s Education for the Homeless Children and Youth Experiencing Homelessness Program was expanded to support the education of homeless children and youth in eleven counties in what now is Region #6. The ARIN Intermediate Unit directly works with all eleven counties giving support to School Districts, Shelters, Head Start Programs and other community agencies.Federal guidelines states that Homeless children may be found in these places or situations:Public or private shelters.Public or private places not designated for or ordinarily used as regular sleeping accommodations such as vehicles, parks, motels, campgrounds, etc.Living with a parent in a domestic violence shelter.Individuals and /or families living with relatives or friends due to lack of housing.Living in transitional housing programs.Runaway children (under 18 years of age) and children and youth who have been abandoned or forced out of home by parents or other caretakers. They may be in temporary shelters awaiting assistance from social service agencies, or may live on the street or move form place to place among family members, friends or acquaintances.This also includes such youth from 18 through 21 years of age who may still be eligible for educational services in regular or special education.Children of migrant families who lack adequate housingChildren abandoned in hospitalsSchool-age, unwed mothers or expectant mothers living in housed for unwed mothers when they have no other available living accommodations.

Educational Stability: Key ESSA ProvisionsOf the approximately 400,000 children and youth in foster care, nearly 270,000 children in foster care are school-aged. ESSA provides all foster care youth with core protections of school stability and school success.Children in foster care are some of our country’s, and Pennsylvania’s, most vulnerable students. Children in foster care often face steep challenges to school success, including high rates of mobility. Data reveals that foster youth are more likely than their peers to experience a host of barriers that lead to troubling outcomes, including low academic achievement, grade retention and lower high school graduation rates.New foster care provisions found in ESSA promote greater stability for foster care youth so that they can continue their education without disruption, maintain important relationships with peers and adults, and have the opportunity to achieve college and career readiness.The key ESSA provisions to ensure educational stability are:*Dual-agency collaboration between education (LEAs) and child welfare partners (CCYAs); *Making a Best Interest Determination (BID) for children in foster care who experience or are anticipated to experience a change in foster care placement;*Ensuring immediate enrollment for children in foster care when a change in foster care placement is determined to be in the best interest of the student;*Establishing and maintaining foster care points of contact at the state and local levels; and*Ensuring that transportation is provided, arranged, and funded for the duration of a child’s time in foster care.