Immigrant Children and Youth

• Individual public schools meeting the significant increase requirement may apply for this discretionary grant opportunity. There is no $10,000 threshold for this part. 
• Eligible individual districts may form a consortium of eligible districts; however, one district must serve as the fiscal lead of the immigrant grant consortium.
• Eligible districts may also choose to join a consortium led by a Cooperative Educational Service Agency (CESA) serving as fiscal lead for the immigrant grant consortium.

   Immigrant Children and Youth in Nonpublic Schools

Once eligibility for Immigrant Children and Youth has been determined for those LEAs meeting the significant increase requirements, eligible districts applying for the funds should review which nonpublic schools are participating in Title III and engage in meaningful consultation with nonpublic officials. To be eligible for the Immigrant Children and Youth discretionary grant, a private school student must be enrolled in a private elementary or secondary school in the geographic area served by an eligible LEA who receives a subgrant for immigrant children and youth and must meet the definition of immigrant children and youth under ESEA section 3201(5). The eligible LEA, alongside the nonpublic school, would then establish through meaningful consultation how students and teachers of immigrant students might receive services and how those services will meet their children's needs. 

Examples of equitable services that an LEA that receives a subgrant for immigrant children and youth under Title III, Part A may provide to private school immigrant children and youth, their teachers and other educational personnel based on timely and meaningful consultation with private school officials include:

• Tutorials, mentoring, and academic or career counseling for immigrant children and youth
• Curricular materials, educational software, and technologies to support immigrant children and youth; and
• Instructional services designed to assist immigrant children and youth achieve in schools in the U.S., such as programs of introduction to the educational system and civic education.

According to the ESEA, as amended by ESSA, Section 3201(5), Immigrant Children and Youth refers to individuals who are:

• aged 3-21.
• were not born in the United States, the District of Columbia, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
• have not been attending one or more schools in any one or more states for more than three full academic years.

• Students who meet the definition of immigrant children and youth may be adoptees, born in the U.S. Military, refugee students, exchange students, among others.
• Immigrant students may or may not be identified as English learners.
• 3 full years in the United States need not be consecutive.
• Per Title III Non-Regulatory Guidance, Section G-1, the term "immigrant children and youth" used in Title III is not related to an individual's legal status in the United States. Under the U.S. Supreme Court Plyler v. Doe, schools are required to provide equal access to a basic public education to all students, regardless of immigration status.

Under ESSA Section 3115(e), an LEA must use immigrant children and youth funds to provide enhanced instructional opportunities for students. 

• Family literacy, parent and family outreach, and training activities designed to assist parents and families to become active participants in the education of their children;
• Recruitment of and support for personnel, including teachers and paraprofessionals who have been specifically trained or are being trained to provided services to immigrant children and youth;
• Provision of tutorials, mentoring and academic or career counseling, educational software, and technologies to be used in program;
• Identification, development and acquisition of curriculum materials, educational software and technologies to be used in the program;
• Basic instruction services that are directly attributable to the presence of immigrant children and youth in the LEA, including payment of costs of providing additional classroom supplies, costs of transportation, or such other costs as are directly attributable to such additional basic instruction services;
• Other instruction services that are designed to assist immigrant children and youth to achieve in elementary and secondary school in the U.S. such as programs of introduction to the educational system and civics education; and
• Activities coordinated with community-based organizations, institutes of higher education, private sector entities, or other entities with expertise in working with immigrants, to assist parents and families of immigrant children and youth.

Download: List of Eligible Grant Activities for Immigrant Children and Youth

Section 3114 of Title III specifies that if an LEA receives an immigrant education subgrant, it is expected that all applicants conduct a needs assessment related to their immigrant children and youth population. LEAs should engage immigrant families in the planning, review and evaluation of programs funded under this part.  Each LEA must complete a final report of grant activities. Information included in the grant application should describe how any activities undertaken will explicitly support immigrant children and youth

Districts should anticipate being able to serve immigrants during the grant year. The grant year runs from July 1 through June 30 of the current competition school year.  Grants must be expended during the fiscal year awarded. Title III Immigrant and Youth funding do not carry over. Grant requests have traditionally ranged from $10,000 to $50,000 for eligible grant activities. 

• Welcoming, Registering and Supporting Newcomer Students: A Toolkit for Educators of Immigrant and Refugee Students in Secondary Schools
• OELA Newcomer Toolkit
• NCELA Newcomer Toolkit
• WIDA: 5 Strategies to Welcome Newcomer Students Into Your Classroom
• REL: Starting Schools in the Unites States: A Guide for Newcomer Students' Familes       
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