HOUSE Liaison
What does the HOUSE Liaison do?
The HOUSE Liaison serves as a bridge between housing insecure or foster care students and campus and community resources, such as financial aid, student support, and connections with community resources. Their role includes helping students apply for and receive federal and state financial aid and services, as well as providing information about available resources and services on campus, locally, statewide, and at the federal level.
What is homelessness?
- Sharing housing with others due to loss of housing, economic hardship, or a similar reason (ex. couch surfing)
- Living in motels, hotels, or campgrounds due to lack of alternative adequate accommodations
- Staying in an emergency or transitional shelter
- Living in cars, parks, public spaces, abandoned building, bus or train stations, or similar settings
- Living in public or private places not designated for or normally used for humans to sleep
- Fleeing home for safety purposes
- Having unstable housing – at imminent risk of eviction or being homeless
Contact the HOUSE Liaison
Courtney Loos
217.641.4301
celoos@jwcc.edu
JWCC Office – C114
Resources
- JWCC’s Blazer Fuel Station
- JWCC’s Blazer Compass
- United Way of Adams County directory
- Blessing Hospital’s Community Resources directory
- Adams County Health Department’s Family Resource Guide (choose the last option on the page that says “Family Resource Guide – Pocket Size”)
- Illinois Hunger Hotline or call 1.800.359.2163
- Quincy Library’s Community Resources directory
McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act
McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act is a federal law that works to ensure educational stability for homeless young adults and allows homeless students to enroll in school. The college will work with parents, caregivers, and the student to confirm their living situation. Getting documentation from their high school, a letter from the shelter, motel, a relative, or social worker stating where the individual is staying.
The age limit of 21 is applied to secondary institutions and their obligation to provide services. It’s not applied to post-secondary institutions since they have not been required at the federal level to have a liaison.
This to say, McKinney-Vento doesn’t have an age cap once students finish high school. To those ends, the college adheres to the rules and regulations set for by the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act.
Applying for Title IV Aid
Starting with the 2024-25 FAFSA form, applicants under the age of 24 will be presented with a single question to determine if they are a youth who is (1) unaccompanied and homeless or (2) unaccompanied, self-supporting, and at risk of becoming homeless. If they answer “Yes” to the homeless question, they will be asked if they have a documented determination from one of the eligible authorities listed below. Applicants who affirm they are an unaccompanied homeless youth will be able to submit their application as an independent student.
First-time applicants will need to follow up with their institution to submit documentation supporting their homeless determination. Renewal applicants who had their 2023-24 FAFSA form processed as an independent student due to a homeless youth determination are eligible to have their status carried forward if their circumstances remain unchanged and they are enrolled at the same institution for 2024-25. Institutions will need to manually adjust 2024-25 FAFSA forms for students in these situations.