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Identifying and Serving
Out-of-School Youth (OSY)
The purpose of the Migrant Education Program (MEP)
is to design and support programs that help migratory students overcome the challenges of mobility, cultural and language barriers, social isolation, and other difficulties associated with a migratory lifestyle. These efforts are aimed at helping migratory students succeed in school and successfully transition to postsecondary education, military, and/or employment.
Most often, schools’ programmatic efforts focus on school-age children,
thus providing and coordinating services for students in grades K-12. The MEP broadens its efforts to include pre-school and out-of-school youth by expanding the definition of an eligible migratory child from the age of 3 through 21 years old. In doing so, the MEP can prepare young migratory children for school readiness and assist high school-aged migratory students to postsecondary options and dropout prevention. Migrant programs can also focus efforts on those out-of-school youth and here-to-work youth who are not enrolled in school but still have needs and are eligible for services.
In carrying out a Migrant Education Program, there must be
“adequate provision for addressing the unmet education needs of preschool migratory children and migratory children who have dropped out of school.” Additionally, “to the extent feasible, such programs and projects will provide for advocacy and other outreach activities for migratory children and their families, including helping such children and families gain access to other education, health, nutrition and social services.” In providing services with Title I, Part C, funds, LEAs shall give priority to serving PFS migratory children with MEP funds before using migrant funds to address the needs of other migratory children. PFS students are defined as migratory children who have made a qualifying move within the previous 12-month period and (1) who are failing or most at risk of failing to meet the state’s academic standards; or (2) have dropped out of school. 2
The Office of Migrant
Education and OSY
The ESSA Application
and OSY
Show references >
1 U.S. Department of Education, Oce of Elementary and Secondary Education, Non-Regulatory Guidance for the Title I, Part C Education of Migratory Children, last modied March 2017, p. 14.
2 U. S. Department of Education, “State Applications, Services,” Title I, Part C of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965. Education of Migratory Children (Amended as ESSA). sec. 1304(d), last modied
September 15, 2004, accessed June 22, 2020,
https://oese.ed.gov/offices/office-of-formula-grants/school-support-and-accountability/essa-legislation-table-contents/title-i-part-a/#TITLE-I-PART-C.
3 Texas Education Agency, “Program Guidelines-2020-2021 ESSA Consolidated Federal Grant Application” (Texas Education Agency, Austin, Texas: Texas Education Agency, 2020), https://tea4avalonzo.tea.state.tx.us/GrantOpportunities/forms/GrantProgramSearch.aspx, p. 18.
4 Texas Education Agency, “Program-Specic and ESSA Provisions and Assurances 2020-2021 Consolidated Federal Grant Application” (Texas Education Agency, Austin, Texas: Texas Education Agency, 2020), https://tea4avalonzo.tea.state.tx.us/GrantOpportunities/forms/GrantProgramSearch.aspx , p. 26.
The Office of Migrant Education and OSY
For the purposes of the MEP, the OME considers the term “out-of-school youth” to mean children through age 21 who are entitled to a free public education in the state and who meet the definition of a “migratory child,” but who are not currently enrolled in a K-12 institution. This term could include:
- students who have dropped out of school,
- youth who are working on a high school equivalency diploma (HSED) outside of a K-12 institution, and
- youth who are “here-to-work” only.
Enrollment in school is not a condition affecting eligibility for the MEP. Therefore, out-of-school youth who meet the definition of a “migratory child” are eligible for the MEP and its services. Out-of-school youth may or may not be “emancipated youth” or those who are no longer under the control of a parent/guardian and who are solely responsible for their own welfare. 1
The ESSA Application and OSY
The ESSA Consolidated Federal Grant Application Program Guidelines states “in planning, implementing, and evaluating the MEP, there has been and will be adequate provision for addressing the unmet needs of...migratory children who have dropped out of school, as well as the identification and recruitment of such children.” 3 In addition, the ESSA Consolidated Federal Grant Application Program-Specific Provisions and Assurances also includes assurances to “coordinate/provide needs-based services for Out-of-School Youth (OSY) with support and advocacy (e.g., graduation, high school equivalency, job readiness skills).” 4
For more information on grant requirements, click on the Responsibilities of an Independent Project District.