DCVPA will make reasonable efforts to eliminate barriers to homeless children and youth of school age receiving an education that may exist in school policies or practices. Based on individual need, homeless students will be provided services available to all students.

The provisions of this policy will supersede any and all conflicting provisions in DCVPA policies that address the areas discussed in this policy.

A. Definition Of Homeless Students

Homeless students are children and youth who lack a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence. The term “homeless student” will also be deemed to include the term “unaccompanied youth,” which includes a youth who is not in the physical custody of a parent or guardian. Homeless children and youth include those students who are as follows:

1. sharing the house of other persons due to loss of housing, economic hardship, or a similar reason;

2. living in motels, hotels, transient trailer parks, or camping grounds due to the lack of alternative adequate accommodations;

3. living in emergency or transitional shelters;

4. abandoned in hospitals;

5. living in a primary nighttime residence that is a public or private place not designed for or ordinarily used as regular sleeping accommodations for human beings;

6. living in cars, parks, public spaces, abandoned buildings, substandard housing, bus or train stations, or similar settings; or

7. living in a migratory situation that qualifies as homeless because the child lacks a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence.

B. Title I

Homeless students are automatically eligible for Title I services.

Issued: July 12, 2018