Homeless Education Program Information

The federal McKinney-Vento Homeless Education Assistance Improvement Act and Texas State Law protect the rights of homeless children and youth.

The Harlingen Consolidated Independent School District assures that children and youth who are experiencing homelessness and living within the district have access to the same free, appropriate public education and related services provided for all children and youth.

Who is homeless?

The term “homeless children and youth” – (A) means individuals who lack a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence…; and (B) includes –   (i) children and youths who are sharing the housing of other persons due to loss of housing economic hardship, or a similar reason; are living   in motels, hotels, trailer parks, or camping grounds due to the lack of alternative accommodations; are living in emergency or transitional         shelters; are abandoned in hospitals; or are awaiting foster care placement; 

(ii) children and youths who have a primary nighttime residence that is a public or private place not designed for or ordinarily used as a     regular sleeping accommodation for human beings … 

(iii) children and youths who are living in cars, parks, public spaces, abandoned buildings, substandard housing, bus or train stations, or similar settings; and 

(iv) migratory children who qualify as homeless for the purposes of this subtitle because the children are living in circumstances described in clauses (i) through (iii).

Services available to children and youth experiencing homelessness include: transportation, school supplies, eye glasses, and emergency medical or dental services.