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The identification of students experiencing homelessness is essential to ensuring that families are afforded their rights under the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act. Eligibility determinations must be made on a case-by-case basis, and it begins with understanding the definition of homelessness under the Act.
Qualifying children and youth are eligible for certain rights and services. If you or a client believes they may be eligible, contact your school's homeless liaison for verification of your eligibility.
McKinney-Vento Definition of Homeless 42 U.S.C. § 11434a(2)
McKinney-Vento Definition of Homeless 42 U.S.C. § 11434a(2)
The term “homeless children and youth”—
A. means individuals who lack a fixed, regular, or 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 adequate accommodations; are living in emergency or transitional shelters; or are abandoned in hospitals;
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).
v. "Unaccompanied homeless youth" including any child who is "not in the physical custody of a parent or guardian." This includes youth who have run away from home, been thrown out of their home, been abandoned by parents or guardians, or separated from their parents for any other reason.
What does it mean to lack a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence?
What does it mean to lack a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence?
This is the key to determining homelessness and is considered in three separate parts. A family may lack only one of the three, a fixed, regular, or adequate nighttime residence. In other words, the family may be staying somewhere that is fixed and regular, but is deemed inadequate and therefore qualifies as homeless.
Fixed: A home that is stationary and permanent in nature.
A tent, car, RV, or other nonstationary structure would not be considered a fixed residence.
Regular: A home that the family is allowed to use on a typical basis.
For example, a week-to-week change in residence would be flagged as irregular. If a family isn't listed on a signed lease or mortgage, it may not be regular.
Adequate: A home that suitably meets the physical and psychological needs of the family.
A home that lacks basic needs such as heat, water, and electricity, lacks sufficient space for the family unit, or poses a hazard due to the presence of mold, vermin, bedbugs, etc., could be considered inadequate.
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