Who is Homeless? In 1987, Congress passed the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act. Subtitle B of Title VII of this Act entitled, Education for Homeless Children and Youth, was amended in 2001 as part of No Child Left Behind, Title X, Part C and was amended again in December 2015 for the Every Student Succeeds Act. Under the amendments (Sec. 725), the phrase “homeless children and youths” means individuals who lack a fixed, regular and adequate nighttime residence.

Education for Homeless Youth 42 U.S.C. 11431 dated February 29, 2008, explains the categories of children who are “homeless” and entitled to protections of the federal law. These categories include children and youths who are: 

• Sharing the housing of other persons due to loss of housing, economic hardship, or a similar reason

• Living in motels, hotels, trailer parks, or camping grounds due to alternative adequate accommodations

• Living in emergency or transitional shelters; are abandoned in hospitals

• Individuals and/or families living with relatives or friends due to loss of housing

• Primary nighttime residence that is a public or private place not designed for or ordinarily used for regular sleeping accommodations for human beings such as living in a vehicle, park, public space, or an abandoned building

• Living in substandard housing

• Migratory children who qualify as homeless

• “Unaccompanied homeless youth” including any child who is “not in the physical custody of a parent or guardian” (42 U.S.C. 1143a (6)). 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 parent for any reason

The goal of the program is to ensure homeless children and youth are provided with a free and appropriate public education on an equal basis with all other children in the state. Program objectives and activities are intended to remove and/or ease the barriers to enrollment and educational success for homeless children. As part of the McKinney-Vento act, all students have the right to: 

• Receive free appropriate public education

• Enroll in school immediately without the appropriate documents while appropriate parties gather the information 

• Enroll in a local school where they are living or remain in their original school 

• Receive transportation to their original school if needed/requested

• Receive comparable services that housed students do such as special education 

• Receive free lunch

• Are categorically eligible for services such as Head Start and Title I

• Have a right to dispute

The McKinney-Vento Act states that it is the policy of Congress that state educational agencies shall ensure that each child of a homeless individual and each homeless youth has equal access to the same free, appropriate public education, including a public preschool education, as provided to other children and youths 42 U.S.C. § 11431. Specifically, 42 U.S.C. § 11432(g) (3) (A) indicates that the local educational agency (LEA) shall, according to the child’s best interest: In accordance with Section 722 (g) (3) (B) (ii), the local educational agency:

1. must presume that keeping a homeless child or youth in the school of origin is in the child’s or youth’s best interest unless doing so is contrary to the request of the child’s or youth’s parent or guardian, or (in the case of an unaccompanied youth) the youth;
   
   

2. must consider student-centered factors related to a child’s or youth’s best interest, giving priority to the request of the child’s or youth’s parent or guardian, or (in the case of an unaccompanied youth) the youth; or
   
   

3. if the LEA determines that it is not in a child’s or youth’s best interest to attend the school of origin, or the school requested by the parent, guardian, or unaccompanied youth, it must provide a written explanation of the reasons for its determination, in a manner and form that is understandable.

According to the McKinney-Vento Act the term "school of origin" means the school the child or youth attended when permanently housed, or the school in which the child or youth was last enrolled. 42 U.S.C. § 11432(g) (3) (G).

Sarah Schroth

Regional Coordinator

Phone: 724-463-5330 x 1203

E-Mail: sschroth@iu28.org