Who is experiencing homelessness?

The McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act defines homeless children and youths as those who lack a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence. The law provides several examples of situations that meet the definition. This includes children and youths:

• sharing housing due to a loss of housing, economic hardship, or a similar reason;

• living in hotels, motels, trailer parks, or camping grounds due to a lack of alternative adequate housing;

• living in emergency or transitional shelters;

• abandoned in hospitals;

• living in a public or private place not designated for, or normally used as, a regular sleeping accommodation for human beings;

• living in cars, parks, public spaces, abandoned buildings, substandard housing, bus or train stations, or similar places; and/or

• living in one of the above circumstances and who are migratory.