Homeless Education (McKinney-Vento)

McKinney-Vento Act

The McKinney-Vento Act was enacted to address the numerous barriers homeless children face in obtaining a free, appropriate public education. The program was originally authorized in 1987 and, most recently, reauthorized as within the Every Student Succeeds Act.

Subtitle VII-B of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (per Title IX, Part A of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, as amended by the Every Student Succeeds Act) defines homeless as follows:

The term “homeless children and youths”–

(A) means individuals who lack a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence (within the meaning of section 103(a)(1)); and 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 access to 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 (within the meaning of section 103(a)(2)(C)); 

(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 (as such term is defined in section 1309 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965) who qualify as homeless

Unaccompanied Homeless Youth: The McKinney-Vento Act defines Unaccompanied as a homeless child or youth not in the physical custody of a parent or guardian. (McKinney-Vento Act section 725(6)). Two conditions must be present for a child or youth to be considered an Unaccompanied Youth under the McKinney-Vento Act:

1. The child’s or youth’s living arrangement meets the Act’s definition of homeless, and

2. The child or youth is not in the physical custody of a parent or guardian.

The McKinney-Vento Act ensures educational rights and protections for children and youth experiencing homelessness including:

• The right to immediate enrollment in school, even if lacking paperwork normally required for enrollment.
• The right to attend school in his/her school of origin, if in the child or youth’s best interest, or if the school in the attendance area where the family or youth is currently residing.
• The right to receive transportation to his/her school of origin, if this is requested by the parent or unaccompanied youth.
• The right to services comparable to those received by household schoolmates, including transportation and supplemental educational services.
• The right to attend school along with children not experiencing homelessness. Segregation based on a student's status as homeless is strictly prohibited.
• The posting of homeless students’ rights in all schools and other places around the community.