McKinney-Vento (Homeless)

The McKinney-Vento Homeless Education Assistance Act ensures the educational rights and protections of homeless children and youth so that they may enroll in school, attend regularly, and be successful. The legislation requires a local homeless education liaison in every school district to assist children and unaccompanied youth in their efforts to attend school.

Children and youth are considered homeless if they:

• Live in a shelter or motel

• Share housing with relatives or friends because they lost their housing

• Live in a campground, car, or other temporary shelter

• Don't have a permanent address

This act guarantees homeless children and youth the following:

• 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 or in 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

• The right to services comparable to those received by housed schoolmates, including transportation and supplemental educational services

• The right to an “equal playing field” and the removal of all barriers to receiving educational services.