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What is McKinney–Vento?

McKinney–Vento is a federal law that offers rights and protection to families in difficult or transitional living situations. All children of school age who are homeless are entitled to the same free and appropriate public education that is provided for non-homeless students.  Schools are required to remove any barriers, including enrollment, attendance, and academic success of homeless students. 

DEFINITION OF HOMELESS

The federal government’s legal definition of homelessness based on the McKinney-Vento Homeless Education Assistance Act is students who lack fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence, which includes:

• Shared housing due to loss of housing, economic hardship or similar reason.
• Living in a car, park, RV park, campsite, or similar location, hotel or motel, homeless shelter, or transitional housing.
• Children or youth living in bus stations, abandoned buildings, substandard housing facilities (e.g., no water, no heat, no electricity, no plumbing, or infestation), public or private places not designed for or ordinarily used as regular sleeping accommodation for human beings. Children or youth living in a shed or uncovered garage.
• Unaccompanied minors (children & youth under the age of 18, not in the physical custody of a parent or court appointed guardian).
• Migratory children or youth who qualify as homeless because they are children who are living in similar circumstances as homeless children and youth.

If this describes your family’s living situation, or if you are a student not living with a parent or guardian, please contact your District Homeless Liaison.

CHILDREN’S RIGHTS

Your preschool and school-aged children have the following rights or protections under the McKinney-Vento Homeless Education Assistance Act:

• Go to school, no matter where you live or how long you have lived there.
• Continue in the school they attended before you became homeless or the last one they attended.
• Receive transportation to school and to school programs.
• Attend a school and participate in school programs.
• Attend a school and participate with children who are not homeless.
• Enroll without giving a permanent address.
• Enroll and attend classes while the school arranges for the transfer of required school records or documents.
• Enroll and attend classes even while the school and you seek to resolve a dispute over enrollment.

Educational Needs

Academic Achievement
Congress has specified that students in homeless situations should have access to the education they need to ensure that they have opportunities to meet the same challenging state academic achievement standards to which all students are held.

The Effects of Homelessness
Families experiencing homelessness are in a state of transition and crisis, affecting all aspects of the children’s lives. Students may find it difficult to get to school on time, and may be hungry, sleepy, unprepared, as well as show emotional behaviors at school. Important school and medical records may have been lost in the transition. Homework may be incomplete because the family is attending to the basic needs of food, clothing, and shelter. Students may sleep in class because they have been trying to sleep in a car or noisy room with many others. Students may also behave emotionally, as they sort through their emotions (anger, fear, mistrust, depression) associated with homelessness.

Identifying students that are homeless
Parents, schools, and shelters must work together to ensure homeless students are identified and assisted by school personnel. Parents and students often feel uncomfortable telling others that they are homeless, but this is important for schools to know.

Educational Rights

Homeless Liaison
Federal legislation requires school districts to select a homeless liaison to ensure students in homeless situations are identified, enrolled and assisted in receiving educational services, and have transportation to and from school. Homeless Liaisons are also required to assist unaccompanied youth select and enroll in school.

School Selection
Students have the right to stay in their “school of origin” for the duration of their homelessness and until the end of the academic year in which they move into permanent housing. This selection is at the request of the parent or unaccompanied youth. A school of origin is defined as the school that the child attended when permanently housed or the school in which the child was last enrolled.

Enrollment
Parents or guardians of students in homeless situations can keep their children in the schools of origin or enroll them in any public school that students living in the same attendance area are eligible to attend. Enrollment includes participating fully in school activities. Students have the right to enroll in school immediately, even if they do not have the required documents: school records, birth certificate, medical and immunization records, or proof of residency.

Free school meals
Homeless students are eligible for free meals at school. Documentation may be submitted by the parent, homeless liaison, or shelter representative.

Transportation
Homeless students must be provided with transportation to and from their school of origin at parent or guardian request. Transportation services include crossing district boundaries or providing special education bussing. If the student transportation needs cross district boundaries, the two districts must determine how to divide the responsibility and cost, or share it equally.

We offer subsidized and free public bus passes for students who qualify. For more information you may contact your district liaison (see table below) or call Erika Cortes at 831.466.5666.

Special Programs
Students should also receive the same special programs and services as provided to other children, including GATE, special education, migrant education, and vocational education.

Preschool
Homeless youth have the right to receive the same public education that all youth enjoy, including the right to attend public preschool.

Dispute Resolution
Whenever there is a disagreement, the school must immediately enroll and transport the student, as the parent wishes, until the dispute is resolved. The Homeless Liaison from the school, district or county mediates disputes between schools and families. All resolutions not favoring the family must be documented and hand delivered to the parent.

No Segregation
Law prohibits homeless students or unaccompanied youth from being separated from the mainstream school environment. They cannot be segregated in separate schools, separate programs within schools, or separate settings within schools. The law includes before-, during-, and after-school programs.

Resources

Resources for Parents/Students

• McKinney-Vento Housing Questionnaire
• Educational Posters

Resources for Educators

• Local Educator HUB Resource and Information Drive
• Ed Laws Impacting McKinney-Vento Students
• HETAC Website (Homeless Education Technical Assistance Center)
• SchoolHouse Connection 
• NHCE (National Center for Homeless Education)
• CDE (California Department of Education)

Community-Based Resources

• Request for Connector Services Form [Housing]
• Housing Directory [County houising resource directory]
• Stepping Up Santa Cruz Resource Guide [County comprehensive resource guides]
• United Way 2-1-1 [County comprehensive resource guide]
• Welcoming Network [Refugee and Asylum Seeker Support]
• Community Action Board of Santa Cruz County [Legal/Immigration Support/Other Supportive Services]
• Hope’s Closet [Children clothing support]
• Youth Resource Bank [Children support]

Data on Homelessness in Education

• Annual Count of Homeless Students in Schools in Santa Cruz County
• California Department of Education DataQuest
• GIS (Geographic Information System) Map