McKinney-Vento /Homeless Children and Youth Program 

The McKinney-Vento Education of Homeless Children and Youth Assistance Act is a federal law that ensures immediate enrollment and educational stability for homeless children and youth. The purpose of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Children and Youth Program is to ensure that all children and youth, including preschoolers, have equal access to the same free and appropriate public education, as non-homeless children and youth.

Homeless Defined

The McKinney-Vento Act defines homeless children as "individuals who lack a fixed, regular and adequate nighttime residence." The act provides examples of children who would fall under this definition:

• Children and youth sharing housing due to loss of housing, economic hardship or a similar reason
• Children and youth living in motels, hotels, trailer parks, or camp grounds due to lack of alternative accommodations
• Children and youth living in emergency or transitional shelters
• Children and youth abandoned in hospitals
• Children and youth whose primary nighttime residence is not ordinarily used as a regular sleeping accommodation (e.g. park  benches, etc.)
• Children and youth living in cars, parks, public spaces, abandoned buildings, substandard housing, bus or train stations
• Migratory children and youth living in any of the above situations

Click here for more information on this act