What is the McKinney-Vento Homeless Education Assistance Act?
The McKinney-Vento Homeless Education Assistance Act is a federal law that ensures that homeless children and youth will secure immediate enrollment in school, facilitating the stability of their education.
The term “homeless children and youth” refers to individuals who lack a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence due to loss of housing, economic hardship, or similar reason.
If a child or youth is living:
- in a shelter
- in a motel or campground due to the lack of an alternative adequate accommodation
- in a car, park, abandoned building, or bus or train station
- doubled up with other people due to loss of housing or economic hardship
Eligible students have the right to:
- Receive a free, appropriate public education
- Enroll in school immediately, even if lacking documents normally required for enrollment
- Enroll in school and attend classes while the school gathers needed documents
- Enroll in the local school; or continue attending their school of origin (the school they attended when permanently housed or the school in which they were last enrolled), if that is their preference
- Receive transportation to and from the school of origin, if requested
- Receive educational services comparable to those provided to other students, according to the students’ needs
Please reach out to our Homelessness Liaison and School Social Worker, Dominique Harris, at 215-289-5606 or dharris@northwoodcs.org for questions and referrals.
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