• McKinney- Vento Homeless Education Assistance Act
     
     
    The McKinney-Vento Assistance Act ensures education rights and protections for children and youth experiencing homelessness.

    Homeless children and youths: individuals who lack a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence. It includes:
    1. 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 alternative adequate accommodations; are living in emergency or transitional shelters; or are abandoned in hospitals.
    2. 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.
    3. Children and youths who are living in cars, parks, public spaces, abandoned buildings, substandard housing, bus or train stations, or similar settings; and
    4. Migratory children (as defined in section 1309 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, as amended) who qualify as homeless because they are living in circumstances described above.

    In addition, according to McKinney-Vento, a fixed residence is one that is stationary, permanent, and not subject to change. A regular residence is one which is used on a regular (i.e., nightly) basis. An adequate residence is one that is sufficient for meeting both the physical and psychological needs typically met in home environments. Therefore, children and youth who lack a fixed, regular, and adequate residence will be considered homeless.

    Homeless students have the right to:

    Enroll and enrollment: attending classes and participating fully in school activities. 

    School of origin: the school the child or youth attended when permanently housed, or the school in which the child or youth was last enrolled, including a preschool. When a child or youth completes the final grade level served by the school of origin, the school of origin includes the designated receiving school at the next grade level for all feeder schools.

    Unaccompanied youth: a homeless child or youth not in the physical custody of a parent or guardian.

     

    For more information or assistance, contact:


    Debra Bromfield
    Public Schools of Brookline
    Interim McKinney-Vento Coordinator
    617-730-2447
    debra_bromfield@psbma.org

     

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