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McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance

The McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act is a federal law that provides important educational rights and services to PreK-12 children and youth experiencing homelessness. It is in place to address the problems that homeless children and youth face in enrolling, attending, and succeeding in school.

Under the McKinney-Vento Education for Homeless Children and Youth program, Georgia’s Department of Education must ensure that each homeless child and youth has equal access to the same free, appropriate public education, including a public preschool education, as other children and youth. Find McKinney-Vento Liaison for your school district here.

What is the Definition of “Homeless Children and Youth”?

Homeless children and youth are those who lack a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence. This includes children and youth you are:

• Sharing the housing of other persons due to loss of housing, economic hardship, or a similar reason
• Living in motels, hotels, trailer parks, or campgrounds due to the lack of alternative adequate accommodations
• Living in emergency or transitional shelters
• Are abandoned in hospitals

This also includes children and youth 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
• are living in cars, parks, public spaces, abandoned buildings, substandard housing, bus or train stations, or similar settings; and
• are migratory (children who move about with parent(s) who are migratory workers, typically agricultural or fishers)

What are the Rights of Children under McKinney-Vento?

(source: National Association for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth)

• Immediate Enrollment: Students have the right to enroll immediately in school, even if they lack documents such as proof of residency, immunization records, or birth certificates. They must be allowed to attend school while these documents are being obtained.
• School Selection: Students have the right to attend either the school they attended when permanently housed or the last school they legally enrolled in OR any public school that non-homeless students who live in the same attendance area are eligible to attend, whichever is in their best interest.
• Transportation: Students have the right to receive transportation to and from their school of origin, as long as it is feasible and in their best interest. This may involve collaboration between school districts to share the cost and responsibility of transportation.
• Access to Services: Students have the right to the same free and appropriate public education, including special education and related services, as other children and youth. They also have the right to receive comparable services, including educational services for which they meet the eligibility criteria, such as Title I programs, preschool programs, and programs for English learners.
• Dispute Resolution: If there is a disagreement between the school district and the parent or guardian (or unaccompanied youth) regarding eligibility, school selection, or other rights, the McKinney-Vento Act establishes a process for resolving the dispute. Students must be enrolled and receive services while the dispute is being resolved.
• Unaccompanied Youth: The Act specifically addresses the needs of unaccompanied youth, ensuring their right to enroll in school without the consent of a parent or guardian and to access the same protections and services as other homeless children and youth.