Federal Law requires Districts to Provide Educational
Stability for Homeless Students
The McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (Subtitle B-Education for Homeless Children and Youth), reauthorized in January 2002, ensures educational rights and protections for children and youth experiencing homelessness.
The term “homeless children and youth” means individuals who lack a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence…..; and includes:
- Children and youths who are sharing the housing of other persons due to loss of housing, economic hardship, or similar reason; are living in motels, hotels, trailer parks, or camping grounds due to the lack of alternative accommodation; are living in emergency or transitional shelters; are abandoned in hospitals; or are awaiting foster care placement;
- 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.
- Children and youths who are living in cars, parks, public spaces, abandoned buildings, substandard housing, bus or train stations, or similar settings; and
- Migratory children who qualified as homeless for the purposes of this subtitle because the children are living in circumstances described in clauses (i) through (iii)
Changing schools greatly impedes students’ academic and social growth. Highly mobile students, including students who are homeless, have also been found to have lower test scores and overall academic performance than peers who do not change schools. Therefore, the McKinney- Vento Act;
- Requires Local Educational Agencies (LEAS), otherwise known as school districts, to keep homeless students in their schools of origin, to the extent feasible, unless it is against the parent or guardian’s wishes. Students are also permitted to remain in their schools of origin for the duration of their homelessness and until the end of any academic year in which they more into permanent housing.
- Requires LEAs to provide transportation to the school of origin, at the request of the parent or guardian, or in the case of an unaccompanied youth, at the request of the district’s homeless liaison.
- Requires that states and LEAs develop, review and revise their policies to remove barriers to the enrollment and retention of children and youth in homeless situations.
The educational stability resulting from implementation of these provisions will enhance students’ academic and social growth, while permitting schools to benefit from the increased test scores and achievement shown to result from student continuity.
For more information on the McKinney-Vento Act, call the NCHE Helpline at 800-308-2145
For more information contact: New Hampshire Department of Education http://www.state.nh.us/doe/education.html or call (603) 271-3840
| File | Description | File size |
|---|---|---|
 State of NH Homeless Education Dispute Procedures | 103 Kb |
