Who are Homeless Children and Youth?
Before
schools can be certain they are complying with legislation related to
educating students experiencing homelessness, they must understand who
can be considered homeless. The McKinney-Vento Act (Section 725) defines
"homeless children and youth" (school-age and younger) as:
- Children and youth who lack a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence, including children and youth who 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 camping grounds due to lack of alternative adequate accommodations.
- Living in emergency or transitional shelters.
- Abandoned in hospitals.
- Awaiting foster care placement.
- 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.
- Children and
youth who are living in cars, parks, public spaces, abandoned buildings,
substandard housing, bus or train stations, or similar settings.
- Migratory children who qualify as homeless because they are living in circumstances described above.
- The term unaccompanied youth
includes a youth not in the physical custody of a parent or guardian.
This would include runaways living in runaway shelters, abandoned
buildings, cars, on the streets, or in other inadequate housing;
children and youth denied housing by their families (sometimes referred
to "throwaway children and youth") and school-age unwed mothers living
in homes for unwed mothers because they have no other housing available.
In determining whether or not a child or youth is homeless, consider the relative permanence of the living arrangements. Determinations of homelessness should be made on a case-by-case basis.