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FAQs

Two students alternate staying with parents who are separated and living apart. Mom lost her housing and moved into the housing of the other parent, with the children. Are the students eligible under the McKinney-Vento Act because they are doubled-up at the other parent’s house, even though they have been living there half-time?

Answer: As long as there is stability in this housing, this would not be a McKinney-Vento situation. Legally, this is not “sharing the housing of others” because the home is, in fact, their housing. The students are just staying there more often than usual. However, if there is instability in the housing due to how the housed parent is receiving the students on the extra days, eligibility may be questionable. For example, are there threats to force the children out of the house on those extra days? If the unhoused parent chooses to take the students with her to a motel, shelter, or other homeless situation for the days she has custody, then the students must be identified under McKinney-Vento.

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A 17 year old student is living in an apartment with 2 other youth. The housing is adequate, and they have a lease signed by the student’s mother. The mother does not live there, but the property is owned by a family member. The mother and youth share the costs, although the mother is not financially stable. The student currently expresses that she doesn’t need anything. Is she McKinney-Vento eligible?

Answer: The student is not eligible. Based on the whole situation, this is a fixed, regular and adequate nighttime residence. They have a valid lease agreement in the mother’s name, the rent is being paid, the housing is adequate, and the student states she has what she needs. The mother is involved with the youth and providing some measure of supervision and the family has economic need. However, the housing is stable and adequate.

12000 Goodwood Blvd.

Baton Rouge, LA 70715

Phone (225) 456-5086

FAX (225)456-2858

www.ebrschools.org

The term “homeless children and youth” means individuals who lack a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence and includes

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 the lack of alternative adequate accommodations;
  • living in emergency or transitional shelters; or are abandoned in hospitals;
  • 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 qualify as homeless for the purposes of this subtitle because the children are living in circumstances described above.

Eligible Student Rights

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  • Receive a free, appropriate public education.
  • Right to immediate school enrollment even if lacking documents normally required
  • Right to remain in the school of origin, if in the student’s best interest:

* If the school district believes that the school you select is not in the best interest of your children, then the district must provide you with a written explanation of its position and inform you of your right to appeal its decision

  • Right to receive transportation to and from the school of origin
  • Right to receive educational services comparable to those provided to other students, according to your children's needs.

MCKINNEY-VENTO DEFINITION OF HOMELESS:

Who is an Unaccompanied Homeless Youth?

  • Student’s living arrangement must meet the definition of homeless, AND
  • Student must be considered unaccompanied, defined as “not in physical custody or a parent or guardian”

SEAs and LEAs must develop, review, and revise policies to remove barriers to the identification, enrollment and retention of McKinney-Vento students, including barriers due to outstanding fees or fines, or absences. 11432(g)(1)(I)

A family who has been living at a hotel for a long time. The father said that he has become the property manager and is required to live there. Will the family continue to be covered by the McKinney-Vento Act?

Answer: In this specific case, the answer is no, the family is not eligible, but only because they are not staying at the hotel “due to lack of adequate alternative accommodations,” per the McKinney-Vento Act. 42 USC §11434a. The only caveat is if the conditions of the motel room are such that they are inadequate – i.e. over-crowding, infestations, mold – the same criteria you would use to make any determination of inadequate housing under McKinney-Vento. In other cases of families in motels, if they are there due to the lack of adequate alternative accommodations, then they remain eligible, even if the stay is long-term.

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Children who have been in foster care and are still in the custody of the state, but are with parents for the 30 day trial period which the state does before they release a child from foster care. Would these children be considered homeless?

Answer: No. As long as the children are still in the custody of the state, they are considered to be in foster care, and not homeless. Under the Fostering Connections Act, “foster care” means 24-hour substitute care for children placed away from their parents or guardians and for whom the child welfare agency has placement and care responsibility. This includes, but is not limited to, placements in foster family homes, foster homes of relatives, group homes, emergency shelters, residential facilities, child care institutions, and pre-adoptive homes. A child is in foster care in accordance with this definition regardless of whether the foster care facility is licensed and payments are made by the State, Tribal or local agency for the care of the child, whether adoption subsidy payments are being made prior to the finalization of an adoption, or whether there is Federal matching of any payments that are made. (45 C.F.R. §1355.20(a)). The Title I provisions in ESSA that provide children in foster care with educational rights, including the right to remain in the school of origin, would apply to this example.

If you need help with determining eligibility of students, contact our office.