Supporting Children & Youth Experiencing Homelessness

JANUARY 16, 2025

Topics

• The McKinney-Vento Act & Definition
• Statewide identification trends
• Rights under the MV Act
• Preschool under the MV Act
• Local McKinney-Vento Liaisons

Edu-speak & Acronyms

• EHCY Program – Education for Homeless Children & Youth Program

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• LEA – local educational agency (Supervisory Union or District)

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• HCY – “homeless children and youth” (statutory language)

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• SEH – student(s) experiencing homelessness

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• UHY – unaccompanied homeless youth

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• MV Liaison – local liaison for homeless children and youth – every LEA is required to designate a position that can fulfill the duties under the McKinney-Vento Act

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The McKinney-Vento Act

• Establishes the definition of “homeless” used by schools

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• Establishes rights given to eligible students

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• Ensures that children and youth experiencing homelessness have equal and immediate access to public education

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• Provides educational support and continuity to promote school success

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The McKinney-Vento Definition of Homeless

Children or youth who lack a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence, including children and youth:

• 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
• Living in a public or private place, not designed for or ordinarily used as regular sleeping accommodation for human beings
• Living in cars, parks, public spaces, abandoned buildings, substandard housing, bus or train stations, or similar settings
• Migratory children living in the above circumstances

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Students Experiencing Homelessness Enrolled in Vermont Public Schools

*SY23/24 data is preliminary

2.8% of all students in the US were experiencing homelessness in SY22-23

Additional Subpopulations of Students Experiencing Homelessness: SY22/23

Source: U.S. Department of Education's EDFacts Initiative

Statewide Primary Nighttime Residence: SY23/24

*SY23/24 data is preliminary

Primary Nighttime Residence by School Year

*SY23/24 data is preliminary

Number of SEH by Grade: SY23/24

*SY23/24 data is preliminary

Percent of Identified SEH in Preschool by School Year

*SY23/24 data is preliminary

Rights Under the McKinney-Vento Act

• Equal access to the same free, appropriate public education, including public preschool education, as is provided to other children and youth
• Immediate enrollment, even when records normally required for enrollment are not present
• Remain in the school of origin, if it is in the student’s best interest, in order to maintain educational stability
• Access all educational and related services for which they are eligible, including Title I services and free school meals
• Full participation in school, which may include participation in extracurricular activities
• Transportation, provided by the LEA, to and from the school of origin

School Selection

Children and youth experiencing homelessness have the right to attend:

• The school of origin:
• The school that a child or youth attended when permanently housed or the school in which the child or youth was last enrolled
• Includes public preschools
• Includes receiving schools

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• The local attendance area school:
• Any public school that non-homeless students who live in the attendance area in which the child or youth is actually living are eligible to attend

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Best Interest

LEAs must make school placement determinations on the basis of the best interest of the homeless child or youth

• LEAs must keep a student in the school of origin, to the extent feasible, unless it is against the wishes of the parent/guardian or youth

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• Placement determinations must be based on student-centered, individualized factors
• Student’s age
• Distance of the commute/impact on student’s education
• Safety concerns
• Student’s need for special instruction
• Length of anticipated stay in a temporary shelter
• Time remaining in the school year
• Placement of siblings

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Immediate Enrollment

McKinney-Vento students are entitled to enrollment in any public school that non-homeless students who live in the attendance area in which the child or youth is actually living are eligible to attend, even if they:

• Do not have required documents, such as school records, records of immunization and other required health records, proof of residency, guardianship, or other documents
• Have missed enrollment deadlines during any period of homelessness

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2024 Memo on the Immediate Enrollment of Students Experiencing Homelessness

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The terms “enroll” or “enrollment” includes attending classes and participating fully in school activities (42 U.S.C §11434a(1))

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Duration of Rights

Children and youth experiencing homelessness have the right to attend the school of origin for the duration of homelessness

• In any case in which a family becomes homeless between academic years or during an academic year
• For the remainder of the academic year, if the child or youth becomes permanently housed during an academic year

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Rights under McKinney-Vento apply for as long as the student is experiencing homelessness and up until the end of the academic year in which they become permanently housed

Barriers to Identification, Enrollment & Attendance

• Under identification
• High mobility
• Poor health, fatigue, hunger
• Lack of necessary enrollment paperwork
• Lack of awareness
• Lack of transportation
• Lack of space in preschool programs

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Do McKinney-Vento Act requirements apply to homeless children attending preschool?

USED’s EHCY Non-Regulatory Guidance, Question N-4:

“To the extent that an LEA offers a public education to preschool children, including LEA administered Head Start programs, an LEA must meet the McKinney-Vento Act requirements for homeless children in preschool, including ensuring that a homeless child remains in his or her public preschool of origin, unless a determination is made that it is not in the child’s best interest. (See sections 721(1), 722(g)(1)(F)(i), 722(g)(3)(I)).”

Does the McKinney-Vento Act require an LEA to provide transportation services to homeless children attending preschool?

USED’s EHCY Non-Regulatory Guidance, Question N-5:

“Yes. Consistent with question N-4, the McKinney-Vento Act requires LEAs to provide transportation services to the school of origin, which includes public preschools. (Section 722(g)(3)(I)(i)).

Accordingly, transportation to the school of origin must be provided even if a homeless preschooler who is enrolled in a public preschool in one LEA moves to another LEA that does not provide widely available or universal preschool.”

Public Preschool of Origin?

Is my early childhood program a McKinney-Vento “preschool”?

SchoolHouse Connection

School of Origin: Designated Receiving Schools

Is my early childhood program a McKinney-Vento “preschool”?

SchoolHouse Connection

School of Origin: Designated Receiving School

Is my early childhood program a McKinney-Vento “preschool”?

SchoolHouse Connection

Best Interest Determinations for Preschoolers

• Placement determinations must be based on student-centered, individualized factors
• Safety concerns
• Student’s need for special instruction
• Length of anticipated stay in a temporary shelter
• Time remaining in the school year
• Placement of siblings
• For young children, particular attention should be paid to:
• The child’s attachment to preschool teachers and staff;
• The impact of school climate on the child, including the school’s safety;
• The availability and quality of services to meet the child’s comprehensive needs, including health, developmental, and social-emotional needs
• Travel time to and from the school

Local homeless liaisons

• Local liaisons are responsible for implementation of the McKinney-Vento Act at the local level:
• Identification, enrollment, access to services, referrals, parent awareness and involvement, public notice of rights, dispute mediation, ensuring access to transportation, professional development and training for school personnel, support for unaccompanied homeless youth

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• Requirements specific to supporting young children experiencing homelessness (42 U.S.C. §11432(g)(6)(A)(iii)):
• “shall ensure that…homeless families and homeless children and youths have access to and receive educational services for which such families, children, and youths are eligible, including services through Head Start programs (including Early Head Start programs) under the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9831 et seq.), early intervention services under part C of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1431 et seq.), and other preschool programs administered by the local educational agency”

General Identification & Enrollment Process

First Action Steps Checklist for Liaisons

• Does your school district have a process in place for asking if there are younger siblings (aged 0-5, or otherwise not yet school aged) in the family?
• Many school districts include a checkbox on enrollment forms to ask if there are other children in the household.
• Do your identification questionnaires and conversations include asking about any younger siblings?
• How do you track data about younger siblings experiencing homelessness?
• Do others in your district know to contact you if they become aware of younger siblings experiencing homelessness?
• This could include IDEA, Migrant Education, English Learner, Title IX, and other programs.
• Does your identification process include working with youth experiencing homelessness who are current or expectant parents and whose child(ren) will need care?
• Do you have a system for making referrals to early childhood programs?
• How do early development programs in your community share their data with you? Head Start, Early Head Start, and federally-funded child care programs are required to collect data on homelessness, and many home visiting programs also collect this information

Early Childhood Referrals Checklist – SchoolHouse Connection

Contact Information

Katy Preston – Title IVA Director and State Coordinator for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth Program, Agency of Education

Katy.preston@vermont.gov

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McKinney-Vento Liaison Contact List

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Additional Resources:

AOE’s Homeless Education webpage

National Center for Homeless Education – McKinney-Vento technical assistance center operated by the US Department of Education

SchoolHouse Connection