Homeless Students, Rights of

Estimates suggest that as many as 760,000 Americans are homeless on any given night and up to 2 million experience homelessness each year, among them many children in need of an education. Prior to 1987, there was no federal law or policy addressing the education of homeless children. In 1987, the U.S. Congress took steps to address the issue through the enactment of legislation commonly known as the Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Act. The law was later renamed as the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (hereinafter “McKinney-Vento Act”). The McKinney-Vento Act was reauthorized as part of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001.

The McKinney-Vento Act provides that students who find themselves in homeless situations not be excluded from school. The Act defines “Homeless children and youth” as individuals who lack a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence, including children and youth who share housing with others due to economic reasons, are living in an emergency or transitional shelter, are abandoned or awaiting foster care, have a primary nighttime residence not designated for or ordinarily used for sleeping, or are living in parks or the like. “Homeless children and youth” also includes migratory children as defined by the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1985. Determinations as to homelessness are made on an individual case-by-case basis.

The McKinney-Vento Act requires that all homeless youth have access to a free and appropriate education. The law requires each state to ensure that each homeless child has equal access to the same free appropriate public education that is provided to other children. The act also directs states to revise laws, regulations, practices, and policies to ensure that barriers to enrollment, attendance, or success of homeless children are removed. The McKinney-Vento Act further provides that homelessness alone is not a sufficient reason to separate students from the mainstream school environment. The act mandates that homeless children have access to the education and services they need to equip them with an opportunity to meet the same academic standards to which all students are held.

Under the McKinney-Vento Act, state agencies must appoint a coordinator of education for homeless children. Moreover, each state is required to adopt a plan to provide for the education of homeless children and youth within that state. State plans must be submitted to the U.S. Department of Education. These plans must include assurance that local school districts will comply with the act. The state plans must include descriptions of how their homeless children will be given a chance to meet the same state academic achievement standards as nonhomeless children and how the state educational agency will identify homeless children and help them with their special needs. It must also include programs available for school personnel to heighten their awareness of the needs of homeless children, including runaways; procedures to [Page 437]ensure that homeless children meeting eligibility criteria will be eligible for federal, state, and local food programs; and procedures that ensure homeless children will have equal access to the same educational programs as other children.

...