• MCKINNEY VENTO ACT

    On December 10, 2015, the Every Student Succeeds Act of 2015 (ESSA) was signed into law, reauthorizing the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). Under the previous version of ESEA (the No Child Left Behind Act), the education of homeless children and youth was included in Title X, Part C. Under ESSA, homeless education is included in Title IX, Part A. The Education of Homeless Children and Youth Program entitles children who are experiencing homeless to a free, appropriate public education and requires schools to remove barriers to their enrollment, attendance, and success in school. This Act protects all students who do not have a fixed, regular, and adequate residence, such as students living in the following situations:

    • doubled-up or sharing housing with others due to economic hardship
    • runaway/homeless youth shelters (even if parents invite the youth home);
    • hotels or motels;
    • shelters, including domestic violence shelters;
    • transitional housing shelters;
    • cars, abandoned buildings, parks, the streets, or other public spaces;
    • campgrounds or inadequate trailer homes
    • abandoned in a hospital
    • other