Program Purpose & Mission

The McKinney-Vento Education for Homeless Children and Youth Program is designed to address the problems that homeless children and youth have faced in enrolling, attending, and succeeding in school. Under this program, State educational agencies (SEAs) must ensure that each homeless child and youth has equal access to the same free, appropriate public education,  as other children and youth. Homeless children and youth should have access to the educational and other services that they need to enable them to meet the same challenging State student academic achievement standards to which all students are held. 

The mission of the Homeless Education Program is to promote the education of homeless children and youth. A liaison, Tami Becker-Anderson, has been designated to ensure that children in homeless situations are identified and informed of their educational rights, enrolled in school, and receive appropriate services to meet academic success. 

Any child or youth who is homeless and attending any school in the district is automatically eligible for Title I services. Schools must immediately enroll homeless students even if the students are unable to produce the records normally required of non-homeless students for enrollment. 

McKinney-Vento defines homeless students as:

• Children and youth 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; are living in motels, hotels, trailer parks, or camping grounds due to lack of alternative adequate accommodations; are living in emergency or transitional shelters; are abandoned in hospitals; or are awaiting foster care placement.
• Children and youth who are living in cars, parks, public spaces, abandoned buildings, substandard housing, bus or train stations, or similar settings.
• Migratory children qualify as homeless if they are living in circumstances described above.