Students experiencing homelessness may be eligible for services through the McKinney-Vento Act. Eligibility for services is determined by a student’s living situation. Students are deemed eligible if they lack a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence. This would include:

• children and youths 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 the lack of alternative adequate accommodations
• are living in emergency or transitional shelters
• 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 (living in a car, park, abandoned building, substandard housing, or similar setting).

Students who are eligible have the right to:

• Receive a free, appropriate public education.
• Enroll in school immediately, even if lacking documents normally required for enrollment.
• Enroll in school and attend classes while the school gathers needed documents.
• Enroll in the local school; or continue attending the school of origin (the school the attended when permanently housed or the school in which they were last enrolled.
• Receive transportation to and from the school of origin.