• What is McKinney Vento?

    McKinney Vento is a federal program that addresses the rights of homeless children and youth to have equal access to the same free, appropriate public education provided to other children. This is ensured under the federal McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, Subtitle VII-B, Education of Homeless Children and Youth Program, enacted in 1987.

    The Act requires that every district designate a Homeless Liaison to identify and provide services to homeless students. The Education of Homeless Children and Youth Program works to ensure that school age-eligible homeless children and youth are provided with immediate school enrollment and access to education services, despite lack of a permanent residence, a supervising parent or legal guardian, or lack of records from a previous school. To reduce frequent school changes, districts work to stabilize homeless students in their school of origin, even though the transportation route might involve crossing district boundaries.

    How is “Homeless” Defined? For the purposes of the Education of Homeless Children and Youth Programs under the Elementary and Secondary Schools Act, homeless children and youth “lack a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence.” Unaccompanied minors, or those who are not staying with their legal guardian may also be eligible for educational rights and services as homeless students.

    Who is eligible?  
    Students who lack a fixed, regular, adequate nighttime residence, including students who live:
    • With another family due to loss of housing or economic hardship
    • In a family or youth shelter
    • In a motel or vehicle
    • In a location that lacks heat or plumbing
    What school can I attend?
    Students who qualify for McKinney-Vento may have the option to attend:
    • The school you last attended when you had permanent housing;
    • The last school you attended;
    • The neighborhood school where you are temporarily living.
    What is Foster Care?

    “Foster Care” means substitute care for children placed by the Department of Human Services or a tribal child welfare agency away from their parents. The department or agency has placement and care responsibility. Placements can include; in foster family homes, foster homes of relatives, group homes, emergency shelters, residential facilities, child care institutions and pre-adoptive homes.

    Children and youth in foster care represent one of the most vulnerable student subgroups in this country. Of the approximately 415,000 children in foster care in 2014, nearly 270,000 were in elementary and secondary schools.  Studies find children in foster care are much more likely than their peers are to struggle academically and fall behind in school.

    Educational stability is a key component in a foster care student’s success.  At the federal and state level, laws have been passed that require local and state child welfare and education agencies to fully and faithfully understand and implement legislation focusing on continuity and stability in a foster care student’s education.  

    -ESSA: Ensuring Educational Stability for Children in Foster Care, ODHS and ODE, September 2020

    Federal and State Resources 
    Resources