Youth experiencing homelessness face a variety of barriers in school that keep them from enrolling, attending, and succeeding in school. In fact, studies show that students experiencing homelessness are 87% more likely to drop out of school than their housed peers. Without a high school diploma, youth are 4.5 times more likely to experience homelessness later in life.

Fortunately, the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (McKinney-Vento Act) is designed to improve the odds by providing educational opportunities and support for students experiencing homelessness.

Passed in 1987, the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act was the first – and still is the only – major federal legislative response to homelessness. This Act ensures that runaway youth and youth experiencing homelessness receive the same educational opportunities as their fellow classmates. McKinney-Vento provides federal funding to states for the purpose of supporting school district programs that serve students experiencing homelessness. Under the McKinney-Vento Act, every school, is required by law to designate a liaison for homeless students. These liaisons work with students to connect them to valuable resources (such as HYC), coordinate services, identify students in homeless situations and give them “full and equal opportunity to succeed academically.”

To determine a student’s McKinney-Vento eligibility, school districts must determine whether a student’s living arrangement meets the McKinney-Vento definition of homeless. Specifically, the McKinney-Vento Act defines homeless youth as individuals without a fixed, regular, adequate nighttime residence. This includes youth living in shelters, cars, parks, public spaces or abandoned buildings.

In addition, the McKinney-Vento Act:
• Establishes the right of homeless youth to continue in the school they attended before they became homeless and receive transportation to that school.
• Prohibits school districts from segregating students experiencing homelessness into shelter classrooms, separate schools, or separate programs within a school.
• Requires all school district liaisons for homeless youth to serve as advocates and to connect these youth and their families to social services.

The McKinney-Vento Act has certainly made a difference in the lives of students experiencing homelessness, but there is still so much work to be done. These youth are often invisible; they need to be found and schools and communities must advocate for them by prioritizing actions to support them.