Homeless Students

Education for Children and Youth Experiencing Homelessness

The McKinney-Vento Homeless Education Assistance Improvement Act of 2001 (Public Law 107-110, Subtitle B) was enacted to make sure homeless youth have access to appropriate education while removing barriers that homeless children face. Its goal is to minimize interruptions to the education of homeless youth.  The Mifflinburg Area School District is committed to working collaboratively with families and local agencies to support homeless youth in our school community.

“School of Origin” shall mean the school that a child or youth attended when permanently housed or the school in which the child or youth was last enrolled, including preschool.  School of origin shall also include any designated receiving school for the next grade level for all feeder schools when a student completes the final grade level served by the school of origin. 

“Homeless children and youths” shall mean any individuals who lack a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence; and includes: 

1. 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 hotels, motels, trailer parks or camping grounds due to the lack of alternative adequate accommodations; are living in emergency or transitional shelters; or are abandoned in hospitals; 

2. Children and youths who have a primary nighttime residence that is a public or private place not designed for or ordinarily used as a regular sleeping accommodation of human beings; 

3. Children and youths who are living in cars, parks, public spaces, abandoned buildings, substandard housing, bus or train stations, or similar settings; and 

4. Migratory children who qualify as homeless because they are living in circumstances described above (B-3). 

“Unaccompanied Youth” shall mean a homeless child or youth not in the physical custody of a parent or guardian. Unaccompanied youth are eligible for services under the McKinney-Vento Act regardless of the circumstances that led to their separation from family; this includes youth who ran away from home, and youth who were forced from the home by their families. The dynamics of family conflict or dysfunction often are very personal and sensitive, and may not be shared readily with school staff; as such, what students or parents disclose may be an inaccurate or incomplete representation of what has occurred within the family.