Education of Homeless Children and Youth
by: Columbia Legal Services
The federal McKinney-Vento Act protects the rights of children and youth in homeless situations to attend and succeed in school, including pre-school.
The McKinney-Vento Act applies to all children and youth who do not have a fixed, regular and adequate residence, including children and youth who are
- staying with friends or relatives because they lost their housing
- awaiting foster placement
- living in the following:
o emergency or transitional shelters
o motels
o domestic violence shelters
o campgrounds
o inadequate trailer parks
o cars
o public spaces
o abandoned buildings and
o bus/train stations.
Children and youth in homeless situations have the right to:
- Go to school, no matter where they live or how long they have lived there;
- Choose between the local school where they are living, the school they attended before they lost their housing, or the school where they were last enrolled;
- Enroll in school without proof of residency, immunizations, school records, or other documents;
- Get transportation to school;
- Get all the school services they need;
- Be free from harassment and isolation; and
- Have disagreements with the school settled quickly.
For assistance in enforcement or more information, contact Melinda Dyer, the Washington State Program Supervisor for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth at 360-725-6050.
For more information online, visit:
- National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty at http://www.nlchp.org/FA_Education/
- National Center for Homeless Education at http://www.serve.org/nche/legis.htm
Prepared by Columbia Legal Services revised 7/04
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