Aug 16, 2013 8 min read

Under federal law, public schools must remove any barriers to education children encounter because they are homeless.

The law, known as the McKinney-Vento Homeless Education Assistance Improvements Act of 2001, seeks to ensure homeless children and youth are provided an education equal to that of students who have homes.

If you’ve never heard of this law, you’re not alone.

A fact sheet on the law states, “Indeed, most families and youth are likely unaware of the McKinney-Vento Act.”

Awareness is important because homelessness among school-aged children occurs more often than some of us might think.

And if you assume you or your children will never find yourselves in this unfortunate situation, think again. No one plans to become homeless.

A fire, flood or other natural disaster or catastrophe all fall into the “it-will-never-happen-to-me” category. But they do happen. And if a disaster does occur, a family’s homelessness may be only temporary.

Or, a family can become homeless due to job loss, accident, illness, eviction or domestic abuse.

The National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty estimates up to 2 million people will experience homelessness this year, and about half of them will include children and youth. Families are the fastest-growing segment of the homeless population.

Homeless children have rights regarding education that don’t apply to adults. It doesn’t matter if a child is known as, under Pennsylvania law, an “emancipated minor,” which essentially is a child who is legally free of control by parents or guardians who have relinquished responsibility.

For the purposes of the McKinney-Vento Act of 2001, a homeless student not living with family or a guardian is known as an “unaccompanied youth, which is defined as any person 21 or younger who is not in the physical custody of a parent or guardian.” For example, the state Department of Education notes that in the 2010-11 school year, 5,013 youngsters, or 24 percent of youth enrolled in school and receiving services for the homeless, fit the definition of “unaccompanied youth.”

Exceptions to schools covered by the McKinney-Vento Act are those that are entirely privately funded, but it does include both public and charter schools.

“Homelessness alone is not sufficient reason to separate students from the mainstream school environment,” a summary of the McKinney-Vento law states.

Kids have rights, too

Statistics show that of the 1.78 million students in Pennsylvania schools during the 2010-11 school year, 9,088 were homeless when the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment was administered.

The McGuffey School District identified two homeless students last school year.

“It varies, but it’s never been a very high number here in McGuffey,” said Jim Webb, supervisor of transportation and child accounting.

Both McGuffey students were seniors, and both graduated in June, two members of a class of 153.

“We still considered them in our system as minors,” Webb said.

The state Department of Education shows that 62 percent of all homeless students enrolled in 12th grade graduated in 2010-11, the most recent year for which statistics are available.

If adults aren’t aware that homeless children have rights to public education, it’s no stretch of the imagination to assume that children themselves wouldn’t know, either.

But a homeless student’s situation could become apparent to a teacher or guidance counselor, if, for example, the child seemed to be lacking a coat in cold weather, if the child were hungry or if he or she did not have the means to work on a project outside of school. If the educator discovers this in talking with the student, the educator is to notify the school district’s liaison.

In McGuffey, one student came to the district’s attention in October, the other in December.

Webb described both as “in situations where they were displaced from their residences. I haven’t had a situation as of yet where a student says, ‘I have nowhere to go.'”

Webb did not divulge the circumstances that caused his students’ homelessness. Both are presumably now 18 or over, so the Observer-Reporter sought the opportunity to speak to one or both of them for this story. Webb said he was unsuccessful in reaching them.

He did say, “There’s a lot of gray area. Students might be doubled up,” meaning, staying temporarily in someone else’s household. “They may be in a shelter. Maybe they lived with Dad their whole life, but now they’re displaced from where they were.” Then there are students who float from one friend’s home to another and are known as “couch surfers.”

No inferences should be drawn about the situations of the two students with whom Webb dealt last school year, but the federal government, in its “126 commonly asked questions about homeless students” covers a scenario that might arise:

“If runaway youth would just follow their parents’ rules, they could live at home; why should we encourage their bad behavior?”

It gives the answer, “Most runaway youth, especially those who are on the streets a significant length of time, have fled from abusive homes for their own survival. Some leave home without a parent’s permission; others are forced out of their homes by their parents or guardians.”

A former administrator referred to this as “parents who have washed their hands of the kid and lets the kid live with a boyfriend or girlfriend.”

The causes of a student becoming homeless, according to the federal government’s fact sheet, can be myriad.

“Studies of unaccompanied youth have found that 20 to 50 percent were sexually abused in their homes, while 40 to 60 percent were physically abused. Severe dysfunction in the home is also common. Forty percent of callers to the National Runaway Switchboard identified negative family dynamics as the leading reason for leaving home.

“For example, over two-thirds of unaccompanied youth surveyed in a recent study reported that at least one parent abused drugs or alcohol. Many young people are not welcome in their parents’ or guardians’ homes due to their sexual orientation or identity, pregnancy, or other types of family conflict.

“Twenty to 40 percent of homeless youth in one study identified themselves as gay, lesbian, bisexual and/or transgender, compared to only 3 to 5 percent of the overall population, and 10 percent of currently homeless female teenagers are pregnant. Youth often leave home to remove themselves from an immediately painful situation, but without plans for what to do next.”

One might think that children who have shuffled off the family home for whatever reason might also prefer to stay away from school, but the National Association for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth notes, “many runaway youth continue to value education and the opportunities, safety and stability it provides. Excluding these youth from school will harm them and society.”

Webb, who has been an administrator at McGuffey since 2009 after a stint with the Trinity School District in a similar position, met with each to discuss what the school district could do to help.

Homeless children, if identified by a liaison or shelter director, are automatically eligible for free school meals. They do not have to complete an application.

Other avenues to explore with homeless students are transportation services, applying for Social Security cards if they don’t already have them and referring them to programs and services available from Community Action Southwest.

The two homeless students hadn’t changed school districts, but if they had, it would have been up to a liaison for homeless students to arrange transportation with another district if that became part of keeping them in school in their prior district or districts. In that case, Webb said, the districts would be required to split the cost of transporting the student or students. Webb said he’s heard of students in need receiving book bags and shoes.

Because the McKinney-Vento Act is a federal law, and because both Washington and Greene counties border West Virginia, transportation for homeless students could conceivably cross state lines.

The law allows fees for extracurricular activities for homeless students to be waived, or paid for through either donations or district funds. Homeless students are eligible for waivers of fees for college entrance exams and applications. At the other end of the age spectrum, homeless preschoolers are eligible to participate in the federally funded Head Start program.

If children are sharing housing, however, solely to attend a different school, they are not covered by the McKinney-Vento Act. Neither are children and youth who are incarcerated for law-breaking or alleged law-breaking; they are part of the juvenile justice system, according to the National Association for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth. However, children and youth who are living in shelters or other homeless situations after leaving detention are covered by the act.

No public funds can support separate educational facilities for homeless students for any period of time, according to the association. However, supplemental services such as after-school tutoring or mentoring can be provided with public funds at a homeless shelter.

“Obviously, we’re a pretty rural area,” Webb said of the McGuffey district. “I can’t imagine what it’s like in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia where this happens a lot more.”