McKinney-Vento Homeless Education Assistance Improvements Act

The McKinney-Vento Act is the federal law reauthorizing the Stewart B. McKinney Act that governs the education of children and youth in homeless situations. This act was signed into law in January 2002, and was effective July 1, 2002.

Texas Education Code

In response to the federal legislation, Texas has its own state laws that, in conjunction with the McKinney Act, preserve the rights of children and youth experiencing homelessness and their govern their admission to and attandance in school.

Who is considered homeless?

Under the McKinney-Vento Act, the term “homeless children and youths” means individuals who lack a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence and includes children and youths:

• who are sharing the housing of others due to loss of housing, economic hardship, or a similar reason; are living in motels, hotels, 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;
• who have a primary nighttime residence that is a public or private place not designed for or ordinarily used as a regular sleeping accommodation for human beings;
• who are living in cars, parks, public spaces, abandoned buildings, substandard housing, bus or train stations, or similar settings; and
• who are migratory children who live in one of the above circumstances.