McKinney Vento

The Education for Homeless Children and Youths (EHCY) program, authorized under the McKinney Vento Homeless Assistance Act (McKinney-Vento Act), is designed to address the needs of homeless children and youth and ensure educational rights and protections. The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) amended the McKinney-Vento Act, and changes made by the ESSA took effect on October 1, 2016.

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

Under the McKinney-Vento Act, State educational agencies (SEAs) and local educational agencies (LEAs) must review and revise policies and procedures to remove barriers to a high-quality education for homeless children and youths. Every LEA must designate a local liaison able to carry out their duties to ensure that homeless students are identified and have a full and equal opportunity to succeed in school. The McKinney-Vento Act also requires that:

• homeless students who move have the right to remain in their schools of origin (i.e., the school the student attended when permanently housed or in which the student was last enrolled, which includes preschools) if that is in the student’s best interest;
• if it is in the student’s best interest to change schools, homeless students must be immediately enrolled in a new school, even if they do not have the records normally required for enrollment;
• transportation must be provided to or from a student’s school of origin, at the request of a parent, guardian, or, in the case of an unaccompanied youth, the local liaison;
• homeless students must have access to all programs and services for which they are eligible, including special education services, preschool, school nutrition programs, language assistance for English learners, career and technical education, gifted and talented programs, magnet schools, charter schools, summer learning, online learning, and before and after-school care;
• unaccompanied youths must be accorded specific protections, including immediate enrollment in school without proof of guardianship;
• parents, guardians, and unaccompanied youths have the right to dispute an eligibility, school selection, or enrollment decision.

You can help by donating the following:

Hair care services

Clothing

Food items

Transportation (auto service, gas cards, taxi fare, etc.)

Personal hygiene (male/female)

Gift cards (meals, gas, etc.)

Household/Laundry cleaning items

Extra-curricular activities participation (supplies, fees, etc.)

School supplies

Student fees (field trips, senior fees, prom, college app, graduation, yearbook, etc.)

Emergency medical needs (prescriptions, O-T-C meds, cost of appt., etc.)

Hotel accommodation cost

Financial donation

Basic supplies for college start (bedding, computer, school supplies, clothing, etc.)

Provide meals for families in hotel

For Additional Information Concerning McKinney-Vento Rights and Services: 

North Carolina Homeless Education Program   https://hepnc.uncg.edu

National Center on Homeless Education   https://nche.ed.gov

National Association for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth    http://naehcy.org/

McKinney Vento Educational Rights

Number of McKinney Vento Students Served:
23-24 School Year: 462
22-23 School Year: 333
21-22 School Year: 290
20-21 School Year: 232
19-20 School Year: 326
18-19 School Year: 364
17-18 School Year: 316
16-17 School Year: 344
15-16 School Year: 376
14-15 School Year: 339
13-14 School Year: 362
12-13 School Year: 377

Lisa Phillips
State Coordinator, Education of Homeless Children and Youth
Email: lphillip@serve.org or lisa.phillips@dpi.nc.gov
Phone:(336) 543-4285