Under the McKinney-Vento Education for Homeless Children and Youth (EHCY) program, which is administered by the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, State educational agencies must ensure that homeless children and youths have equal access to the same free, appropriate public education, including a public preschool education, as is provided to other children and youths.
The McKinney-Vento (MV) Homeless Assistance Act is a federal law that protects the rights of students experiencing homelessness, and is intended to provide students experiencing homelessness the same educational opportunities as housed students by removing as many barriers to learning as possible.
Under MV, the term “homeless children and youth” refers to individuals who lack a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence. This specifically includes children and youth who fall into one of the categories below:
- Are sharing the housing of other persons 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;
- Are abandoned in hospitals;
- Have a primary night-time residence that is a public or private place not designed for or ordinarily used as a regular sleeping accommodation for human beings;
- Are living in cars, parks, public spaces, abandoned buildings, substandard housing, bus or train stations, or similar settings; or
- Are migratory children who are living in the above situations.
To seek assistance under the McKinney-Vento Act, please contact the NPS District MV Liaison, Mary LeMoine at mary.lemoine@negauneeschools.org or 906-475-7861 ext. 317.
