Homeless - General Information

This site was designed to provide parents, students, and educators with resources regarding school-aged children and homelessness.

There are 1.5 million homeless school-aged children in the United States.

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

1. children and youths who 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 (on wheels), or camping grounds due to the lack of alternative adequate accommodations; are living in emergency or transitional shelters; or are abandoned in hospitals;
2. children and youths 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…; and
3. children and youths who are living in cars, parks, public spaces, abandoned buildings, substandard housing, bus or train stations, or similar settings. [42 U.S.C. § 11434a(2)]

The term unaccompanied youth includes a homeless child or youth not in the physical custody of a parent or guardian.  [42 U.S.C. §-11434a(6)]

Schools are required to ensure that public notice of the educational rights of homeless children and youths is disseminated to parents or guardians of such children and youths, and unaccompanied youths.

Questions regarding students and homelessness should be directed to Matthew LaBuda, mlabuda@northernyork.org.

To review the full document please click title below:
Education for Homeless Youth 42 U.S.C. § 11431 et seq.

Please visit this site for more local resources regarding homeless and displacement services.

The resources listed below were taken from the National Center for Homeless Education Website: https://nche.ed.gov/resources

These are PDF files and require Adobe Reader or similar program to view.  Hard copies may be obtained in the school office. 

If you do not have Adobe Reader already installed on your computer, you can download the installer and instructions free from the Adobe Web site.