The McKinney-Vento/Homeless Program
Ms. Niki Mincey
Dawson County Homeless Liaison
(706) 265 - 3246 Ext. 1736
[email protected]
The McKinney-Vento program is designed to address the problems that homeless children and youth have faced in enrolling, attending, and succeeding in school.Under this program, State educational agencies (SEAs) must ensure that each homeless child and youth has equal access to the same free, appropriate public education, including a public preschool education, as other children and youth. Homeless children and youth should have access to the educational and other services that they need to enable them to meet the same challenging State student academic achievement standards to which all students are held. In addition, homeless students may not be separated from the mainstream school environment. States and districts are required to review and undertake steps to revise laws, regulations, practices, or policies that may act as a barrier to the enrollment, attendance, or success in school ofhomeless children and youth.
The program is authorized under Title VII-B of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 USC 11431 et seq.), (McKinney-Vento Act). The program was originally authorized in 1987 and, most recently, reauthorized by the No Child LeftBehind Act of 2001.
The McKinney-Vento Act defines "homeless children and youth" as individuals who lack a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence. The term includes the following:
Children and youth who are:
-sharing the housing of other persons due to loss of housing,
-economic hardship, or a similar reason (sometimes referred to as doubled-up);
-living in motels, hotels, trailer parks, or camping grounds due to lack of alternative
adequate accommodations;
-living in emergency or transitional shelters;
-abandoned in hospitals; or
-living with someone who is not their legal guardian.
Children and youth 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;
Children and youth who are living in cars, parks, public spaces, abandoned buildings, substandard housing, bus or train stations, or similar settings; and
Migratory children who qualify as homeless because they are living in circumstances described above.
(Taken from Education for Homeless Children and Youth Program: Title VII-B of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, As Amended by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 Non-Regulatory Guidance).
Dawson County Homeless Policy JBC
MKV/Homeless Written Notification
MKV/Homeless Written Notification (Spanish)
MKV/Homeless Dispute Resolution Appeal Form
MKV/Homeless Dispute Resolution Appeal Form (Spanish)