• The McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act

    The education provisions of the McKinney-Vento Act, which are now incorporated within No Child Left Behind, ensure educational rights and protections for children and youth experiencing homelessness. In addition, the law directly applies to homeless unaccompanied youth who also receive some special attention within the Act.

    Who are Homeless Children and Youth?

    Before schools can be certain they are complying with legislation related to educating students experiencing homelessness, they must understand who can be considered homeless. The McKinney-Vento Act (Section 725) defines "homeless children and youth" (school-aged and younger) as:

    • Children and youth who lack a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence, including children and youth who are:
      • Sharing the housing of other persons due to loss of housing, economic hardship, or a similar reason.
      • Living in motels, hotels, trailer parks, or camping grounds due to lack of alternative adequate accommodations.
      • Living in emergency or transitional shelters.
    • Children and youth who have a primary nighttime residence that is a public or private place not designed for, or ordinarily used as, regular sleeping accommodations.
    • Children and youth who are living in cars, parks, public spaces, abandoned buildings, substandard housing, bus or train stations, or similar settings.
    • The term unaccompanied youth includes a youth not in the physical custody of a parent or guardian. This would include runaways living in runaway shelters, abandoned buildings, cars, on the streets, or in other inadequate housing; children and youth denied housing by their families

    Unaccompanied Youth

    Unaccompanied youth include young people who have run away from home, been thrown out of their homes, or have been abandoned by parents. These young people are separated from their parents for a variety of reasons. Unaccompanied youth have the same rights as other students experiencing homelessness to enroll in, attend, and succeed in public school.

    Pflugerville ISD’s Project Hope supports Mckinney-Vento Law

    If you feel you qualify to receive services through the provisions of the McKinney-Vento Act based on the information above fill out a Student Residency Questionnaire (form 5) found under the enrollment section of the PfISD web site or at a PfISD campus.

    Displaced students may be enrolled provisionally for 30 days without documentation.  The school district will assist in obtaining required documentation for enrollment.

    Submit completed form to your school, contact the District McKinney-Vento Liaison at (512) 594-1954 or the Social Worker assigned to the campus to begin the qualification process.