Foster Youth and Homeless Education

A-1. What is meant by the term “homeless children and youths”?

Section 725(2) of the McKinney-Vento Act 10 defines “homeless children and youths” as individuals who lack a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence. The term includes—

• Children and youths 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; or

- abandoned in hospitals;

• 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;

• Children and youths 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.