What does it mean to be Homeless?

Subtitle VII-B of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (per Title IX, Part A of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, as amended by the Every Student Succeeds Act) defines homeless as follows:

The term “homeless children and youths”–

(A) means individuals who lack a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence (within the meaning of section 103(a)(1)); and

(B) includes–

(i) 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, or camping grounds due to the lack of alternative adequate accommodations; are living in emergency or transitional shelters; or are abandoned in hospitals;*

(ii) 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 (within the meaning of section 103(a)(2)(C));

(iii) children and youths who are living in cars, parks, public spaces, abandoned buildings, substandard housing, bus or train stations, or similar settings; and

(iv) migratory children (as such term is defined in section 1309 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965) who qualify as homeless for the purposes of this subtitle because the children are living in circumstances described in clauses (i) through (iii).

 

Rights of Students Experiencing Homelessness

https://www.liu18.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/ecyeh_students_experiencing_homelessness.pdf

 

Unaccompanied Youth Definition and Rights

https://nche.ed.gov/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/youth.pdf

 

Board Policy #251

https://go.boarddocs.com/pa/swil/Board.nsf/Public?open&id=policies#

 

Homeless Basic Education Circular

https://www.pa.gov/agencies/education/resources/policies-acts-and-laws/basic-education-circulars-becs/us-code/education-for-homeless-youth

 

 

South Williamsport Area School District Homeless Liaison

Dr. Eric Briggs

515 West Central Avenue

South WIlliasmport, PA 177702

ebriggs@swasd.org

570-327-1581

 

Regional Homeless Liaison

Jeff Zimmerman

ECYEH/Foster Region 7 Coordinator

368 Tioga Avenue

Kingston, PA 18704

570-718-4613

jzimmerman@liu18.org