Education for Homeless Youth

The term "homeless children and youth":

• Means individuals who lack a fixed, regular and adequate nighttime residence .... and includes:
• Children & 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 alternate accommodations; are living in emergency or transitional shelters; are abandoned in hospitals; or are awaiting foster care placement;
• Children and youths who have a primary nighttime residence that is public or private place not designed for 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 for the purposes of this subtitle because the children are living in circumstances described in the previous sections.

• The right to immediate enrollment in school, even if lacking paperwork normally required.
• The right to attend school in his/her school of origin (if this is requested by the parent and is feasible) or in the school in the attendance area where the family or youth is currently residing.
• The right to receive transportation to his/her school of origin, if this is requested by the parent.
• The right to services comparable to those received by housed schoolmates, including transportation and supplemental educational services.
• The right to attend school along with children not experiencing homelessness. Segregation based on a student's status as homeless is strictly prohibited.

• PDE Homeless Basic Education Circular 
• National Association for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth
• PDE Homeless Education
• McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act