McKinney-Vento (Homelessness) & Foster Care

  • three children photo Stephanie Norris
    Director of Federal Programs & Grants
    District McKinney-Vento Liaison
    District Foster Care Liaison

    DeAnn Holzman
    McKinney-Vento Family Support Specialist

    Linda Hawkins
    McKinney-Vento Social Worker

    Main District Phone: (512) 268-2141, ext. 45156  

  • Foster Care – The Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008, Public Law 110-351 requires state child welfare agencies to collaborate with their state and local education agencies to promote school stability and improve educational outcomes for children in foster care. Students in foster care are categorically eligible for all U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) child nutrition programs. Caregivers for children and youth in foster care do not have to complete a separate application to participate in these programs

    Subtitle VII-B of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, reauthorized by Title X, Part C, of the No Child Left Behind Act, ensures educational rights and protections for children and youth experiencing homelessness. Homelessness is a lack of permanent housing resulting from extreme poverty, or, in the case of unaccompanied youth, the lack of a safe and stable living environment.

    The term “homeless children and youth”—

    (A) Means individuals who lack a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence …; 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 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 …

    (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 who qualify as homeless for the purposes of this subtitle because the children are living in circumstances described in clauses (i) through (iii).


    If you are experiencing homelessness or have students in Foster Care, there are resources that can be provided to you. Please visit with your campus counselor for specific supplemental resources available to students that are identified as eligible for McKinney-Vento Services or Foster Care Services.

Texas Education for Homeless Children & Youth Support Center Resources

Important Resources