The McKinney-Vento Act, authorized under Title VII-B of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 USC 11431 et seq.), (McKinney-Vento Act). The program defines “homelessness” as individuals who lack a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence.

The term includes –

• 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 lack of alternative adequate accommodations; are living in emergency or transitional shelters; or are abandoned in hospitals;

• Having 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;

• Living in cars, parks, public spaces, abandoned buildings, substandard housing, bus or train stations or similar settings; and

• Migratory children and youth who qualify as homeless due to living in any of the circumstances described above.

Resource Files: McKinney-Vento Homeless Education Assistance Act