Legal Aid Society of New York

Homeless Student Rights

• Overview
• Homeless Children’s Rights
• Resolving Problems or Disagreements
• Children Awaiting Foster Care Placement
• Further Resources

Overview

The McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act is a federal law that grants certain rights and protections to homeless students. The Act defines a homeless child or youth as any individual who lacks a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence. The definition includes:

• Children who are living in shelters, hotels, camp grounds, cars, parks, public spaces, abandoned buildings or other similar settings.
• Children who are doubled-up in housing with friends or relatives.
• Children who are unaccompanied homeless youth.
• Children who are “awaiting foster care placement.”

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Homeless Children’s Rights

Homeless children have the right to:

• Continue attending the school of origin (i.e., the school in which the child was last enrolled or the school the child attended when permanently housed) or to enroll in the zoned school in the area where the child temporarily resides;
• Receive transportation to and from the school of origin;
• Enroll despite lack of proper documentation (immunizations, transcripts, proof of address, etc.).

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Resolving Problems or Disagreements

If there is a dispute over school selection or enrollment, the child must be immediately admitted to the school in which he/she is seeking enrollment, pending resolution of the dispute. The parent must be provided a written explanation of the school’s decision regarding enrollment, and the parent has a right to appeal that decision. For information about how to file an appeal, click here.

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Children “Awaiting Foster Care Placement”

Children who have been removed from their homes and are residing temporarily at the ACS Children’s Center in Manhattan are “awaiting foster care placement” and fall squarely within the definition of “homeless children and youth” in the McKinney-Vento Act. These children are entitled to all of the rights and protections included in the Act. Specifically, children at the Center are entitled to continue attending their schools of origin, and to receive transportation back to those schools.

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Further Resources

• McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, 42 USC § 11431 et seq
  
• N.Y. Educ. Law § 3209(4)(c)
  
• New York City Chancellor’s Regulation A-780
  
• Technical and Education Assistance Center for Homeless Students (NYS-TEACHS)