The Homeless Children & Youth Education Program of the St. Mary Parish School System carries out federally mandated policies to ensure that homeless children and youth have access to a free, appropriate public education on the same basis as children and youth with established residences. Laws, regulations, practices or policies should not act as barriers to the enrollment, attendance of school, or success of homeless students.

The McKinney-Vento Act protects the educational rights of children and youth in the following homeless situations (Title IX, Part A, of Every Student Succeeds Act) (Effective October 1, 2016):

• Children living in shelters, including domestic violence shelters.
  
  
• Children living in hotels or motels or weekly-rate apartments.
  
  
• Children living in substandard conditions – not fit for human habitation (i.e. no electricity, no heat, no running water, no windows or doors, holes in the roof or floor, no way to cook or store food.)
  
  
• Abandoned, runaway, throwaway children and youth (Unaccompanied Youth).
  
  
• Two or more families living together in crowded or undesirable living conditions (doubling or tripling up because they have no place of their own to live where they can safely and healthfully meet their basic needs in privacy and with dignity).
  
  

The Rights of Homeless Students

Federal Law: McKinney-Vento Act (State Law: LA R.S. 17.238/Public Law 107-110)

The law gives children and youth in homeless situations the right to:

• Remain enrolled despite changes in residence.
  
  
• Obtain immediate access to school enrollment without proof of residency, immunization or school records. Parents must complete the St. Mary Parish McKinney-Vento Assurance Enrollment Dispute Resolution Policy, which gives them 5 (five) school days to submit required school enrollment documentation, i.e. physical address, academic records from last school attended, immunization records and birth certificate.
  
  
• Transportation to and from school.
  
  
• Enroll in pre-school programs.
  
  
• Any and all school services as needed.

Reviewed 06/07/2023
Tonia M. Verrette