McKinney-Vento Homeless Education

About Homeless Education

The McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act is the primary piece of legislation related to the education of children and youth experiencing homelessness.
Specific provisions ensure the enrollment, accessibility, and educational stability for students lacking a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence.

Any displaced child or youth experiencing the following has educational rights under the McKinney-Vento Act:
- is living in a shelter, motel, inadequate trailer, or house;
- is staying temporarily with relatives or friends due to economic hardship or loss of housing; or
- is living in any other homeless situation.

image of MKV students studying and playing

Access to a McKinney-Vento Homeless Educational Liaison in their school district
Identification through outreach and coordination activities
Immediate enrollment with full and equal opportunity to succeed in school
Choice between the neighborhood school or the school of origin (school last enrolled in or attended)
Transportation to the school of origin (including preschool)
Immediate access to free school meals and educational services for which they are eligible
Automatic eligibility for Title I, Part A of the Every Student Succeeds Act of 2015
Referrals to health care, dental, mental health and substance abuse, housing, and other appropriate services
Unaccompanied youth are informed of their status as independent students on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA)

Check out our Program Overview (PDF) for additional information about Colorado’s McKinney-Vento Program.

You can also refer to the US Department of Education's Education for Homeless Children and Youth site for more information and use the ED Data Express website to browse education data by state.

Every school district has a designated McKinney-Vento Homeless Education Liaison responsible for identifying MKV students and providing resources to help these students.
Refer to our list of liaisons to find the liaison in your district.

This document, created collaboratively by the National Association for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth (NAEHCY) and the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty (NLCHP), and updated in October 2017, provides answers to many of the most frequently asked questions on the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act and the educational rights of children and youth in homeless situations.