The Eastern Lebanon School District believes that displaced youth should have access to free and appropriate public education and wishes to limit the barriers that displaced children may face. Our goal is to have the educational process continue as uninterrupted as possible while children are in displaced situations.
Displaced students are defined as individuals lacking a fixed, regular and nighttime residence, which include students living under the following conditions:
Sharing the housing of other persons due to loss of housing or economic hardship.
Living in motels, hotels, trailer parks or camping grounds due to lack of adequate alternative accommodations.
Living in emergency, transitional or domestic violence shelters.
Abandoned in hospitals.
Living in public or private places not designated for or ordinarily used as regular sleeping accommodations for human beings.
Living in cars, parks, public spaces, abandoned buildings, substandard housing, transportation stations or similar settings.
Living as migratory children in conditions described in previous examples.
Living as run-away children.
Being abandoned or forced out of homes by parents/guardians or caretakers.
Living as school age unwed mothers in houses for unwed mothers if they have no other living accommodations.
Unaccompanied youth is a specific category under McKinney Vento. Unaccompanied Youth is defined as a child or youth not in the physical custody of a parent or guardian. This includes youth who have run away from home; been abandoned or forced out of home by a parent, guardian, or other caretaker; or separated from a parent or guardian for any other reason.
As part of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, homeless students have the right to:
receive a free, appropriate public education;
enroll in school immediately and attend classes while the school gathers required documents;
enroll in the local school where they are living or remain in their original school;
receive transportation to their original school, if requested;
receive comparable services as housed students, including special education services;
receive free lunch;
be categorically eligible for services such as Head Start and Title I services; and
dispute McKinney-Vento eligibility.
Should you have any questions, please contact the ELCO School District Homeless Liaison, Amy Shoemaker, ashoemaker@elcosd.org or 717-866-7117 ext. 10821 or Kelly Smith, Home and School Visitor, kellysmith@elcosd.org or 717-866-7447.
Education for Homeless Youth- In 1987, Congress passed the Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Act, (subsequently renamed the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act) to aid homeless persons. The Act defines the term "homeless children and youths" as individuals who lack a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence. On December 10, 2015, the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) was enacted, amending McKinney-Vento.
