Homeless Education (McKinney-Vento Act)

The Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Act, which was signed into law in 1987, required states to review and revise residency requirements for the enrollment of homeless children and youth to address the challenges that they face in enrolling, attending, and succeeding in school.

Under the McKinney-Vento Act, state educational agencies must ensure that each homeless child and youth has equal access to the same free, appropriate public education, including public preschool education, as other children and youths. Homeless children and youth must have access to the educational and related services that they need to enable them to meet the same challenging state academic standards to which all students are held. 

The tenets of the law provide children and youth experiencing homelessness with the following:

• Immediate enrollment even when records are not present
• The right to remain in the school of origin, if it is determined to be in the student's best interest
• Transportation to school of origin
• Support for academic success and extra-curricular participation

The Perth Amboy School District's local liaison for homeless education is:

Ms. Jamie Richardson, Director of Curriculum and Instruction
732-376-6200

 

For additional school-based support, information and resources, please be sure to also connect with our Preschool Community Involvement Specialist (CPIS) and our Home School Liaisons. Please refer to this document for their contact information. 

 

 

Who Are Homeless Children and Youth?

Homeless children and youth are individuals who lack a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence, including:

• Children and youth who are sharing the housing of other people due to loss of housing, economic hardship, or a similar reason, are living in motels, hotels, trailer parks, or camping grounds due to the lack of alternative adequate accommodations; are living in emergency or transitional shelters; or are abandoned in hospitals.
• Children and youth who have a primary nighttime residence that is a public or private place not designed for or ordinarily used as regular sleeping accommodation for human beings
• Children and youth who live in cars, parks, public spaces, abandoned buildings, substandard housing, bus or train stations, or similar settings
• Migratory children who qualify as homeless because the children are living in circumstances described above

McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, Title VII, Subtitle B, Section 725(2)

Questions regarding McKinney-Vento eligibility should be directed to:  

Alan Ferraro, Regional Director McKinney-Vento Homeless Services

900 Hope Road

Tinton Falls, NJ 07712

Telephone: (732) 695-7800 ext. 7805