Skip To Main Content

Homeless Resources

McKinney-Vento Homeless Education Assistance Improvement Act

The McKinney-Vento Act and Texas Education Code ensure that children and youth experiencing homelessness have the right to a free, appropriate public education.

Homelessness may include students who:

  • Live with others due to loss of housing or financial hardship

  • Stay in motels, hotels, shelters, or transitional housing

  • Reside in cars, parks, public spaces, abandoned buildings, or substandard housing

Schools may not stigmatize students based on homelessness.

For more information, contact Cheryl Hendrix, District Homeless Liaison, at 9720894-6639 or speak with your campus counselor. 

The Liaison For Students who are homeless shall ensure that:

  1. Homeless children are identified by school personnel and through outreach and coordination activities with other entities and agencies;
  2. Homeless children are enrolled in, and have a full and equal opportunity to succeed in, district schools;
  3. Homeless families and homeless children have access to and receive educational services for which they are eligible, including services through Head Start programs (including Early Head Start programs) under the Head Start Act, early intervention services under Part C of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, and other district preschool programs;
  4. Homeless families and homeless children receive referrals to health care, dental, mental health and substance abuse, housing, and other appropriate services;
  5. The parents or guardians of homeless children are informed of the available educational and related opportunities and are provided meaningful opportunities to participate in the education of their children;
  6. Public notice of the educational rights of homeless children is disseminated in locations frequented by parents or guardians of such children, and unaccompanied youths, including schools, shelters, public libraries, and soup kitchens, in a manner and form understandable to the parents and guardians of homeless children, and unaccompanied youths;
  7. Enrollment disputes are mediated;
  8. The parent or guardian of a homeless child, and any unaccompanied youth, are fully informed of all transportation services, including transportation to the school of origin, and are assisted in accessing transportation to the school of enrollment;
  9. School personnel providing services under the McKinney-Vento Act receive professional development and other support; and 
  10. Unaccompanied youths:

    11. a. Are enrolled in school;
    b. Have opportunities to meet the same challenging state academic standards as the state establishes
    for other children; and
    c. Are informed of their status as independent students under section 480 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 and that the youths may obtain assistance from the liaison to receive verification of such status for purposes of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid.