Under federal law (the McKinney-Vento Act) state educational agencies and local educational agencies are required to develop, and review and revise, policies to “remove barriers to the identification of homeless children and youths, and the enrollment and retention of homeless children and youths in schools in the State, including barriers to enrollment and retention due to outstanding fees or fines, or absences.” [42 U.S.C. §11432(g)(1)(I)].
This important requirement helps ensure that state and local policies are aligned with federal law, and that they do not create barriers that prevent children and youth experiencing homelessness from being identified, enrolled, and receiving the support they need to stay in school and succeed.
This checklist is intended to assist local educational agencies in evaluating their own policies. It should be utilized for collaborative reviews with other LEA staff, aimed at identifying components within McKinney-Vento compliance and highlighting areas that may require policy adjustments and improvements in LEA practices.
In addition, we offer some specific policies from a few LEAs that may be useful to review. These policies are posted here to help LEAs jumpstart their processes; they are not endorsed by SHC, nor were they compared against the checklist we provide.
For more information or assistance with the checklist, please contact your McKinney-Vento State Coordinator.