Answer: Yes, you are exactly right! The requirement for a caretaker to get temporary guardianship is a barrier to enrollment that would be a violation of McKinney-Vento. The time it takes to get guardianship, the cost and the paperwork would delay enrollment, and that is an unacceptable barrier under McKinney-Vento.
Our district policy is that if an unaccompanied minor’s parent is out of state, whomever he/she was living with would have to apply for temporary guardianship in order for the youth to enter school. I have always thought that for McKinney-Vento purposes that should not be our policy, because the minor qualifies as homeless, and it shouldn’t matter where the parent was. Am I right?
Oct 8, 2018 | Q and A