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McKinney-Vento Act: Students Navigating Houselessness Education Program

McKinney-Vento Defined

The McKinney-Vento Act for the Education of Houseless Children and Youth Program ensures that houseless children and youth are provided a free, appropriate public education, despite the lack of a fixed, regular, nighttime, adequate place of residence. A youth is considered unaccompanied if they are not in the physical custody of a parent or guardian. The state public school admission statute assuring the right of houseless and other children and youth in similar circumstances to enroll in schools is Oregon Revised Statute ORS 339.115 (7) 

Notwithstanding Oregon Revised Statute ORS 339.133 (2)(a), a school district shall not exclude from admission a child located in the district solely because the child does not have a fiex place of residence or solely because the child is not under the supervision of a parent, guardian or person in a parental relationship.

McKinney-Vento Eligibility

If your family lives in any of the following situations:
  • In a shelter
  • In a motel or campground due to the lack of an alternative adequate accommodation
  • In a car, park, abandoned building, or bus or train station
  • Doubled up with other people due to loss of housing or economic hardship
  • Lack of a fixed, regular, nighttime, adequate place of residence

Your school-age children may qualify for certain rights and protections under the federal McKinney-Vento Act.

  • Receive a free, appropriate public education.
  • Enroll in school immediately, even if lacking documents normally required for enrollment.
  • Enroll in school and attend classes while the school gathers needed documents.
  • Enroll in the local school; or continue attending their school of origin (the school they attended when permanently housed or the school in which they were last enrolled), if that is your preference and is feasible.
  • Receive transportation to and from the school of origin, if you request this.
  • Receive educational services comparable to those provided to other students, according to your children’s needs.
  • If the school district believes that the school you select is not in the best interest of your children, then the district must provide you with a written explanation of its position and inform you of your right to appeal its decision.

Source: National Center for Homeless Education (NCHE)

Eligibility Flowchart

State McKinney-Vento Contacts

The Every Student Succeeds (ESSA) Act requires that all school districts identify a Point of Contact assigned to work with staff and provide assistance for students experiencing houselessness.Each school district must also have a designated liaison tasked with overseeing the coordination and application of these supports. This is done through collaboration with caseworkers and other human services representatives, training staff within their district on the unique needs of students in Foster Care, and engaging with community organizations and agencies to ensure that students and families are receiving adequate services under ESSA/ESEA.

Roles / Responsibilities

McKinney-Vento Liaison

Each district McKinney-Vento Liaison must:

  • Collaborate with caseworkers, Resource parents, Tribes, and community partners
  • Train school staff on their role in supporting students experiencing homelessness; and
  • Engage with the Oregon Department of Education (ODE) on matters of professional development and technical assistance (see Office Hours information below).

District

Districts must submit their Program Contacts at the beginning of each new school year (due 10/1).

ODE

To maintain accuracy, ODE runs a monthly contact list report generated from the data entered into the 2024-25 SY Continuous Improvement Plan (CIP) Budget Narrative (BN) Application and updates our list accordingly. If you have submitted an update that has not yet been reflected, please let us know.

2024-25 McKinney-Vento Contact Lists

List Headers
HL - Homeless Liaison
HDA - Homeless District Administrative Contact
FC - Foster Care
FCT - Foster Care Transportation

Questions regarding missing contact information should be directed at the district or ESD in question (see linked website for contact details). 

Support

Office Hours

State McKinney-Vento Point of Contacts are welcome to join us for Office Hours (OH). This forum offers the opportunity to receive updates to share across the district, connect with other districts to learn about their best practices, and ask questions pertaining to the work.

Office Hours take place on the 3rd Thursday of the month; 1:30 - 2:30 pm PT 
  • Zoom Registration is required and attendance is limited to state education contacts
  • Emails that do not belong to a district are subject to removal (contact us if you have a question about participation eligibility)

Newsletter

The McKinney-Vento newsletter is sent to state points of contact within two weeks after each Office Hours and includes:

  • Office Hours meeting slide deck
  • Links referenced
  • Q & As (questions and answers) from the meeting
  • Important updates and the topic for the following month

Past newsletters can be found in the archive on ODEs Key Messages webpage by entering McKinney in the search box

The Federal Programs team sends a weekly Office Hour reminder to subscribers of the Title I-A newsletter

If you have additional questions, email us at OR-MV@ode.oregon.gov or
Schedule time to meet via the McKinney-Vento Booking Link

Houseless Student Data

Data posted in this section (Counts of 1 to 5 students) have been suppressed to protect confidentiality. State totals are unduplicated, while other totals may include students identified more than once.


Liaisons, Districts, & ESDs

Resources

Resources:
NCHE operates the U.S. Department of Education’s technical assistance and information center for the federal Education for Homeless Children and Youth (EHCY) Program.​

Resources:
​

​These links apply to pregnant youth, rural communities, youth with disab​ilities,​​ native youth, tr​auma-informed practices, and family engagement.

  • National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN)​ 
    Created by Congress in 2000 as part of the Children's Health Act to raise the standard of care and increase access to services for children and families who experience or witness traumatic events. This unique network of frontline providers, family members, researchers, and national partners is committed to changing the course of children's lives by improving their care and moving scientific gains quickly into practice across the U.S. ​

    The NCTSN is administered by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)​ and coordinated by the UCLA-Duke University National Center for Child Traumatic Stress (NCCTS)​. ​

  • ​Native Child Advocacy Resource Center​ ​
    The Native Child Advocacy Resource Center is a division of the National Native Children's Trauma Center (NNCTC), a specialty unit within the College of Education at the University of Montana.​

    ​The center has been collaborating with tribal communities and AI/AN populations since 2006, working across all child-serving systems (child welfare, juvenile justice, education, mentatl health, and primary care, among others) to support the development of culturally focused, trauma-informed programming that benefits children, families, communities, and tribes.​

Resources:
Chapin Hall is a research and policy center focused on
the mission of improving the well-being of children,
youth, and their families.

Experts work alongside nonprofit and government
partners to center equity in systems, scale evidencebased policies, and elevate community-driven solutions.

Staff partners with all levels of government, non-profit organizations, philanthropists, fellow researchers, and others who work tirelessly to address challenges facing children, youth, and families in the United States and beyond.

The National Alliance to End Homelessness is a non-partisan organization dedicated to preventing and ending homelessness in the United States. We help build stronger and more resilient communities by advancing equitable, socially just, and evidence-based strategies and policies that are critical to ending homelessness. ​​​​


Resources:

https://schoolhouseconnection.org​

Founded in 2016, SchoolHouse Connection is a national non-profit organization working to overcome homelessness through early care and education. SHC provides strategic advocacy and practical assistance in partnership with early childhood programs, schools, institutions of higher education, service providers, families, and youth.

Resources

Resources:

CAPO serves as the State Association for the Community Action Network in Oregon.  We work to magnify the impact of Community Action to serve low-income Oregonians by advocating for resources with a unified voice, strengthening partnerships, and building network capacity.  CAPO also operates programs in energy and weatherization training, veteran's services, and support of homelessness programs across 26 rural Oregon counties.​​

The Federal Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Agency originated the Continuum of Care (CoC) program. The CoC program promotes a community-wide commitment to end homelessness. It provides funding for nonprofit providers. It also funds State and local governments to quickly rehouse homeless individuals and families. Provider agencies strive to:
    • Minimize the trauma and dislocation caused to homeless individuals, families, and communities
    • Promote access to and use mainstream programs by homeless individuals and families
    • Optimize self-sufficiency among individuals and families experiencing homelessness.
  • Oregon Health Authority and Oregon Department of Education Immunizations 
    Oregon’s immunization requirements help make sure every child has the opportunity to get caught up on needed vaccines each year.

    Every state has laws requiring vaccination to go to school. School and child care staff are partners in keeping kids healthy and free of vaccine-preventable diseases. These laws and partnership have been very effective at stopping the spread of disease in the classroom
    and community.​​​
  • ​NeighborImpact (formerly Central Oregon Community Action Agency Network COCAAN) 
    Founded in 1985, NeighborImpact is a private not for profit organization which serves all of Crook, Deschutes, Jefferson counties and the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs. We envision a Central Oregon where residents, regardless of their income status, have hope and optimism, and have access to community resources that see them through times of need.

    NeighborImpact provides a diversity of services that not only meet basic human needs for food and shelter, but also enrich people’s lives by providing access to increased education, skills, and hope for the future. Services assist people to become more independent and self-sufficient, recognizing there is a continuum of support that all people need throughout their life.
ODE Webpages

​Office of Indian Education & the McKinney-Vento Program

The Office of Indian Education and Office of Teaching, Learning, and Assessment are collaborating to increase identification of students and families navigating housing insecurity. The purpose of this document is to

provide a glimpse into the services provided for our Native Community, and how that may intersect with our McKinney-Vento statewide program.

Resources:

Responses to frequent questions from districts on how McKinney-Vento a​pplies to students and families displaced by disasters such as wildfires.

Resources:

​McKinney-Vento Education for Homeless Children and Youth Guidance Document​ - This is the guidance document from the US Department of ​Education.​

U.S. Department of Education, Education of Homeless Children and Youth Programs ​- Federal management of the McKinney-Vento Act’s Education for Homeless Children and Youth Program, through the Office of Safe and Healthy Students.​

National Center for Homeless Education - Under federal contract, NCHE provides technical assistance, webinars, topical briefs, and toolkits for school district Homeless Liaisons and State Coordinators.​

SchoolHouse Connection - A national organization providing strategic advocacy and technical assistance for McKinney-Vento Education programs in partnership with early childhood programs, public schools, higher education, service providers, families and youth.​

National Homeless Law Center - The mission of NLCH is to prevent and end homelessness by serving as the legal arm of the nationwide movement to end homelessness.​​​

National Association for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth - A membership organization for McKinney-Vento program staffs sponsoring annual national conference.​