McKinney-Vento Youth
The district provides support to students and families who lack a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence. Students who live in any of the following situations may qualify for services:
- Sharing housing with one or more families due to eviction or economic hardship.
- Living in emergency or transitional shelters.
- Staying in hotels/motels.
- Staying in trailer parks/campgrounds.
- Staying in an area not designed for sleeping (i.e., a garage, an attic, a car, a park, or an abandoned building).
School-aged children have rights and protection under the McKinney-Vento Homeless Education Assistance Act. Those rights include the following:
- Receive a free appropriate public education.
- Enroll in school immediately, even if lacking documents are typically required for enrollment.
- According to the student's needs, receive educational services comparable to those provided to other students.
- 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 their preference.
- Enroll and attend school while the school and family seek to resolve a dispute over enrolling the child(ren).
- Receive transportation assistance to the school attended before the family lost housing if requested, and qualify under the district transportation standard.
- Enrollment to the before and after-school program or intersession program, with transportation.
Foster Youth
The district seeks to address the unique educational needs of students in the foster care system. Students in foster care may experience multiple changes in home placements as they are placed with foster parent(s), guardian homes (kinship/relative or non-relative), and group homes. Because of the complexities of their experience, many foster youth perform below grade level, are held back in school, and have lower graduation rates than their peers. Our Social Work Program ensures equitable access to education for foster youth by removing barriers to education in accordance with CA law (AB 490), such as:
- School Stability – The right to remain in their original school when they enter foster care or move (if in their best interests).
- Immediate Enrollment – The right to be immediately enrolled in a new school (even without health/education records).
The district supports and advocates for students' academic success in foster care in collaboration with the child’s school, care providers, child welfare, community-based agencies, and the youth. Students in foster care may qualify for counseling and intensive case management from our social workers.
Contact Us
Julia Sutton, McKinney-Vento and Foster Youth Liaison
[email protected]
(619) 361-9093