Unaccompanied Homeless Youth Eligibility
Unaccompanied Homeless Youth Eligibility
-
-
@axlinej – check out this info! Thanks for asking a really important question that comes up often.
The McKinney-Vento Act defines unaccompanied youth as “a homeless child or youth not in the
physical custody of a parent or guardian” (McKinney-Vento Act section 725(6)). Taking a closer look
at the definition, two conditions must be present for a child or youth to be considered a UY under the
McKinney-Vento Act:1. The child’s or youth’s living arrangement meets the Act’s definition of homeless, and
2. The child or youth is not in the physical custody of a parent or guardian.Physical custody refers to where a child or youth is physically living. Therefore, a child or youth who is
not in the physical custody of a parent or guardian is a child or youth who is not living with a parent or
guardian. It is important to note, however, that the presence of a custody or guardianship issue alone
does not make a student eligible for McKinney-Vento services; rather, the student’s living arrangement
also must be considered homeless. With this federal definition in mind, the term unaccompanied
youth as used throughout this brief refers to youth who are both unaccompanied and experiencing
homelessness.-
-
Hello Jamily (@axlinej). Great question. It depends on what led the student to no longer be in the care of their parent or guardian. If the student left the home because they were not safe, then reaching out to the family may cause more harm. In other cases the family may have become homeless themselves and not able to care for their children so the student has become UHY. Reaching out to the family in this situation may then be appropriate. Look at each case of UHY separately before reaching out to a family for more information.
-
-
-
Great question and this comes up a lot. Check out this unaccompanied youth eligibility flowchart and then please feel free to respond back with further questions. Thanks!!
https://nche.ed.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Handout-UHY-Flowchart.pdf
-
This was helpful as I just had conversation with admin about a student who is living with boyfriend and family. She has strained relationship with parents and admin say she does not fall under unaccompanied unless family says they kicked her out or something similar. If she voluntarily leaves the home then she does not qualify. What are your thoughts?
-
(@axlinej), I think it would depend on why she moved in with the boyfriend. If it was due to extreme conflict or did not feel safe in the home they she may be UHY. The other question to determine is if the living arrangement with the boyfriend’s family is fixed, regular and adequate. They may be willing to allow her to live there for as long as she needs to.
-
-
-
