The Department of Education released new guidance this week explaining how states and school districts can help the more than 1 million homeless children enrolled in public schools.
The guidance is aimed mostly at making sure schools identify homeless children and youths, and ensuring they have access to support services. It also encourages schools to remove barriers to enrollment, ensure students have transportation to and from school, and helping to get homeless kids on a track for college and a career.
The guidance goes into effect on Oct. 1.
The guidance is in response to the new provisions in the Every Student Succeeds Act, which specifically addresses the needs of homeless public school students. In the 2013-14 school year, more than 1.3 million students were homeless, and that number is expected to be about the same in the upcoming school year.
“Homeless children and youth face a number of barriers to getting the education they deserve and the services they need to succeed in school and beyond,” Education Secretary John King said in a statement. “It is our hope that the guidance we are releasing today will serve as a tool to help states and districts better serve homeless children and youth – we can and we must do better.”
Janet Hostetler, Deputy Director of the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty, said the guidance helps to clarify and strengthen “the rights of students experiencing homelessness so they can stay in school and get the support they need to reach their potential.”
The Every Student Succeeds Act, or ESSA, was signed in December. It reauthorized the McKinney-Vento Education for Homeless Children and Youths program, which helps states, districts and local organizations better serve homeless students in a variety of ways.
Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., who helped push the passage of ESSA, praised the new federal guidance.
“I was proud to fight for these improvements in our new education law and I thank the Department for working with me to prioritize and serve these students so they can achieve at the highest levels and secure a pathway to the middle class,” Murray said in a statement.
