Homeless

Who is Homeless Under the McKinney-Vento Act?

The  McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (Subtitle B-Education for Homeless Children and Youth), reauthorized in January 2002, ensure education rights and protections for children and youth experiencing homelessness.  All definitions below are contained, exactly as written here, in the McKinney-Vento Act Sec. 725(2); 42 U.S.C. 11435 (2).

The term homeless children and youth means:
(A) individuals who lack a fixed, regular and adequate nighttime residence (within the meaning of section 103(a)(1);
and
(B) includes –
(i) children and youths who are sharing the housing of other persons due to loss of housing, economic hardship , or a similar reason; are living in motels, hotels, trailer parks, or camping grounds due to the lack of alternative adequate accommodations; are living in emergency or transitional shelters; are abandoned in hospitals; or are awaiting foster care placement;
(ii)  children and youths who have a primary nighttime residence that is a public or private place not designed for or ordinarily used as a regular sleeping accommodation for human beings (within the meaning of section 103(a)(2)(C);
(iii)  children and youths who are living in cars, parks, public spaces, abandoned buildings, substandard housing, bus or train stations, or similar settings; and
(iv)  migratory children (such as term is defined in section 1309 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965) who qualify as homeless for the purposes of this subtitle because the children are living in circumstances described in clauses (1) through (iii).

Enrollment Information for Homeless Students or Unaccompanied Youth:

When enrolling a student in a Marion ISD campus, if you live in a shelter, in a motel or transitional housing, in an abandoned building, car, campground, on the street, or in a temporary foster home with an adult who is not your parent or legal guardian, you do not need to provide the following to enroll in school:

  • Proof of Residence
  • Immunization records or a TB Skin test result
  • Birth Certificate
  • School Records
  • Legal Guardianship papers

What is Foster Care?

When children can’t live safely at home and an appropriate non-custodial parent, relative or close family friend is currently unable or unwilling to care for them, the court can give temporary legal possession to CPS and that agency temporarily places these children in foster care.  Foster care settings include:

  • Kinship Caregiver homes
  • Foster family homes
  • Foster family group homes
  • Residential group care facilities and
  • Facilities overseen by another state agency

Foster care is meant to be temporary until a permanent living arrangement is found and CPS no longer has legal custody of the child. However, for some children, it can become permanent.

Enrollment Information for students in Foster Care

Under Texas Law, student in foster care are entitled to enrollment when arriving at a new school or district-regardless of whether they have the necessary documentation or paperwork.  A student in foster care can attend the public school in the district in which the foster parents live, free of any charge to the foster parent or CPS.  Foster Parents and/or CPS will be required to present documentation to confirm Foster Care status.

Community Assistance: Ways to Donate!

The McKinney-Vento Homeless Education and the Foster Care Program of Marion ISD welcomes community involvement and support.  Due to limited financial resources, we are still in need of the following donations to help our students:

  • New or gently used coats and jackets (child and adult)
  • Backpacks
  • School supplies
  • Monetary contributions to are used to purchase gift certificates for clothing/shoes
Marion ISD