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The following article is the first in a three-
part series on the rights of runaway youth
to enroll in school. Seeming contradictions between state and federal law on this matter have raised concerns among school district and shelter personnel. In response, the Texas Homeless Education Office has undertaken an effort to clarify the educational rights of these students and the legal rights of schools to enroll them. Part 1 of the series examines the federal perspective; Part 2 will explore Texas laws relating to runaways; Part 3 will focus on district-level responsibilities and options.
NOTE: The purpose of this article is to examine legislative language, explore official directives, and clarify the legal rights and responsibilities of school districts relative to the education of runaway homeless youth. However, no portion of this article should be construed as legal advice. Any questions you might have about the legality of enrolling a homeless youth should be directed to your school district’s appointed legal counsel.
Those of you who work regularly with homeless students are undoubtedly familiar with legislation that addresses the rights of children and youth who are enduring homelessness. The McKinney-Vento Homeless Education Assistance Act ensures educational rights and protections for children and youth experiencing homelessness, and the recently reauthorized Runaway and Homeless Youth Act (RHYA) guarantees funding for programs that provide basic needs (food, shelter, healthcare, counseling, etc.) and educational assistance to runaway and homeless youth. These acts provide guidance for those serving the needs of young people in homeless situations, including unaccompanied youth who are on their own and without the supervision of a parent or guardian. This latter population comprises young people who have voluntarily left their homes (runaways), those who were forced to leave (throwaways), and those who are temporarily separated from family for other reasons. To understand the applicability and administration of these laws, one must be familiar with the language used in these and other federal documents; interpretations of the law are dependent on a clear understanding of terminology used. However, federal legislation does not always provide definitions for specialized terms, and definitions and use varies among agencies. This lack of uniformity often makes it difficult to establish parameters for terms such as child, youth, juvenile and minor and to determine the relationship of these terms to others, such as unaccompanied, runaway, and throwaway.
Although the McKinney-Vento Homeless Education Assistance Act offers no denotative definitions for child and youth, it does state that “the term ‘unaccompanied youth’ includes a youth not in the physical custody of a parent or guardian.”1 Other details of the youths included in this population are not mentioned. While the terms runaway and throwaway do not appear in the Act, these classifications share similarities with that of unaccompanied youth due to the absence of parental supervision. Consequently, one can infer that the term unaccompanied youth defined above might include runaways, throwaways, or minors separated from their parent or guardian. The McKinney-Vento Act does not, however, present overt distinctions or similarities between unaccompanied youth and associated terms such as homeless children, homeless youth, street youth, runaways, and throwaways. Neither does it establish clear age parameters that can be used to distinguish a child from a youth. As confirmed in a joint publication by the National Association for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth and National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty,2 the McKinney-Vento Act nowhere addresses age ranges with regard to children or youth in homeless situations. According to Mishaela Duran, Director of Public Policy at the National Network for Youth, no standardized definition of child or youth exists among government agencies; individual agencies—both public and private—adopt unique definitions that serve their local needs.
Joy Moses, Children’s Project Staff Attorney at the National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty confirms that “the term unaccompanied youth [as used in McKinney-Vento] has been generally thought to include runaway and throwaway youth.” Federal legislation often lacks denotative definitions of unfamiliar terminology; when this occurs, Moses explains, “courts tend to rely on 1) the standard dictionary definition of the term or 2) surrounding language that may provide some clue as to its meaning.” No matter how these young people are labeled or what circumstances separated them from home and family, they are still unsupervised homeless minors who need and have a right to an education and protection under the law.
The provisions of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Education Assistance Act are clear on the need for homeless students, accompanied or not, to be enrolled in school and provided a quality education. However, as the U.S. Department of Education notes,
Homeless unaccompanied youth often face unique barriers in enrolling and succeeding in school. These barriers include school attendance policies, credit accrual, and legal guardianship requirements. Without a parent or guardian to advocate for them and exercise parental rights, they may be denied enrollment and remain out of school for extended periods of time. Unaccompanied youth may not understand their educational rights, or know how to acquire this information.3
To remove these obstacles, the McKinney-Vento Act requires that each school district have a homeless liaison who will “assist unaccompanied youth in accessing educational services through such activities as
- helping unaccompanied youth choose and enroll in a school, after considering the youth’s wishes;
- providing unaccompanied youth with notice of their appeal rights in a language they can understand or in an accessible format;
- informing youth of their right to transportation to and from the school of origin, and assisting unaccompanied youth in accessing transportation; and
- ensuring that unaccompanied youth are immediately enrolled in school pending the resolution of disputes.”4
The Runaway and Homeless Youth Act,5 which provides grants to shelters that house runaway and throwaway youth while promoting family reunification, uses a variety of terms to identify young people in homeless situations; most, like juveniles,6 young people,7 and individuals who are less than 18 years of age, are easily understood within their context. More specialized terms, such as runaway children8 and youth (often preceded by runaway,9 homeless,10 or street11 ), require specific definitions. However, like the McKinney-Vento Act, RHYA provides few definitions of terms used to address young people in homeless circumstances. Homeless youth is identified as “an individual (A) who is (i) not more than 21 years of age; and (ii) for the purposes of part B, not less than 16 years of age; (B) for whom it is not possible to live in a safe environment with a relative; and (C) who has no other safe alternative living arrangement.”12 Street youth is defined as “an individual who (A) is (i) a runaway youth; or (ii) indefinitely or intermittently a homeless youth; and (B) spends a significant amount of time on the street or in other areas that increase the risk to such youth for sexual abuse, sexual exploitation, prostitution, or drug abuse.”13 Although runaway is not specifically defined in RHYA, the definition of street youth implies that street youth and runaway are closely associated terms—as are unaccompanied youth, runaways, and throwaways.
In the absence of a comprehensive federal glossary of terms related to young people in homeless situations, LEAs, liaisons, and school personnel must rely
on good judgment, common sense, sensitivity, and knowledge of the law when enrolling and assisting homeless children and youth with their educational needs. A uniform set of federal definitions related to the homeless would help educational institutions, shelters, service providers, state and local agencies, and other groups—both public and private—more accurately identify and serve the diverse population of homeless children and youth. Because LEAs, shelters, service providers, and countless groups who minister to unaccompanied homeless youth depend on the McKinney-Vento Homeless Education Assistance Act and the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act to educate, protect, and serve children and youth experiencing homelessness, a thorough understanding of these acts is essential. Should you require additional information about the enrollment of homeless youth in school, please contact the Texas Homeless Education Office at 1-800-446-3142. Specific information about the educational rights of youth is available here.
1 Section 725(6)
2 See www.naehcy.org/FAQfinal.pdf, Page 51.
3 Education For Homeless Children And Youth Program, July 2004, U.S. Department of Education, 25 January 2005,
4 Education For Homeless Children And Youth Program, July 2004, U.S. Department of Education, 25 January 2005,
5 The official amended version of RHYA has not yet been complied. However, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services prepared a complete updated version under the auspices of the Administration for Children and Families that has been reviewed by the Office of the General Counsel. That document has been used here. www.acf.dhhs.gov/programs/fysb/Missing.pdf
6Section 302(1), Section 312(a)
7Section 302(3)
8Section 302(4)
9Section 302(2), Section 302 (7), Section 343 (a), Section 343 (b)(2), etc.
10Section 302(6), Section 302(7), Section 302(8), Section 312(b)(1), etc.
11Section 302(7), Section 312(c)(4), Section 351(a), Section 387(4)(B)(i), etc.
12 Section 387(3)
13 Section 387(5)
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