Families in Transition

Children and Youth Experiencing Homelessness

Families in transition are encouraged to participate in the enrollment process. The McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act ensures educational rights and protections for children and youth experiencing homelessness. Families in transition are defined by the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act as students who have unstable or uncertain housing. Examples of unstable or uncertain housing include sharing housing with more than one family due to eviction or economic hardship, living in emergency or transitional shelters, hotels or motels, trailer parks, campgrounds, or other places not designed for sleeping like garages, attics, cars or parks.

Students also protected under McKinney-Vento include unaccompanied youth who are not in the physical custody of a parent or guardian. Students whose parents or guardians will not permit them to live at home are considered homeless if they live on the streets, in shelters or other transitional or inadequate accommodations. Other identified reasons for a student to be eligible under the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act include runaways living in inadequate accommodations even if their parents have and are willing to provide a home, children placed in foster homes because of their parents’ lack of shelter, hospitalized and incarcerated children abandoned by their families, and unwed school-age mothers who are living in homes for unwed or expectant mothers with no available living accommodations.

Special Support for Families in Transition

Families in transition will need to work with a representative from the Transitional Students and Family Unit to prepare and submit their paperwork. The counselor will immediately assist the family to apply for school placement. Representatives are available to assist at our Student Welcome Center. For information, call (510) 273-1681 and ask to speak to a transitional students and families counselor.