Youth Experiencing Housing Instability

Students experiencing housing instability qualify for services under the McKinney-Vento Act.  Students may qualify if they live in one of the following: 

• Shared housing (such as with extended family or an unrelated family)

• Motels/hotels, shelters (including youth shelters), safehouses, transitional housing programs

• Trailers without sufficient access to plumbing or power

• Cars, campgrounds, parks, abandoned buildings, or substandard housing

• Couchsurfing or frequently changing residences

• Unaccompanied youth (includes youth living with an adult if the adult is not their legal guardian)

If your family is experiencing any of the above situations, please reach out to our school's McKinney-Vento liaison to receive support (contact info below).

In order to provide qualifying students equal access to the same free and appropriate public education as other students, federal law entitles your child to additional educational rights and services, including: 

• Immediate Enrollment: Allows youth to be immediately enrolled in school even if all required documents (such as birth certificates, immunizations, or school records) are not available. 

• School Stability: Allows students the option to remain in their “school of origin” for as long as they qualify for these services. School of origin typically means the school that a child attended before they qualified, or the school in which a child was last enrolled (including a preschool). 

• Transportation: Students are entitled to assistance with transportation to remain in their school of origin. This might include financial assistance like bus passes or gas cards to get to school. Please contact your district’s McKinney-Vento liaison (listed below) for more information. 

• Afterschool programs: Priority registration for the district’s afterschool program. 

• Preschool-aged children and high school students are entitled to additional rights.

Eligibility is valid for the entire school year, even if you move to new housing or another district. 

It is our pleasure to provide support and we hope it will be a positive experience for you as well. For any questions or to request assistance, please contact:

Vince Yorton

Peninsula Union Foster & Homeless Youth Liaison

(415) 963-1425

vyorton@peninsulasd.org