Essay --

On July 22, 1987, President Ronald Reagan signed the McKinney Homeless Assistance Act (now known as the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act) into law and was later reauthorized by the No Child Left Behind Act in 2001. This act establishes several programs to provide essential services to people experiencing homelessness, including emergency shelter, transitional housing, job training, primary health care, education, and permanent housing. This policy analysis will focus specifically on Title VII-B of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, which authorizes the federal Education of Homeless Children and Youth program, and its attempt to remove barriers to public education faced by homeless children and youth. Nature and Scope of the Issue According to the National Coalition of the Homeless (2007), families with children are among the fastest growing segments of the homeless population (pg. 1). The Institute for Children and Poverty (2004) estimated that approximately 1.35 million children are likely to experience homelessness over the course of a year in the United States. Homelessness has a devastating impact on all aspects of children and youth’s lives, including their educational opportunities. Residency requirements, guardianship requirements, delays in transfer of school records, lack of transportation, and lack of immunization records often prevent homeless children from enrolling in school. In 1987, Congress established Title VII-B of the McKinney-Vento Act, the Education of Homeless Children and Youth program (EHCY), in response to reports that only 57% of homeless children were enrolled in school (NCH, 2007). In addition to difficulties with enrolling in school, the high mobility associated with homelessness also... ...s accessing emergency shelter and transitional housing programs of the course of one year (as cited in NCH, 2009) Meanwhile, 71% of responding cities reported increases in households with children accessing emergency shelter. More than 42% of those accessing emergency shelter are families, and, on average these families remain in emergency shelters for 70 days (as cited in NCH, 2009). Alternative policies that strive to provide more affordable housing options and more preventative support services must be implemented in attempts to prevent the causes of homelessness rather than addressing the symptoms associated with it. Homelessness, including its devastating impact on children and youth’s educational outcomes, will not end until policy makers and society at large begins to take a deeper look at these structural, root causes of homelessness impacting our society.