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McKinney Vento -- Homeless/Displaced Youth

The New Jersey McKinney-Vento Education for Homeless Children and Youth Program provides protection and services to children who are displaced or experiencing homelessness. The goal of McKinney-Vento is to ensure homelessness is not a barrier to attending school, completing high school, and/or accessing services that can help avoid poverty and homelessness as an adult.

Eligibility Definition: Homeless children and youths are individuals who lack a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence, including:

  • 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, or are abandoned in hospitals;
  • 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;
  • Children and youths who are living in cars, parks, public spaces, abandoned buildings, substandard housing, bus or train stations, or similar settings;

Migratory children who qualify as homeless because the children are living in circumstances described above.

If you believe a student is homeless or displaced and is not connected to McKinney-Vento services, please contact Jennifer Ochoa, District Homeless Liaison, at jochoa@mtarlingtonk8.org or (973)398-4400 Ext.527

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