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When children endure the destabilizing event of losing their homes, they should not have to go through the added trauma of being denied an education. Children are often refused access to the school they attended before they became homeless, are separated from trusted teachers and friends, and are uprooted from established Special Education, Gifted and Talented, and after-school programs at a time when they most need stability in their lives.
The Public Justice Center is doing something to change this. We lead the nation in enforcement of the McKinney-Veto Act. Passed in 1987, the law gives homeless students the right to remain in their original school, or transfer to the school closest to their temporary living situation. Additionally, students must be enrolled immediately and must be provided free transportation.
The PJC led the country in filing some of the first lawsuits under the McKinney-Vento Act to enforce homeless children’s right to enroll or continue in school. Help us safeguard a child's essential right to learn.
Homeless Children Deserve to Go to School Too
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Press Release: Baltimore County Homeless Students Achieve School Success
The PJC and Megaphone Project produced a new instructional video on homeless students' rights, entitled Beyond Debate: Rights of Homeless Students." Click here to watch or order the film, get a brochure with info and advice.
CLICK HERE TO READ ABOUT HOMELESS CHILDREN'S RIGHT TO EDUCATION UNDER THE McKINNEY-VENTO LAW
Click here to see pleadings and orders from various PJC cases against Maryland counties to enforce the McKinney-Vento Act.
2008 Cases & Projects:
Homeless Children’s Education Lawsuits. In April 2006 the PJC filed a Peterson, et al. v. Board of Education of Baltimore County, et al. In May 2008, the PJC and the Baltimore County Public School system reached a final, comprehensive settlement agreement. The consent decree and award of $145,000 attorney fees to the PJC was approved by the Court on June 13, 2008. In the decree, the Baltimore County Public Schools will:
- properly identify homeless children,
- promptly enroll them in school,
- provide transportation, meals and other critical school services,
- inform them of their right to appeal,
- provide monitoring reports on all of its homeless students for two years, and
- conduct training sessions about the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, and provide a brochure, “Homeless Children and Youth in Baltimore County,” to school nurses, teachers and bus drivers.
PJC will monitor compliance with the settlement agreement and the McKinney-Vento Act for a minimum of two years.
The PJC has begun working with a fourth Maryland school district, Anne Arundel County, on a comprehensive reform of its homeless education program.
Training children’s caregivers and advocates about children’s educational rights. PJC attorneys have been invited to address and advise other professionals involved with foster children. The PJC has developed several training seminars designed to help attendees to understand foster children’s rights in the educational arena and to be better able to navigate the system and advocate for children in state-supervised care. To date, the PJC has developed several presentations and materials, such as “Educational Obstacles for Children in Foster Care,” “ABC’s of School Advocacy,” and “How to Help A Student Who Wants to Re-Enroll in School After Having Been Withdrawn.” These programs have been presented to Department of Social Services case workers, Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASAs), and CINA attorneys. The PJC’s training materials are being used by the Child Welfare Training Academy to train new case workers.
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