Running head: EDUCATION OF HOMELESS CHILDREN AND YOUTHS

A Social Policy Analysis of Title VII of the McKinney-Vento Homeless

Assistance Act of 1987: Education of Homeless Children and Youths
Joseph Cerniglia
University of South Carolina

EDUCATION OF HOMELESS CHILDREN AND YOUTHS

A Social Policy Analysis of Title VII of the McKinney-Vento Homeless

Assistance Act of 1987: Education of Homeless Children and Youths
Overview
Title VII of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act of 1987 seeks to address the
issues of educating homeless children and youth. Homeless children face barriers to compulsory
education. This problem affects school-aged children and youth. Homeless children and youth,
for the purposes of the McKinney-Vento Act are defined as, individuals who lack a fixed,
regular, and adequate nighttime residence (McKinney-Vento, 1987). This definition represents a
broad understanding that allows for a multitude of living situations children may face that does
not necessarily demand the child is living outdoors. According to Jozefowicz-Simbeni & Israel
(2006) homeless children face [barriers] including lack of transportation, residency restrictions,
lack of personal and school records, guardianship problems, and a lack of resources such as
clothing and school supplies. Furthermore, these students are at a greater risk of academic,
behavioral, and attendance issues (Jozefowicz-Simbeni & Israel, 2006).
In passing McKinney-Vento the Congress found that:
The [United States] faces an immediate and unprecedented crisis due to the lack
of shelter for a growing number of individuals and families, includingchildren;
The causes of homelessness are many and complex, and homeless individuals
have diverse needs; And, the Federal Government has a clear responsibility
and an existing capacity to fulfill a more effective and responsible role to meet the
basic human needs and to engender respect for the human dignity of the homeless.
(McKinney-Vento, 1987)

EDUCATION OF HOMELESS CHILDREN AND YOUTHS

The main components of McKinney-Vento demand equal access to education for

homeless children and youth. The basis for universal social allocation of educating homeless
children is that this allows for greater productivity as a labor resource (Rouse, et. al., 2005).
Selectively, these children are able to receive a more adequate education and do not face the
discrimination of denied access. This policy utilizes the Department of Education and grants to
assist states in providing access to schools for homeless children. These grants come in the form
of money for state and local activities and sub-grants for local educational agencies.
Historical Analysis
McKinney-Vento was the firstand remains the onlymajor federal statutory response
to homelessness For this reason, the problem of homelessness among children and youth
spiraled to a crisis level and demanded federal intervention. In 1987, the Stewart B. McKinney
Homeless Assistance Act was signed by President Ronald Reagan establishing fifteen programs
providing supports such as emergency shelters, transitional and permanent housing, vocational
training, health care, and education (NCH, 2009). McKinney-Vento has been reauthorized
several times, most recently in 2001 with the passage of the No Child Left Behind Act. (NCHE,
2008).
McKinney was a principle sponsor of the Urgent Relief for the Homeless Act which was
intensely advocated by McKinney and others. Shortly after passage, McKinney died from
complications of AIDS and the law was renamed in his honor becoming the Stewart B.
McKinney Homeless Assistance Act. In 2001, with the passage of the No Child Left Behind Act,
the law was renamed to honor Vento who also cosponsored the original legislation and worked
tirelessly to expand and enrich it. (History of the McKinney Act, 2014)

EDUCATION OF HOMELESS CHILDREN AND YOUTHS

Social Analysis
The available research on the subject of homeless children and youth is clear: forcesof
emotional and behavioral disorders, physical health problems, developmental delays[and]
family circumstances of financial troubles, substance abuse, and mental and physical health
issuesconspire to nearly eliminate the homeless child from public school education. Although
homelessness can affect any population, the odds of facing this issue increase for African
American children. Due to the nature of homelessness, researchers can only estimate the number
of homeless children and youth and it is likely that these estimates undercount the reality.
(Jozefowicz-Simbeni & Israel, 2006)
Homelessness may be influenced by social learning perspective which can asserts
individuals learn behavior they will later exhibit by observing what others do and seeing the
consequences of these actions (Cherlin, 2013). This perspective might associate the cycle of
homelessness with the learning children undergo as homeless children that translate into them
becoming homeless adults.
The dominant American culture values work, money, material possessions, and
independence (Sheafor & Horejsi, 2012, p. 355). For this reason, homeless individuals and
homeless children specifically may not receive value inputs from American society. McKinneyVento, in seeking to normalize the educational experience for homeless children, demands equal
value for homeless children to that received by children not experiencing homelessness
(McKinney-Vento, 1987). Similarly, the National Association of Social Workers (1999), in its
Code of Ethics, demands respect for the dignity and worth of [each] person including but not
limited to homeless children and youth.

EDUCATION OF HOMELESS CHILDREN AND YOUTHS

The goal of McKinney-Ventos policy on homeless children and youth is to ensure equal
access to public education and eliminate the institutional barriers to access. The hypothesis
behind McKinney-Vento is that by broadening access to education for homeless children and
youth, this will break up the intergenerational cycle of homelessness. (McKinney-Vento, 1987)
Economic Analysis
In a macroeconomic analysis of the problems of homeless children and youth, the
economy experiences a labor market hit as evidenced by Rouse, et. al. (2005). The argument
made by the researchers is that the barriers in education and the effects of dropout cost the U.S.
Treasury up to $50 billion annually in lost tax revenue or $60,000 per individual who does not
complete high school. At its peak, McKinney-Vento received $1.49 billion in appropriations
(NCH, 2006) in 1995. For a program that has a cost of less than $1.5 billion to have a potential
return of up to $50 billion, the program more than meets its opportunity cost. (Rouse, et. al.,
2005)
McKinney-Vento has a large effect from a microeconomic standpoint as well. The act
defers the individual costs of public education that would be prohibitive without its measures.
These individual costs range from transportation to food to school supplies among other
accommodations (NCHE, 2008).
Political Analysis
The major political stakeholders of this policy are a vocal but minority amalgam of
children, homelessness, and education advocates. Because homeless children lack political
power, advocates must rely on the empathy and hopefulness of the general population to aid in
the support of McKinney-Vento. Furthermore, homeless children do not have a voiced

EDUCATION OF HOMELESS CHILDREN AND YOUTHS

representation in the implementation and development of this policy and must rely on the voices
of their advocates such as the National Coalition for the Homeless, the National Center for
Homeless Education, the Department of Education, members of congress, and members of state
governments among others.
To the extent that the crisis of homelessness among children and youth reached a near
tipping point, this change was mostly brought about by conflict. Child homelessness first
surfaced in the U.S. as a social problem in the mid-1980s. Before that time, families and children
were not homeless in significant numbers except during the Great Depression (NCFH, 2010).
This represents a building up of a problem for which there is and has been no redress.
McKinney-Vento represents a stopgap effort to eliminate one aspect of this crisis; specifically the
barriers to homeless children and youth receiving adequate educational opportunity (McKinneyVento, 1987).
Policy Evaluation
Although McKinney Vento has created valuable programs that have saved lives and
helped hundreds of thousands of Americans to regain stability[and] homeless childrens access
to school has improved significantly, Congress has cut funding for this policy several times
since McKinney-Vento came about. Despite the positive effect of this policy, the changing of the
political climate often leads to lessening of funds. (NCH, 2006)
There is, however, a lack of knowledge and implementation surrounding the McKinneyVento Act. Furthermore, the nature of homeless childrens and youths instability leads to
barriers to service delivery. Areas for improvement are in developing a system to identify and
track homeless students and families, providing in-service training to educate staff about the

EDUCATION OF HOMELESS CHILDREN AND YOUTHS

McKinney-Vento Act, and conducting outreach efforts to local shelters to provide information to
homeless students and families regarding the act and their rights. Seeing that implementation is
the largest concern, a reduction in available funding is only likely to exacerbate these challenges
and limit the efficacy of McKinney-Vento. (Jozefowicz-Simbeni & Israel, 2006)
Current Proposals for Policy Reform
Because McKinney-Vento has been so successful in a variety of ways, no
recommendations for policy reform seek to improve it as a standalone policy. However,
proposals for reform follow a trend of seeking to expand upon McKinney-Vento. To expand upon
the stopgap nature of McKinney-Vento, reform proposals attempt to include measures that focus
less on emergency measures and work towards ending the problem of homelessness overall.
(NCH, 2006).
Conclusions
McKinney-Vento represents a great stride in addressing the problem of emergency
response to homelessness. The overwhelming problem of homelessness in the United States
demands response and McKinney-Vento is an excellent first step towards addressing this issue.
Specifically, the efforts towards protecting children from the barriers to adequate education
achieve an unprecedented gain. However, the problems of homelessness cannot be resolved by
emergency relief efforts and require a greater commitment towards addressing lack of jobs that
pay a living wage, inadequate benefits for those who cannot work, lack of affordable housing,
and lack of access to health care before the problems of homelessness can be relieved. (NCH,
2006)

EDUCATION OF HOMELESS CHILDREN AND YOUTHS

References
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McKinney-Vento Act and Its Implications for School Social Work Practice. Children &
Schools , 28 (1 ), 3744. doi:10.1093/cs/28.1.37
McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act [McKinney-Vento] (1987). 42 U.S.C. 11431-11435.
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National Association of Social Workers [NASW], (1999). Code of ethics of the National
Association of Social Workers. Washington, DC: NASW Press
National Center for Homeless Education [NCHE], (2008). Law into practice: The McKinneyVento Act at a glance. Retrieved from
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National Coalition for the Homeless [NCH], (2009). Public policy recommendations: McKinneyVento reauthorization. Retrieved from
http://www.nationalhomeless.org/factsheets/2009Policy/HMV.pdf

EDUCATION OF HOMELESS CHILDREN AND YOUTHS

National Coalition for the Homeless [NCG], (2006). Fact sheet 18: McKinney-Vento Act.
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