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As the school year comes to a close, our KIDSLegal team remains busy supporting the rights of low-income students across the state.
Our team has observed an uptick in violations of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act over the past 6 months.
This federal legislation helps students sustain access to school if they must move due to homelessness or housing instability. In these scenarios, students can choose to either remain in their original school district and receive transportation from their new residence, or enroll in their new local school district. The choice is entirely up to them, and schools must support them in whatever path they choose, including by helping to cover costs of transportation. This helps ensure these students can develop basic skills, like reading and writing, while also prioritizing stability for a student living through a stressful time by sustaining access to community and opportunities for social and emotional growth.
When school districts do not comply with the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, they jeopardize a student’s education, stability, and future development. The KIDSLegal team is working to help enforce this law across the state, always aiming to find collaborative solutions and outcomes that work well for all parties involved and that support the needs of Maine's most vulnerable youth.
The team will be launching updated client education materials, with a special focus on the rights of homeless youth, later this year to help children and their caregivers better understand their rights in and out of the classroom.
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