The McKinney Vento Act is designed to ensure children who are homeless are provided with a Free and Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) on an equal basis with all other children in the state. Program objectives and activities are intended to remove or ease the barriers to enrollment and educational success for these children. Homeless youth are entitled to immediate enrollments and their families are not required to prove residency regarding school district enrollment. Insight PA Cyber Charter School will enroll these students without delay.

How is Homelessness Defined?

Under Pennsylvania’s Education for Children and Youth Experiencing Homelessness Program State Plan, homeless children are defined as lacking a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence. Homeless living situations include:

  • Sharing the housing of others due to loss of housing, economic hardship, or a similar reason;
  • Living in motels, hotels, trailer parks, or camping grounds due to the lack of alternative adequate accommodations;
  • Staying in emergency or transitional shelters;
  • Sleeping in cars, parks, public spaces, abandoned buildings, substandard housing, bus or train stations, or similar settings;
  • Unaccompanied youth* living in any of the above situations.

*Unaccompanied youth are defined as youth that are not with a parent or guardian and lacking a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence. This includes runaway children.

Resources

If you are experiencing homelessness or housing instability, or may be in the near future, please complete our Student Support Referral Form and an Insight PA Student Resource Specialist will reach out to you.

To speak with our Insight PA Homeless Liaison, please contact David Surovec at dasurovec@insightpaschool.org.

Below are several websites with additional information and resources: