Homeless Education Liaison: Role and Responsibilities

Homeless education liaisons ensure that students experiencing homelessness are supported when they are at school and not at school. The McKinney-Vento Act requires that community schools and traditional public school districts have a homeless education liaison to help support students experiencing homelessness. Federal law includes ten responsibilities for homeless education liaisons. Schools and districts can add the duties of the homeless education liaison to an existing position’s workload, provide a stipend to expand on someone’s workload to include the duties of a homeless education liaison, or can hire someone dedicated exclusively to supporting students experiencing homelessness.

Homeless liaison responsibilities include:

  1. Coordinating with local agencies and community partners for school personnel to identify students experiencing homelessness: Homeless education liaisons can collaborate with local agencies, community partners, and school personnel to help identify students experiencing homelessness. For more information about identifying students experiencing homelessness, access Identification, Eligibility, and Enrollment.

  2. Working with school and district personnel to enroll students experiencing homelessness and ensuring that they have equal opportunities to succeed in school: Federal law requires that schools and districts review and revise their enrollment procedures to remove enrollment barriers for students experiencing homelessness. Homeless education liaisons can review enrollment procedures and paperwork to work towards fulfilling this requirement. For more information about enrolling students experiencing homelessness, access Identification, Eligibility, and Enrollment.

  3. Connecting students and families experiencing homelessness with educational services, including accessing preschool programs: Students experiencing homelessness, especially young children and parenting students experiencing homelessness, have unique educational needs and could benefit from educational supports. For more information about connecting students to educational services, access Student Support.

  4. Referring students experiencing homelessness for their health-related needs, housing supports, and other wraparound supports: Students experiencing homelessness have unique needs that extend beyond the classroom. Homeless education liaisons can support these needs by referring students experiencing homelessness to resources and supports. Homeless education liaisons can conduct a needs assessment to know which resources to connect students with. For more information about referring and connecting students to supports and services, access Student Supports.

  5. Engaging families experiencing homelessness with information about their rights and ensuring that they can meaningfully participate in their student’s education: Homeless education liaisons fulfill this requirement by forming relationships with students and families experiencing homelessness and providing them with resources about their rights. For more information about engaging with and supporting families experiencing homelessness, access Supports for Families and Supports for Students.

  6. Distributing public notice about the educational rights of students experiencing homelessness at significant places for families experiencing homelessness: To fulfill this requirement, homeless education liaisons can provide posters (including posters in Spanish) about the rights of families experiencing homelessness in places they may access regularly, including libraries, homeless shelters, laundromats, food banks, and safe houses for survivors of domestic violence. For more information about providing resources for students and families experiencing homelessness, access Supports for Families and Supports for Students.

  7. Ensuring that the district mediates disputes in accordance with the McKinney-Vento Act:  There may be disagreements related to homeless eligibility, school selection, or enrollment. For more information about the dispute resolution process, access Dispute Resolution for Students Experiencing Homelessness.

  8. Collaborating with transportation directors to ensure that students experiencing homelessness have transportation to and from school and school related activities: Federal law requires that students experiencing homelessness receive transportation to and from school and school-related activities (like internships and extracurricular activities). To fulfill this requirement, homeless education liaisons can work with transportation directors to coordinate services. For more information about transporting students experiencing homelessness, access Transportation Supports for Homeless Youth.

  9. Providing professional development so school and district personnel can support the needs of students experiencing homelessness: Federal law requires that homeless education liaisons ensure that schools and districts provide professional development for personnel. Professional development can include information for personnel to effectively identify and support students experiencing homelessness. For more information about professional development for school and district personnel, access Professional Development Resources.

  10. Supporting the needs of unaccompanied youth: The McKinney-Vento Act defines an unaccompanied youth as a student experiencing homelessness not within the physical custody of a parent or legal guardian. For more information about unaccompanied youth, access the Unaccompanied Youth FAQ webpage.

Additional Resources

Last Modified: 3/20/2024 7:56:33 AM