Legal Definition of Homelessness
Subtitle VII-B
of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act states the following:
The term “homeless children
and youths”—
(A) means
individuals who lack a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence
(within the meaning
of section 103 (a)(1));
and
(B)
includes—
(i) children
and youths who are sharing the housing of other persons due to loss of housing,
economic hardship, or a similar
reason; are living in motels, hotels, trailer parks, or camping grounds
due to the lack of alternative adequate accommodations; are living in emergency or transitional shelters; or are abandoned in hospitals1;
(ii) children
and youths who have a primary nighttime residence that is a public or private
place not designed for or ordinarily used as a regular
sleeping accommodation for human
beings (within the meaning of section 103 (a)(2)(C));
(iii) children and youths who are living
in cars, parks,
public spaces, abandoned buildings, substandard housing, bus or train
stations, or similar settings; and
(iv) migratory
children (as such term is defined in section 1309 of the Elementary and Secondary Act of 1965) who qualify
as homeless for the purposes
of this subtitle because the children are living in circumstances described in clauses
(i) through (iii). (42 U.S.C. § 11434a(2)).
1 Awaiting foster care placement provisions expired
in December of 2016 or 2017, depending on a state’s status as covered.
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