July 22 marked the 30th anniversary of the McKinney-Vento Assistance Act. In July 1987, President Reagan signed the McKinney Homeless Assistance Act to combat educational barriers that homeless children and youth faced, such as a lack of transportation, limited records, or denial of residency.
SOH’s Executive Director, Janet Kelly, offered reflections on the 30th anniversary to KPPC in an article titled, ’30 years after landmark legislation, schools still struggle to serve homeless students’.
“As we see new trends in unaccompanied student homelessness, we must prepare ourselves and our communities to build effective systems that will help students attend school regularly, matriculate without obstruction, prepare for higher education or vocational training, and obtain their high school diploma,” urges Kelly. “We’ve got to keep up the advocacy and fight for their educational success.”
The new school year is approaching fast and SOH is gearing up for the school season to support young people with gateway services through local community partnership and collaboration to help them obtain educational success.