News & Information
60 Minutes Special
Homeless Children: the hard times generation
Florida Healthy Schools article on homeless students
Homeless Student Count as of
November 2011: 669
Creating a safety net for our most vulnerable students…

The Homeless Education Assistance Resource Team (HEART) is made up of a group of committed social service professionals who work to address problems often faced by homeless children and youth in enrolling, attending, and succeeding in school. Each school in every geographic area of the District is served, as well as family homeless shelters, and state identified “neglected” shelter sites. The team serves homeless children and youth, unaccompanied youth, students awaiting foster care placement, and those “aging-out” of the foster care system.
Contact Information for the District’s McKinney-Vento Team
Typical responsibilities of the
Homeless Education Assistance Resource Team:
The McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act ensures educational rights and protections for children and youth experiencing homelessness. During the 2009-2010 school year, the School District of Palm Beach County served over 1,900 homeless children and youth.

Every Child Has the Right to an Education
The Federal McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act states that children and youth who lack a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence are considered homeless. If, due to a loss of housing, a child must live in a shelter, motel, vehicle, or campground, on the street, in abandoned buildings, or doubled-up with relatives or friends, then he/she is eligible to receive services provided under the McKinney-Vento Act.
The McKinney-Vento Education for Homeless Children and Youth Program is designed to address the problems that homeless children and youth have faced in enrolling, attending, and succeeding in school. Under this program, state educational agencies must ensure that each homeless child and youth has equal access to the same free, appropriate public education, including a public preschool education, as other children and youth.
Homeless children and youth must have access to the educational and other services that they need to enable them to meet the same challenging State student academic achievement standards to which all students are held. In addition, homeless students may not be separated from the mainstream school environment.
Click here to view: Florida Homeless Education Brochure
Homeless & Highly Mobile Students live in any of these conditions:
Homeless & Highly Mobile Students have the Right to: