The McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, as reauthorized by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), defines "homeless children and youth" (school age and younger) as: children and youth who lack a fixed (permanent and not subject to change), regular (used on a nightly basis) and or adequate (sufficient for meeting both the physical and psychological needs typically met in a home environment) nighttime residence.
Included in the definition is anyone, due to loss of housing, economic hardship, or a similar reason lives:
- In emergency or transitional shelters
- In motels, hotels, campgrounds
- In cars, parks, public places, bus or train stations, or abandoned buildings
- Doubled up with relatives or friends
- In these conditions and is a child or youth not in the physical custody of an adult (unaccompanied youth)