[Youth-list] HEARTH Act (H.R. 840)

[Elizabeth Shack]

                NLCHP Provides Statement at HEARTH Act Congressional Briefing
  NLCHP Supports Measure to Expand Services to Homeless People
  
       
       
              WASHINGTON, DC, FEBRUARY 27, 2007 -  Twenty years after Congress passed the first and only federal response to homelessness, a bill to reauthorize the McKinney-Vento Act programs was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives.
   
          This month, the HEARTH Act (H.R. 840) was introduced by a bi-partisan group of sponsors led by Representative Julia Carson (D-IN).  The act would reauthorize the HUD McKinney programs with significant funding increases, expand the definition of homelessness, and introduce policies to discourage cities from criminalizing homelessness.
   
          On Tuesday, February 27, NLCHP Executive Director Maria Foscarinis gave a statement at a briefing on the HEARTH Act hosted by Carson and Rep. Geoff Davis (R-KY).
   
          "It is time to reauthorize and amend the HUD McKinney programs to make them better serve homeless Americans," Foscarinis said.  "We support the HEARTH Act and believe it makes several important changes."
   
          Foscarinis was instrumental in winning passage of the Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Act in 1987.  Since its inception in 1989, NLCHP has worked with Congress to expand the scope and strengthen the provisions of the act.
  
              NLCHP strongly endorses the HEARTH Act (H.R. 840) and is working for its passage.  For more information on the act and Maria Foscarinis' statement please visit our website or contact NLCHP Policy Director Laurel Weir.
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  A Brief Summary of Eligibility and Rights
   
  Note:  Children may be eligible for services through the McKinney-Vento Act if they lack a fixed, regular and adequate nighttime residence, including:
    
   Sharing the housing of other persons due to loss of housing, economic hardship, or a similar reason; living in motels, hotels, trailer parks, or camping grounds due to the lack of alternative adequate accommodations; living in emergency or transitional shelters; being abandoned in hospitals; or awaiting foster care placement;  
   Having 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;  
   Living in cars, parks, public spaces, abandoned buildings, substandard housing, bus or train stations, or similar settings; and  
   Migratory children (as such term is defined in section 1309 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965) who qualify as homeless for the purposes of this subtitle because the children are living in any of the circumstances described above.
  A Child's Rights Under the McKinney-Vento Act
    
   A child has the right to go to school no matter where she/he lives or how long she/he lived there.  
   A child does not need to have or need to provide a permanent address in order to enroll in school.  A school cannot require proof of residency that might prevent or delay school enrollment.  
   School officials must help in getting a child's help with getting his/her records from last school attended.  Lack of school records cannot prevent a child from having the right to stay in the school he/she last attended if this is in his/her best interests and is reasonable or lack of records cannot prevent a transfer to the school in the district/attendance zone where he/she is currently staying.  
   A child has the right to transportation equal to that of other students.
  (Source: National Center for Homeless Education at SERVE 1-800-308-2145)
   
  Elizabeth Shack, MA  
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