The McKinney-Vento Act and Children and Youth ... - State of Michigan

Glossary of Terms
Awaiting foster care placement: A phrase used in the McKinney-Vento Act to
refer to a particular subset of children and youth who are covered by the Act.
The Act does not define the phrase.
Child welfare agency: A state or local agency, public or private, whose mission
includes providing a child protection system of prevention, preservation, and
permanency to abused and neglected children and youth.
Foster care: Used as a synonym for out-of-home care in this publication (see
below).
Local education agency (LEA): Local agencies that operate schools; primarily
school districts, county offices of education, and charter school districts.
McKinney-Vento Act: A federal law originally passed in 1987 to address
homelessness. Subtitle VII-B of the Act is the Education of Homeless
Children and Youth Program, which provides educational rights and services
to homeless children and youth.
No Child Left Behind Act: A federal law passed in 2001 to reauthorize the
Elementary and Secondary Education Act. Title I of the No Child Left
Behind Act reauthorized the Improving the Academic Achievement of the
Disadvantaged program. Title X, Part C of the Act reauthorized Subtitle VII-
B of the McKinney-Vento Act.
Out-of-home care: Living arrangements for youth who cannot live with their
biological parents due to issues of abuse and neglect; includes foster family
homes, kinship care arrangements, and child care institutions; where youth
are placed in substitute care by a child welfare agency.
School of origin: For homeless children and youth, the school they attended
when permanently housed or the school in which they were last enrolled.
State education agency (SEA): The state agency that oversees local education
agencies, typically, the state department of education.
Title I: Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, reauthorized
by the No Child Left Behind Act, which provides funding to local education
agencies to improve the academic achievement of disadvantaged students.
60 The McKinney-Vento Act and Children and Youth Awaiting Foster Care Placement