Homeless students have the right to a free appropriate public education. Idaho Arts Charter School is committed to ensuring that homeless children and youth have the ability to access a quality education in our schools. Idaho Arts Charter School has a variety of resources and services to support children, youth, and families who are experiencing homelessness. 

Definition of Homeless

The McKinney-Vento Act defines homeless children and youth as individuals who lack a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence. The term includes: 

• Children and youth who are: 

  • sharing the housing of other persons due to loss of housing, economic hardship, or a similar reason (i.e. doubled-up); 

  • living in motels, hotels, trailer parks, or camping grounds due to lack of alternative adequate accommodations; 

  • living in emergency or transitional shelters; 

  • abandoned in hospitals; or 

  • awaiting foster care placement; 

• Children and youth who have a primary nighttime residency that is a public or private place not designed for, or ordinarily used as, a regular sleeping accommodation for human beings; 

• Children and youth who are living in cars, parks, public spaces, abandoned buildings, substandard housing, bus or train stations, or similar settings; and 

• Migratory children who qualify as homeless because they are living in circumstances described above. 

Please contact our Homeless Liaison, at  [email protected] or (208) 463-4324 Ext 416 if you or your students are currently experiencing homelessness.