New Federal Rules on Homeless Students Spur Search for Solutions

By Linda Jacobson

Los Angeles

Under greater pressure from the federal government to identify and educate homeless children, a group of about 800 educators, advocates, and providers of services to the homeless gathered here from across the country to discuss ways to comply with the new requirements.

The 2001 reauthorization of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, which was passed as part of the "No Child Left Behind" Act, more clearly defines how schools should determine if a child is homeless. It also mandates that school districts each have a liaison responsible for making sure students living in homeless or transitional situations are enrolled in school and receiving additional services if needed.

"This is a major change," Barbara Duffield, the education director of the Washington-based National Coalition for the Homeless, said here at the annual conference of the National Association for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth. "We're no longer waiting for...