The Education for Homeless Children and Youth (EHCY) program is authorized under Title VII-B of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11431 et seq.) (McKinney-Vento Act). The McKinney-Vento Act was originally authorized in 1987 and was most recently re-authorized in December 2015 by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA).

Chapter 17 of the New Jersey Administrative Code - Education for Homeless Students and Students in State Facilities was adopted to ensure that homeless children and students placed in state facilities are provided with a thorough and efficient education. This chapter establishes uniform statewide policies and procedures to ensure the enrollment of homeless children and to respond to appeals made by parents or other parties related to the enrollment of homeless children. The chapter also identifies general program requirements related to the operation, administration, and approval of educational programs in state facilities.

This revised federal non-regulatory guidance for the McKinney-Vento program replaces the July 2004 guidance and includes new questions that reflect both the amendments to the McKinney-Vento Act made by the ESSA, which took effect on October 1, 2016, and the new technical assistance on promising practices for implementing homeless education requirements at the state and local levels. The guidance describes the requirements of the ESSA and provides recommendations for addressing many of those requirements.