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McKinney-Vento Rights
The McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act is a federal law providing important educational rights and services to homeless minors.
“Homeless youth” are minors who lack a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence, including those who are sharing housing due to economic hardship, living in motels/shelters/cars or other inadequate settings, and minors not in the physical custody of their parents/guardians (“unaccompanied youth”).[38]
This Act allows for homeless youth to immediately enroll in school even without required documents such as a birth certificate or vaccine records.[39] It also requires schools to provide transportation for the youth, equal access to meals, tutoring, special education, and extracurricular activities.[40] Each local education agency must have a McKinney-Vento liaison for students experiencing homelessness to access the services they are entitled to.[41] See McKinney-Vento Act: Quick Reference for additional information. Find your school district’s McKinney-Vento liaison here.
Guardianship of a Minor
Guardianship of minors in Texas is a legal arrangement established by a court to protect the interests of minors regarding education, healthcare, and, potentially, living arrangements. Guardianship over a minor may be needed if there is no parent available to care for them, or guardianship over a minor’s estate may be needed if they inherited assets that need protecting until they are adults.
While guardianship does not terminate parental rights, it is not easy to revoke or change as it can only be terminated through another court proceeding. Additionally, this is a long-term arrangement, making it less suitable for short-term or emergency situations.
Temporary guardianship of a minor is a restricted form of guardianship that can be used in emergency situations, as the temporary guardian shall only be assigned powers and duties that are necessary to protect the minor against shown imminent danger.[42] Most temporary guardianship arrangements may not remain in effect for more than 60 days.[43]
Minor Consent Chart
See the Minor Consent Chart for information that covers who is able to consent to a minor’s medical and behavioral healthcare, a minor’s emergency shelter and transitional living needs, various forms of advocacy for the minor, and a minor’s sexual activity and contraception use.
Consent by Minor to Healthcare Form
This Consent by Minor to Healthcare form can be utilized by minors to invoke their right to consent to medical, dental, psychological, or surgical care. In certain instances, a minor can consent on their own for these services. The form documents when the minor can consent under Texas law.[44]
Caregiver Affidavit
A caregiver affidavit is a form the caregiver can prepare and sign before a notary if a school or some other entity is wanting assurances that the caregiver is accepting responsibility for the care of a minor. The caregiver should not need a caregiver affidavit if there is a court order or a document signed by the parent, such as an Authorization Agreement for Voluntary Adult Caregiver. But one might be requested with an SPOA because the caregiver usually does not sign the SPOA. A sample caregiver affidavit can be found here.
The caregiver can list the circumstances of how the child came into their care and the barriers to obtaining signed consent from the parents. This can help establish eligibility under the McKinney-Vento Act and other educational rights including school enrollment.
[38] 42 U.S.C. §11434(a). [39] 42 U.S.C. §11432(g)(3)(C). [40] 42 U.S.C. §11432(g). [41] 42 U.S.C. §11432(g)(1)(J)(ii) [42] Tex. Estates Code § 1251.010(b). [43] Tex. Estates Code § 1251.151. [44] Tex. Fam. Code § 32.003(f).