Lisa Simmons

State Coordinator. Education of Homeless Children and Youth

North Carolina Department of Public Instruction

Office of the Deputy State Superintendent of Innovation

Federal Program Monitoring and Support Division

Phone: (336) 315-7491

Email Lisa Simmons

Ms. Jennifer Daughtry

Sampson County Schools Homeless Liaison

Phone: (910) 592-1401

Email Ms. Daughtry

North Carolina Homeless Education Program

The SERVE Center at UNC Greensboro

5900 Summit Avenue, #201
Browns Summit, NC 27214

Phone:(336) 315-7400

The McKinney Vento Act is a federal law passed to help families who are homeless keep their children in school. It addresses educational challenges and guarantees students the right to immediate enrollment, it removes barriers and helps students "in transition" succeed in school.

The term “homeless children and youth”—

A. means individuals who lack a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence; and

B. includes —

  • Children and youth who are sharing the housing of other persons due to loss of housing, economic hardship, or a similar reason; are living in motels, hotels, trailer parks, or camping grounds due to the lack of alternative adequate accommodations; or are living in emergency or transitional shelters or are abandoned in hospitals.

  • Children and youth who have a primary nighttime residence that is a public or private place not designed for or ordinarily used as 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.

  • Migratory children who qualify as homeless; and

  • Youth living on their own, living with others, runaways, or kicked out.