Homeless Help

Are you currently ...

• Living in a shelter?
• Living in a public or private place not designed or ordinarily used as a sleeping space for people?
• A teen on your own?
• Doubled up with friends or relatives due to hardship?

Click for Mass resources: Shelter Assistance

You have the right to ...

• Immediate enrollment
• To remain in the school of origin or to attend school where temporary residency is taking place (The choice to remain in the school of origin continues until the end of the school year in which permanent housing is obtained)
• Transportation to the school of origin to the extent feasible (NOTE: Massachusetts has defined “to the extent feasible” for transportation as up to a one-hour drive one way,45 minutes for preschool/kindergarten children)
• Access to services and educational programs comparable to those received by other students
• Automatic eligibility for Title I Services
• Provision of free lunch
• Dispute resolution – please contact the Homeless Education Liaison below

We want to help...

Should you find yourself in circumstances where you and/or your child are “lacking a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence”, we would like to help.

Please contact:

Dudley-Charlton Regional School District
Homeless Liaison

Lorinda Allen
508-943-6888 x 272 or

Your call will be kept confidential.

These rights are established under the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act. This act is the primary piece of federal legislation dealing with the education of children and youth experiencing homelessness in U.S. public schools. It was reauthorized as Title X, Part C, of the No Child Left Behind Act in January 2002. To qualify for these rights, children and youth must be considered homeless according to the McKinney-Vento definition of homelessness.