A homeless individual includes an individual who:

• Lacks a fixed, regular, adequate nighttime residence or
• Has a primary residence that is
  • A supervised publicly or privately operated shelter designed to provide temporary living accommodations (including welfare hotels, congregate shelters, and transitional housing for the mentally ill);
  • An institution that provides a temporary residence for individuals intended to be institutionalized; or
  • A public or private place not designed for, or ordinarily used as a regular sleeping accommodation for human beings

A homeless child, according to Chapter 33, Educating the Homeless, Iowa Administrative Code of school age includes a child between the ages of 5 and 21 who:

• Lacks a fixed, regular and adequate nighttime residence;
• Is living in a car, tent, abandoned building or some other form of shelter not defined as a permanent home;
• Is living with non-nuclear family members or with friends (includes doubled-up families).

Federal law entitles each homeless child or youth to be assisted and provided services offered to other students in the school, including the following:

• Go to school, no matter where they live or how long they have lived there.
• Attend either the local school or the school of origin, if this is in their best interest;
• The school of origin is the school the child attended when he/she was permanently housed or the school in which the child was last enrolled.
• Receive transportation to and from the school of origin.
• Enroll in school immediately, even if missing records and documents normally required for enrollment, such as a birth certificate, proof of residence, previous school records, or immunization/medical records.
• Enroll, attend classes, and participate fully in all school activities while the school gathers records.
• Have access to the same programs and services that are available to all other students, including transportation and supplemental educational services.
• Attend school with children not experiencing homelessness; a school can not segregate a student because he or she is homeless.