The Blaine County Homeless Education Program ensures that students who lack a regular or adequate place of residence are provided a free public education. This includes educational services that provide for an equal opportunity to enroll in, attend, and be successful in school.

The Federal McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act was the first legislation by the United States to combat the homelessness of children and youth. Since 1987, the Act works to:

1.  Define homelessness as:

• Children and youth who are sharing the housing of other persons due to loss of housing, economic hardship, or similar reason; are living in motels, hotels, trailer parks, or camping grounds due to the lack of alternative accommodations; are living in emergency or transitional shelters; are abandoned in hospitals; or are awaiting foster care placement.
• Children and youth who have a primary nighttime residence that is a public or private place not designed for or ordinarily used as a 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 because the children are living in circumstances as described above.