Homeless Children & Youth

You may be considered homeless if you are:

• Sharing another person’s house, such as a friend or relative, because your family cannot afford to live alone or because you lost your housing or have nowhere else safe to go. This is often called “doubling up.” For example, you are doubling up if your family is sharing housing with others because a parent lost a job. As another example, you are doubling up if you move in with a friend to escape domestic violence or abuse;
• Staying in a motel, hotel, trailer park, or camping ground because you do not have other adequate housing;
• Living in an emergency shelter or transitional shelters, such as a youth shelter, family shelter, domestic violence shelter, or transitional living program;
• Being abandoned in a hospital;
• Staying in a private or public place not designed for or usually used for sleeping;
• Living in a car, park, public space, abandoned building, bus or train station, or camping ground; or
• Living in “substandard housing,” which might include housing that does not have water, electricity, or heat; is infested with vermin or mold; lacks a working kitchen or toilet, or presents unreasonable dangers to residents.

Even if your housing situation does not fit any of these examples, you might still be considered homeless if you are staying somewhere that is not a “fixed, regular, and adequate” nighttime residence:

• A “fixed” residence is stationary and permanent. For example, a house or apartment is “fixed,” but a car is not.
• A “regular” residence is used on a regular and nightly basis. For example, a home your family owns and can stay in for the long term is “regular,” but an emergency shelter is used on a short-term basis and is not “regular.”
• An “adequate” residence is one that meets the physical, emotional, and psychological needs that a home typically provides. For example, an “adequate” home is one that is warm, safe, and reliable, but an abandoned building is not “adequate.”

There is no minimum or maximum time to qualify for the rights and services discussed here. You qualify if you experience homelessness for one day or for several years.

If you are experiencing housing difficulties, you may qualify for additional services from Fabens ISD.

If you are living in any of the following situations:

• Shared housing with other friends or families
• Runaway/homeless youth and students who are not living with a parent or legal court-appointed guardian
• Temporary or transitional housing
• Emergency and domestic violence shelters
• Motels or hotels
• Campgrounds or inadequate trailer homes
• Substandard housing (homes without heat, water, or working appliances)
• Cars, abandoned buildings, parks, the streets or other public spaces

We may be able to help you:

• Enroll in school

• Remain in your school if you move to another area

• With transportation to and from school

• Receive free or reduced-cost school meals

• Social referrals

• Other services