School: Minister Destiny Testimony Schools Track: Youth Class: Topic Library — Year 1 (Foundations) Presented by: Minister Destiny Marie Morgan, Muslim Ordained Minister
This lesson is educational information and is not legal advice. If you are in danger right now, call 911.
Before you start
- This space is private. Your progress stays on your device.
- We never ask your name. Not here, not on the test, not on the certificate. If you earn a certificate, you download it and write your own name on it after.
- Pass the test at 80% or higher to earn this unit's certificate. Retakes are allowed. Answers are not shown: go back and find what you missed.
- If you are in danger right now: call 911. If you cannot talk out loud, text HOME to 741741 (Crisis Text Line) or call or text 988 any time.
- This unit is for a young person whose housing is shaky — a couch, a shelter, a car, a home that may not be there next month. None of that is your fault, or has to end your schooling.
The lesson
Part 1. Shaky housing has names — and none of them are shameful
Housing becomes unstable: a lease is lost, rent rises too high, a home becomes unsafe, or a young person is put out.
Couch-surfing means moving from couch to couch with no place that is yours for the night. Massachusetts counts couch-surfing as youth homelessness, and so does the school law in Part 2. Doubled up means staying with other people because your family lost housing or cannot afford a place of your own. A shelter, a motel, or a car counts too.
Couch-surfing carries real risks: no lock, no quiet place to sleep, and no warning before you have to leave. Some are pressured — for money, favors, or silence. If a place feels unsafe, leave for a public, staffed place and call a trusted adult or 911.
Part 2. Your school rights — the McKinney-Vento Act
A federal law called the McKinney-Vento Act protects students who do not have fixed, regular, and adequate housing. The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) runs it here. Its core rights:
- Stay in your school. You may remain in your school of origin — the school you attended before your housing changed, or were last enrolled in — if that is your choice.
- Get transportation. The school must provide transportation to your school of origin on request.
- Enroll without records. You may enroll and attend right away, even without proof of address, immunization records, or transcripts.
- Stay enrolled during a dispute. If there is a disagreement about your school, you stay enrolled in the school you chose while it is resolved.
You do not need a parent with you to ask. An unaccompanied youth holds these same rights alone.
Part 3. Who to tell — your school liaison is the first name to know
Every Massachusetts school district has a homeless education liaison: a named staff member whose job is making sure students without stable housing are enrolled, attending, and transported. Find yours by asking the school office: "Who is our McKinney-Vento liaison?"
Telling the liaison is not reporting your family, and it is not a punishment.
If the liaison is hard to reach, tell a counselor, nurse, teacher, or coach. Say the plain sentence: "My housing is not stable, and I want to talk to the McKinney-Vento liaison."
Part 4. Aging out, and staying safer while you have no fixed place
Some young people reach housing instability through foster care. Aging out means leaving foster care because you have reached the age where care ends. DCF — Department of Children and Families, this library's Adult unit, explains the agency. The youth outline: if you are in DCF care, ask your social worker and your lawyer, early and in writing, what your transition plan says about housing.
A few habits protect you meanwhile:
- Keep your important papers together — ID, health cards, court or DCF papers — in one folder or photographed on your phone.
- Keep one adult informed of where you are sleeping.
- Guard your phone. It is your lifeline; keep it charged.
- Trust discomfort. If a couch, a ride, or a room comes with conditions that feel wrong, tell your trusted adult the same day.
Part 5. Shelter and youth help — the official doors
Official doors, by name:
- Massachusetts Homeless Youth Services — the state program, through the Executive Office of Health and Human Services, for young people under twenty-five who are homeless or at risk, including couch-surfing: crisis and transitional housing, outreach, and housing search help.
- Your school liaison (Part 3) — school rights and referrals.
- 211 — dial 211 for the Massachusetts resource directory: local shelter, food, and youth services.
- Emergency Assistance (EA) Family Shelter — the state family shelter program (see the Adult Housing Stability unit), for families with children and people who are pregnant. An adult applies.
- 911, 988, and the Crisis Text Line — for danger and crisis support, any time.
Words to know — Housing Stability
- Couch-surfing — moving from couch to couch with no fixed, regular place of your own to sleep.
- Doubled up — staying with other people because your family lost housing or cannot afford a place.
- McKinney-Vento Act — the federal law protecting the school rights of students who lack fixed, regular, adequate housing.
- School of origin — the school you attended before your housing changed, or were last enrolled in.
- Homeless education liaison — the named staff member in every district who enrolls and supports students without stable housing.
- Unaccompanied youth — a young person not in a parent or guardian's physical custody who lacks a fixed, regular, adequate nighttime residence.
- Aging out — leaving foster care because you have reached the age where care ends.
- Lease — a contract: a landlord promises a tenant a home for a set time, for rent.
Myths vs facts — Housing Stability
- Myth: If I am couch-surfing, I am not really homeless, so school help is not for me. Fact: Homeless Youth Services and McKinney-Vento both count couch-surfing and doubled-up living as homelessness.
- Myth: If my family moves, I have to change schools. Fact: McKinney-Vento lets you stay in your school of origin and requires transportation.
- Myth: I cannot enroll in a new school without records and proof of address. Fact: You may enroll and attend right away without the usual records.
- Myth: Telling the school will get my family in trouble. Fact: The liaison's job is enrollment, transportation, and support — not punishment.
- Myth: Once I age out of foster care, no one owes me any plan. Fact: Ask your social worker and lawyer, early and in writing, about your transition plan's housing.
Think it through — Housing Stability
The situation: After his family's lease ended, Andre, 16, has slept at friends' homes for two weeks. He has missed four days of school, and the office told his friend's mother he would "probably have to transfer." "Do I just transfer and hope the couches last?"
Walk it through: (1) Name it honestly — Part 1: couch-surfing counts as homelessness, so Andre qualifies. (2) His rights — Part 2: he may stay in his school of origin, and during any dispute he stays enrolled where he chose. (3) Who to tell — Part 3: one sentence — "My housing is not stable, and I want to talk to the McKinney-Vento liaison." (4) Tonight — Parts 4 and 5: one adult informed, Homeless Youth Services and 211 if a couch falls through.
Cases & codes to study — Housing Stability
Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs v. Inclusive Communities Project, Inc., 576 U.S. 519 (U.S. Supreme Court, 2015)
- The facts: A group that helps low-income families said a Texas agency's choices about where assisted housing was built kept neighborhoods separated by race.
- The question: Can the Fair Housing Act be broken by a policy's unfair effect on a protected group, even without proof anyone meant to discriminate?
- The ruling and the outcome: Yes. The Supreme Court held that claims based on a policy's discriminatory effect can be brought under the Act, with careful limits.
- Why it matters to you: Housing fairness is about real effects, not only intentions. Rules that shut people out count.
- 📄 Court document: https://clearinghouse-umich-production.s3.amazonaws.com/media/doc/77621.pdf (Supreme Court opinion, June 25, 2015)
The law itself — read the real words
- McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (education provisions) — the federal law giving students without fixed housing the rights to stay in their school of origin, receive transportation, and enroll without records. Read about it at DESE: https://www.doe.mass.edu/sfs/mv/
Where to read the real thing, free: CourtListener (https://www.courtlistener.com) and Google Scholar case law (https://scholar.google.com).
Try this — Housing Stability
- ☐ I can say what couch-surfing and doubled up mean — and that both count for school help.
- ☐ I have practiced the sentence: "My housing is not stable, and I want to talk to the McKinney-Vento liaison."
- ☐ I can list my three McKinney-Vento rights: school of origin, transportation, enroll without records.
- ☐ My important papers are together in one folder or photographed on my phone.
- ☐ I know the official doors by name: Homeless Youth Services, my liaison, 211, and EA Family Shelter.
Resources to keep — Housing Stability
- 911 — if you are in danger right now.
- 988 (call or text) — support any time, day or night.
- Crisis Text Line: text HOME to 741741 — if you would rather type than talk.
- Childhelp: 1-800-422-4453 — help if an adult is pressuring or hurting you.
- 211 — dial 211 for the Massachusetts resource directory: shelter, food, services.
- mass.gov — Homeless Youth Services and EA Family Shelter information.
- doe.mass.edu — DESE: McKinney-Vento rights and the liaison contact list.
What you earned / what's next — Housing Stability
✅ Housing Stability complete (quiz score 80% or higher): You can name couch-surfing and doubled-up living, state your McKinney-Vento rights, find and tell your liaison, outline what to ask about a DCF transition plan, and name the official doors for youth help.
Your certificate
Minister Destiny Testimony Schools Certificate of Completion — Housing Stability
This certificate is presented by Muslim Ordained Minister Destiny Marie Morgan
Awarded to: ______________________________ (write your name here after you download — your name is never collected or stored by this school)
Date completed: ______________
Congratulations. You learned that shaky housing is not your fault, your school rights travel with you, and telling one named adult can hold your education steady. — Minister Destiny Marie Morgan
This is a certificate of educational completion from Minister Destiny Testimony Schools. It is not a state license, a government certification, or legal training for representing anyone.
What's next: Return to the Topic Library for your next Year 1 Foundations unit.
Sources
- Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (doe.mass.edu) (https://www.doe.mass.edu/sfs/mv/) — McKinney-Vento program: liaison list, dispute resolution, enrollment guidance.
- Massachusetts Executive Office of Health and Human Services (mass.gov) (https://www.mass.gov/orgs/homeless-youth-services) — Homeless Youth Services: who is served, the unaccompanied youth definition including couch surfing, services by region.
- Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs v. Inclusive Communities Project, Inc., 576 U.S. 519 (U.S. Supreme Court 2015) — disparate-impact claims under the Fair Housing Act.
- McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, education provisions (U.S. Code, via DESE) — school-of-origin, transportation, and enrollment rights.
Your Progress — On Your Device Only
- Learning outcomes: On completing this unit, the student can:
- define couch-surfing and doubled up and why both count as homelessness for school help;
- state the McKinney-Vento rights: school of origin, transportation, and enrollment without records;
- explain how to find and tell a district's homeless education liaison, and what the liaison does;
- outline what to ask a DCF social worker and lawyer about a transition plan;
- name the official doors for youth housing help: Homeless Youth Services, a liaison, 211, and EA Family Shelter.
- Study time: Approximately 1 hour — reading, activities, and the test. Students move at their own pace.
- Assessment: A 10-question test drawn only from this unit's lesson. 80% or higher passes and earns the certificate. Answers and scores stay on the student's device; retakes allowed.
- Level: Topic Library — Year 1 (Foundations) · Youth school · working rank on completion path: Freshman → Sophomore.
- Version: Version 1.0 — October 2026.
Minister Destiny Testimony Schools — Youth. Educational information only, not legal advice. Help: 911 · 988 (call or text) · Crisis Text Line (text HOME to 741741) · Childhelp 1-800-422-4453.