Youth In Transition (YIT)
Mercedes Hubschmitt, Homeless Liaison, Director, Learning Support Services
Laura Upson, Youth in Transition Coordinator
[email protected]
(858) 748-0010 x 4086
(858) 748-0010 x 2039
[email protected]
(858) 748-0010 x 4086
(858) 748-0010 x 2039
The Youth in Transition (YIT) program is housed in the Caring Connections Center, located at:
Twin Peaks Center, 13626 Twin Peaks Road, Poway, CA 92064
Each school site has a counselor designated as a YIT point of contact.
The Youth in Transition program serves families experiencing housing instability and homelessness by seeking to remove barriers to enrollment, attendance, transportation, and academic success. Families who live in any of the following situations may qualify for services:
- Children and youth who are sharing the housing of other persons due to loss of housing, economic hardship, or a similar reason
-
Children and youth who may be living in motels, hotels, trailer parks, shelters due to economic hardship
-
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, or
- Unaccompanied homeless youth living away from the physical custody of a parent or guardian
-
Migratory children who qualify as homeless because they are children who are living in similar circumstances listed above
If a family meets the above criteria:
- Complete the Housing Questionnaire (available in English / espanol).
- Email your completed form to Laura Upson, YIT Coordinator, at [email protected]. For help in completing or returning the form, call the YIT office at 1 (858) 748-0010 x 4086.
- Once YIT has received the completed necessary form(s), PUSD staff will reach out with program information. Note: the Housing Questionnaire is valid only for the current school year. BY LAW, families must complete a new form each school year.
For more information about PUSD's Youth in Transition program, download the Youth in Transition brochure (disponible en espanol) and Information for Parents and Youth-Bilingual (reference only).
School-Aged children have certain rights or protections under the McKinney-Vento Homeless Education Assistance Act. Those rights are:
- Go to school, no matter where they live or how long they have lived there. Must be given access to the same public education provided to other children.
- Continue in the school attended before becoming homeless or the school last attended, if that is the choice and is feasible. If a school sends a child to a school other than the one requested, the school must provide a written explanation and offer the right to appeal the decision.
- Receive transportation assistance to the school attended before the family became homeless, if feasible, and a parent/guardian requests such assistance.
- Attend a school and participate in school programs with children who are not homeless. (Children cannot be separated from the regular school program because they are homeless.)
- Enroll and attend classes while the school arranges for the transfer of school and immunization records or any other documents required for enrollment.
- Enroll and attend classes while the school and family seek to resolve a dispute over enrolling the children.
- Receive the same special programs and services, if needed, as provided to all other children served in these programs.
- California State Homeless Coordinator: Leanne Wheeler 1 (916) 657-2871
- National Center for Homeless Education free help line: 1-800-308-2145
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