McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act

What Is the McKinney-Vento Act?

The McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act is the main federal law addressing homelessness in the United States. Congress passed it in 1987, during a visible rise in homelessness, as the Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Act. A law approved October 30, 2000, renamed it the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act. It funds shelter, housing, and services for people experiencing homelessness, and it established the federal council now called the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness.

The law is broad. Beyond HUD’s housing programs, it covers the education of homeless children and youth and the use of surplus federal property for homeless services.

How It Works

The housing titles are run by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), which delivers two main programs:

• Continuum of Care (CoC) Program. Competitive grants, awarded through a joint application from each local network of nonprofits, governments, and other stakeholders, for transitional housing, rapid rehousing, permanent supportive housing, and supportive services. See the Continuum of Care Program.
• Emergency Solutions Grants (ESG). Formula grants to states and larger cities and counties for emergency shelter, homelessness prevention, and rapid rehousing.

Local CoCs also carry out the point-in-time count of people experiencing homelessness on a single night in January.

The HEARTH Act, signed May 20, 2009, amended and reauthorized the law. According to HUD, it consolidated three competitive grant programs (Supportive Housing, Shelter Plus Care, and Moderate Rehabilitation/Single Room Occupancy) into the single CoC Program, renamed and broadened the Emergency Shelter Grants program, created a Rural Housing Stability Assistance Program, revised the definitions of homelessness and chronic homelessness, simplified match requirements, increased prevention resources, and put more emphasis on performance.

A separate part of the law directs each state to ensure that homeless children and youth have the same access to a free, appropriate public education as other students.

Why It Matters Today

McKinney-Vento funding is a mainstay of local homelessness systems. NLIHC’s 2026 guide reports year-round capacity to provide beds for roughly 400,000 people experiencing homelessness, plus more than 500,000 formerly homeless people now in permanent housing.

Its direction is also contested. NLIHC’s 2026 guide reports that HUD announced major changes to the CoC Program starting with fiscal year 2025 funding, moving away from much of its focus on permanent housing. Those changes were challenged in court and in bipartisan measures in Congress, and when the guide was written they appeared unlikely to apply to fiscal year 2025 awards. Further changes remained possible for later years. The debate is closely tied to Housing First, the permanent-housing-focused approach that many CoC-funded programs follow. For context, see the guide to homelessness, Housing First, and supportive housing.