Administer the annual housing questionnaire to every family and unaccompanied youth

In Plain Language: Every LEA must provide a housing questionnaire to families at least once each year to help identify children and youth who may be experiencing homelessness, including unaccompanied youth. A response that indicates possible housing instability must be handled confidentially and routed to the LEA homeless education liaison for review. When eligibility is established, the LEA must act on the educational rights, protections, services, referrals, and reporting responsibilities that follow.

Why this matters

The questionnaire is an identification safeguard, not routine paperwork. Families may not use the word “homeless,” and housing instability can be temporary or hidden. A consistent, respectful annual process helps the LEA recognize possible eligibility before missing records, transportation, mobility, or other barriers interrupt a pupil’s education.

Primary ownership

Primary owner: LEA homeless education liaison. Operational lead: enrollment or registration staff. Partners: site administrators, counselors and student-support staff, transportation, nutrition services, Title I, special education, preschool, SIS and CALPADS staff, family communications, and community partners.

The annual implementation calendar

Before annual distributionPrepare the questionnaire and the response pathway.Review the current CDE model, add local liaison contact information, confirm paper and translated access, establish confidential collection and routing, and train enrollment staff.
At least annuallyProvide the questionnaire to every family and unaccompanied youth.Use an LEA-established schedule, normally during enrollment, registration, or the annual back-to-school information update. Do not limit distribution to families already believed to be experiencing homelessness.
As responses are receivedReconcile participation without exposing family information.Track whether a questionnaire was returned, offer a paper option, and follow up through a private and nonjudgmental process when a response is incomplete or unclear.
Promptly after a positive or uncertain responseRoute the response to the LEA homeless education liaison.The liaison reviews the pupil’s actual nighttime residence and circumstances under the federal definition and documents the eligibility determination.
When eligibility is establishedActivate applicable rights, protections, referrals, and services.Address immediate enrollment, school stability, transportation, full participation, educational services, and barriers without waiting for the next reporting cycle.
At the beginning of the school year and as circumstances changeMaintain current SIS and CALPADS records.Create the current-year homeless program record after eligibility review and update information when the family’s housing situation changes.
Before annual reporting is closedReconcile the service roster, SIS, and CALPADS.Resolve missing or inconsistent records and follow the separate annual homeless-program closing and certification controls.

Route questionnaire responses without making a counter-level eligibility decision

Use these categories as routing prompts. They identify situations that require liaison attention; they do not replace an individualized eligibility review.

Shelter, transitional housing, or FEMA trailer

Route: Send the response confidentially to the LEA homeless education liaison for prompt review.

Why: Emergency or transitional shelter arrangements may meet the federal definition because the pupil lacks a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence.

Do not: Delay enrollment or require the family to obtain a shelter letter before the liaison reviews the circumstances.

Sharing housing because of housing loss, economic hardship, disaster, or lack of adequate housing

Route: Refer for liaison review even when the family calls the arrangement temporary, doubled-up, or staying with relatives or friends.

Review: Consider why the arrangement began, whether it is fixed and regular, whether the family has a legal right to remain, and whether the space is adequate.

Do not: Treat every shared residence as eligible—or ineligible—without examining the circumstances.

Motel or hotel because of housing loss, economic hardship, disaster, or a similar reason

Route: Send the response to the liaison for review.

Review: Determine why the family is there and whether the arrangement is a temporary response to the loss or absence of adequate housing.

Do not: assume that paying for a room makes the residence fixed, regular, and adequate.

Vehicle, campground, public space, abandoned building, or inadequate accommodations

Route: Treat the response as requiring immediate liaison attention.

Review: Identify the pupil’s current nighttime residence and any urgent enrollment, attendance, transportation, health, safety, or participation barriers.

Do not: request unnecessary details from the family in a public registration setting.

Student under 18 living apart from a parent or guardian

Route: Refer the response to the liaison for an unaccompanied-youth review.

Review: Determine both whether the youth is not in the physical custody of a parent or guardian and whether the youth’s nighttime residence meets the homelessness definition.

Do not: make homelessness automatic solely because the youth lives apart from a parent, or delay enrollment because guardianship documents are unavailable.

Permanent, fixed, regular, and adequate housing selected

Route: No homelessness referral is ordinarily required based only on this response.

Continue: Preserve a way for the family or pupil to contact the liaison later, because housing circumstances may change during the year.

Do not: use an earlier questionnaire to dismiss credible later information about housing instability.

Blank, conflicting, or uncertain response

Route: Use a private, respectful follow-up process and involve the liaison when the response suggests possible instability.

Ask: Clarifying questions about the stability and adequacy of the nighttime residence—not questions that judge the family’s choices.

Do not: automatically record “not homeless” simply because the questionnaire is incomplete.

When knowledge creates an obligation to act

What the LEA knows	Required operational response	Evidence to retain
A response or other credible information suggests possible homelessness	Route the matter promptly and confidentially to the homeless education liaison for individualized review. Do not wait for CALPADS or a reporting deadline.	Dated referral, responsible reviewer, follow-up status, and protected eligibility documentation.
The liaison determines that the child or youth is eligible	Ensure enrollment and full educational access; inform the family or unaccompanied youth of applicable opportunities and transportation; remove barriers; and connect appropriate educational and community referrals.	Eligibility determination, rights communication, service and referral actions, school-stability or transportation decisions, and responsible staff.
The pupil seeks enrollment without customary documentation	Immediately enroll the eligible child or youth and obtain missing records through the required follow-up process. Do not delay for proof of residency, previous records, immunization records, guardianship papers, fees, or missed application deadlines.	Enrollment date, documents initially unavailable, liaison referral, records requests, and subsequent resolution.
An eligibility, school-selection, or enrollment dispute arises	Keep the pupil enrolled in the school in which enrollment is sought pending final resolution, provide an understandable written decision and appeal information, and refer the matter to the liaison for expeditious dispute resolution.	Written decision, appeal notice, liaison referral, interim enrollment status, communications, and final resolution.
The LEA maintains information about the pupil’s living situation	Treat the information as a protected student education record—not directory information—and limit access to staff with a legitimate educational need.	Secure record location, access controls, authorized disclosures, and applicable records-retention practice.
Eligibility has been established for the current year	Create and maintain the current SIS and CALPADS homeless program record and update it when circumstances change. Reporting does not replace rights and services.	SIS and CALPADS values, effective dates, dwelling type, reconciliation record, and correction history.

Questionnaire-to-support pathway

1 · DistributeProvide the questionnaire annually to every family and unaccompanied youth.

2 · CollectOffer paper and translated access and receive responses confidentially.

3 · RouteSend positive, incomplete, or uncertain responses to the liaison.

4 · DetermineReview the actual nighttime residence under the federal definition.

5 · ActActivate applicable rights, enrollment protections, services, transportation, and referrals.

6 · Record and monitorMaintain SIS and CALPADS data and respond when circumstances change.

Recommended LEA workflow

Assign accountable owners. Name the LEA liaison, enrollment lead, site contacts, confidential records custodian, family-communications owner, and SIS/CALPADS owner.
Review the current CDE model. Confirm required rights and protections, add local liaison information, and document the LEA’s approved local version without changing the form into a residency-enforcement instrument.
Provide equitable access. Maintain a paper version, translated versions and assistance, accessible formats, and a direct process for unaccompanied youth.
Train front-line staff. Teach personnel to explain the purpose without stigma, protect privacy, recognize possible eligibility, avoid counter-level determinations, and route responses quickly.
Separate participation tracking from sensitive responses. Reconcile whether each pupil received and returned a questionnaire without exposing housing information in ordinary enrollment work queues.
Standardize liaison review. Use consistent eligibility criteria, document the actual circumstances, resolve uncertain cases promptly, and avoid unnecessary or burdensome proof demands.
Activate rights and supports. Complete applicable enrollment, school-stability, transportation, nutrition, Title I, preschool, special education, participation, referral, and barrier-removal actions.
Reconcile systems and services. Compare the liaison roster, SIS, CALPADS, and service handoffs; investigate differences without distributing confidential questionnaire details.

Questionnaire implementation controls

Every family and unaccompanied youth receives the questionnaire at least annually.
The local version identifies the LEA homeless education liaison and explains applicable rights and protections.
A paper form is available even when electronic registration is the primary method.
Translations and understandable assistance are available through the LEA’s established language-access process.
Completed questionnaires are collected, stored, and routed confidentially.
Positive, incomplete, conflicting, and uncertain responses have a defined liaison-review path.
Staff know that living-situation information is an education record and not directory information.
The process supports new information and changing housing circumstances throughout the year.

Before calling the annual requirement complete

Distribution records show coverage of all enrolled pupils and a process for unaccompanied youth.
Nonresponses and incomplete responses were handled through the approved private follow-up process.
Every positive or uncertain response has a resolved liaison-review status.
Eligible pupils received applicable rights information, services, referrals, and barrier-removal follow-up.
The liaison roster, SIS, and current-year CALPADS homeless program records reconcile.
Changes discovered after annual distribution were evaluated and recorded.
Staff access to completed questionnaires and eligibility records remains appropriately restricted.
The LEA can reproduce its questionnaire version, distribution evidence, routing log, determinations, service handoffs, and data reconciliation.

Official guidance and help

CDE Resources for Homeless Children and YouthCurrent California resources, implementation guidance, frequently asked questions, translations, rights materials, and contact information.
CDE Model Housing Questionnaire and InstructionsModel family questionnaire for local review and customization, including confidentiality language, housing situations, rights, and liaison information.
California Education Code section 48851State requirements governing the annual housing questionnaire and reporting.
42 United States Code section 11432Federal McKinney-Vento requirements for identification, liaison duties, enrollment, school stability, transportation, services, disputes, privacy, and removal of barriers.
CALPADS Update Flash 3252026–27 direction for annual closing and creation of homeless program records based on current housing-questionnaire results.
CDE Definition of HomelessCalifornia explanation of housing circumstances covered by the federal definition.

CDE Homeless Education Team: · 866-856-8214

Source review completed August 28, 2026. Verify the current CDE model, guidance, translations, liaison information, CALPADS instructions, and applicable law before acting.