HB 5259 — AN ACT CONCERNING THE EDUCATION OF HOMELESS CHILDREN AND YOUTH.

House ofBill Representatives General Assembly File No.

255259 FebruaryPublic Session,Act 2026 House Bill No.

525926-125 HouseAN ofACT Representatives,CONCERNING MarchTHE 16,EDUCATION 2026OF TheHOMELESS CommitteeCHILDREN onAND HousingYOUTH. reported through REP.

FELIPE of the 130th Dist., Chairperson of the Committee on the part of the House, that the bill ought to pass.

AN ACT CONCERNING THE EDUCATION OF HOMELESS CHILDREN AND YOUTH.

Subsection (f) of section 10-253 of the general statutes is repealed andthefollowing issubstituted ininlieuthereof(EffectiveOctober lieuthereof(EffectiveOctober 1, 2026):

An unaccompanied youth, as described in 42 USC 11434a, as amended from time to time, shall be entitled to knowledge of and have access to all educational, medical or similar records in the cumulative record of such unaccompanied youth maintained by a local or regional board of HB5259education. / File No.

25House 1Bill HB5259 File No.

255259 education.Governor's Action:

ThisApproved actJune shall4, take2026 effectPublic asAct followsNo. and shall amend the following sections:

Section26-125 12 Octoberof 1,2 2026 10-253(f) HSG Joint Favorable HB5259 / File No.

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25 The following Fiscal Impact Statement and Bill Analysis are prepared for the benefit of the members of the General Assembly, solely for purposes of information, summarization and explanation and do not represent the intent of the General Assembly or either chamber thereof for any purpose.

In general, fiscal impacts are based upon a variety of informational sources, including the analyst’s professional knowledge.

Whenever applicable, agency data is consulted as part of the analysis, however final products do not necessarily reflect an assessment from any specific department.

OFA Fiscal Note State Impact:

None Municipal Impact:

None Explanation The bill has no fiscal impact as it requires local and regional boards of education to comply with existing federal law.

The Out Years State Impact:

None Municipal Impact:

None HB5259 / File No.

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25 OLR Bill Analysis HB 5259 AN ACT CONCERNING THE EDUCATION OF HOMELESS CHILDREN AND YOUTH.

SUMMARY Existing state lawspecifically requiresboardsofeducationto provide educational services to homeless children and youths in conformity with the federal McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (see BACKGROUND).

This bill maintains this requirement but specifies that these services must be provided as established in federal law as of December 23, 2022.

As under existing law, the requirement applies regardless of conflicting state statutes (like those referring to current federal law).

EFFECTIVE DATE:

October 1, 2026 BACKGROUND McKinney–Vento Homeless Assistance Act Under the federal McKinney–Vento Homeless Assistance Act (“McKinney-Vento”), states must ensure that each homeless child and homeless youth has equal access to the same free, appropriate public education, including public preschool education, as provided to other children.

This includes requiring states to ensure that their school district residency laws do not create obstacles for homeless students to attendschool(42U.S.C.

§11431et seq.).McKinney-Vento wasoriginally enacted in 1987.

Federal law defines “homeless children and youths” as individuals who lack a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence, and includes those sharing the housing of others due to loss of housing, economic hardship, or a similar reason (42 U.S.C.

§ 11434a).

HB5259 / File No.

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25 COMMITTEE ACTION Housing Committee Joint Favorable Yea 18 Nay 0 (03/05/2026) HB5259 / File No.

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