Youth In Transition
District Departments » Learning Support Services » Youth In Transition (YIT)

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

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Hands Holding a Heart- Youth in Transition

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:

  • Emergency or transitional shelter
  • Hotel or motel (i.e. no fixed/regular nighttime residence due to economic hardship)
  • Unsheltered (i.e. a car, park, public space, abandoned building, campground, bus or train station, substandard housing, or similar setting which may include lack of water or electricity; health or safety risks
  • Temporarily living with another person or relatives due to economic hardship or loss of housing (i.e. eviction, inability to pay the rent, destruction of home, illness, loss of employment, etc.)
  • Unaccompanied homeless youth living away from the physical custody of a parent or guardian
 
If a family meets the above criteria:
  1. Complete the Housing Questionnaire (available in English / espanol).
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
If further assistance is needed, call the numbers listed below:
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.