Article Contents
Circumstances that may qualify for a determination
Request an Unaccompanied Homeless Youth Determination
Step 1: Complete the Homeless Youth Verification Form
Step 2: Wait for notification from the Financial Aid Department
Step 3: View your Dependency Override Status
Renew Your Homeless Youth Determination
Homeless Youth for CCPG and Priority Registration Eligibility
Need help or have questions?
Unaccompanied Homeless Youth Determinations
To be considered an unaccompanied homeless youth on the FAFSA® form, you must be a youth who is (1) unaccompanied and homeless or (2) unaccompanied, self-supporting, and at risk of being homeless. Outlined below are some initial terms that support a homeless youth determination, as defined in section 725 of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (McKinney-Vento) (42 U.S.C. 11434a):
- Unaccompanied—when you are not living in the physical custody of a parent or guardian
- Homeless—lacking fixed, regular, and adequate housing, which includes living in shelters, motels, or cars, or temporarily living with other people because you had nowhere else to go
- At risk of being homeless—when your housing may cease to be fixed, regular, and adequate. For example, a student who is being evicted or has been asked to leave their current residence and has been unable to find fixed, regular, and adequate housing
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Self-supporting—when you pay for your own living expenses, which includes paying for fixed, regular, and adequate housing
Regardless of your age, applicants who are unaccompanied and homeless, or self-supporting and at risk of being homeless, qualify for a homeless youth determination and will be considered independent students on the FAFSA® form.
Circumstances that may qualify for a determination
- Sharing housing with other people temporarily because they had nowhere else to go.
- Living in emergency or transitional shelters, for example, trailers provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency after disasters.
- Living in motels, campgrounds, cars, parks, abandoned buildings, bus or train stations, substandard housing, or any public or private place not designed for humans to live in.
- Living in the school dormitory if they would otherwise be homeless.
- You are a migrant and qualify as experiencing homelessness because you are living in the circumstances described above.
Request an Unaccompanied Homeless Youth Determination
If you have experienced any of the unusual circumstances listed above, please schedule a Homeless Youth Determination Consultation, request online using the Financial Aid Request Form to request a Homeless Youth Determination Form, or call (626) 914-8592 to speak with a financial aid technician.
Once a Homeless Youth Determination Form has been assigned to you by the Financial Aid Department, you will complete it online at citruscollege.studentforms.com.
Step 1: Complete the Homeless Youth Verification Form
A completed form must include the following items:
Documentation from the following entities:
- a local educational agency homeless liaison (or designee), as designated by the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11432(g)(1)(J)(ii));
- the director (or designee) of an emergency or transitional shelter, street outreach program, homeless youth drop-in center, or other program serving individuals who are experiencing homelessness;
- the director (or designee) of a Federal TRIO program or a Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate program (GEAR UP) grant; or
- a financial aid administrator at another institution who documented the student’s circumstance in the same or a prior award year.
If you don't have documentation
There are times when you are not able to get the documentation listed above. If this is the case, please contact the Financial Aid Department online using the Financial Aid Request Form or call (626) 914-8592 and request to speak with the Homeless Youth Liaison (Denise Luna). They can assist you with securing alternative documentation.
Need help?
Schedule a Homeless Youth Determination Consultation with a Financial Aid Technician, virtually for a private 1:1 meeting to discuss your circumstances and to determine what documentation is required for your appeal.
Step 2: Wait for notification from the Financial Aid Department
It can take up to two to three weeks for your verification form to be reviewed by a financial aid administrator. You must check your Citrus College Email Account regularly to view the status of your form. In some cases, additional documentation may be requested. If you do not submit documentation to support your request, it will be subject to denial. Submission of a verification form does not guarantee a dependency override will be approved.
Step 3: View your Dependency Override Status
APPROVED
If your verification form is approved, the Financial Aid Department will notify the Department of Education that an Unaccompanied Homeless Youth Determination has been authorized. The Department of Education will then send Citrus College a new FAFSA that is not in rejected status. Please allow up to 10 business days for the Department of Education to send the new FAFSA to Citrus College. Once Citrus College receives it, we will notify you if additional verification is required.
DENIED
If your verification form is denied, your FAFSA will remain in rejected status. You will be required to provide the required to provide any required information on your FAFSA. Once the FAFSA has been completed, please allow 10 business days for Citrus College to receive and process your completed FAFSA.
Renew Your Dependency Override
If your circumstances have not changed, continue to report your housing circumstances on your annual FAFSA. Citrus College will then presume that you continue to be eligible for an Unaccompanied Homeless Youth Determination and will notify the Department of Education on your behalf. An Unaccompanied Homeless Youth Determination may be denied in a subsequent aid year if you inform Citrus College that your circumstances have changed or we receive conflicting information about your housing situation. You do not need to submit another verification form.
If you have not been enrolled at Citrus College for more than one aid year, you must notify the Financial Aid Department that your situation has not changed since the final determination was made, and the financial aid administrator must document this statement using a signed statement in citruscollege.studentforms.com. Please contact the Financial Aid Department by submitting a request online using the Financial Aid Request Form to request the department to assign you a form to provide your statement. You may also call (626) 914-8592 and select option 4 to speak with a financial aid technician.
Homeless Youth for CCPG and Priority Registration Eligibility Verification
If you are declared a homeless youth you will be eligible to receive a CCPG and priority registration. For purposes of priority registration and CCPG eligibility, a homeless youth is an individual under the age of 25 who has lacked a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence. The student must be verified as homeless at any time during the 24 months immediately preceding the application for admission at Citrus College.