Iowa Administrative Code defines “Homeless child or youth” as a child or youth from ages 3 – 21 years of age who lacks a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence and includes the following:

1. A child or youth who is sharing the housing of other persons due to loss of housing, economic hardship, or a similar reason; is living in a motel, hotel, trailer park, or camping grounds due to the lack of alternative adequate accommodations; is living in an emergency or transitional shelter; is abandoned in a hospital; or is awaiting foster care placement.

2. A child or youth who has a primary nighttime residence that is a public or private place not designed for or ordinarily used as a regular sleeping accommodation for human beings.

3. A child or youth who is living in a car, park, public space, abandoned building, substandard housing, bus, or train station, or similar setting; or

4. A migratory child or youth who qualifies as homeless because the child or youth is living in circumstances described in paragraphs “1” through “3” above.