What Makes a Child Eligible?

To qualify for the Migrant Education Program, a migrant child must have moved within the past three years across state or school district lines with a migrant parent or guardian or on his/her own to enable the child, the child's guardian or on his/her own to enable the child, the child's guardian, or a member of the child's immediate family to obtain temporary or seasonal employment in an agricultural, fishing, or food processing activity. The child may be from 3 up to 21 years of age, if he/she has not graduated.

Migrant children can be either interstate or intrastate. An interstate migrant child is one who has moved within the past three years from one state to another with his/her family or on his/her own to find qualifying work. An intrastate migrant child is one who has moved within the past three years to another school district, but from within the same state. While many migrant families consider California to be their home base, others come from other states and bordering countries such as Texas, Arizona, Washington and Mexico.