There is not one set definition for a person who is homeless; however, one definition originally developed as part of the McKinney-Vento Act of 1987 federal legislation, decribes a "homeless" person as being:
1. a person who lacks a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence
2. a person who has a temporary nightime residence that is--
a supervised publicly or privately operated shelter designed to provide temporary living condition
an institution that provides a temporary reisidence for indivisuals intended to be instituionalized; or
a public or private placed not designed for, or ordinarily used as, a regular sleeping accomendation for human beings
1. a person who lacks a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence
2. a person who has a temporary nightime residence that is--
a supervised publicly or privately operated shelter designed to provide temporary living condition
an institution that provides a temporary reisidence for indivisuals intended to be instituionalized; or
a public or private placed not designed for, or ordinarily used as, a regular sleeping accomendation for human beings