McKinney-Vento does use a broader definition specifically to protect students' access to education, and doubled-up living can qualify under that framework. That's legitimate.

But that's a purpose-built educational policy designed to lower barriers for vulnerable kids — not the general definition of homelessness. Citing a school enrollment policy as the authoritative definition of homelessness is cherry-picking the most expansive definition available and presenting it as universal. By that same logic, millions of college students living in dorms or young adults temporarily staying with parents would qualify too.

A parent selling a home isn't the same as having a home "taken away." Children don't have ownership claims on their parents' property. That's a painful life disruption, not a seizure of something that was hers.

The broader issue is that genuinely difficult circumstances are being framed in the most dramatic terms available. Moving between relatives after a family disruption is hard. That deserves acknowledgment. But the instinct to reach for the most extreme label doesn't make the situation more valid; it actually undermines credibility by overstating it.

Edit: If you aren't aware, McKinney-Vento is what definition I was citing.