Understanding and Addressing Student Homelessness in Public Schools

The student homelessness crisis is often overlooked, impacting not only urban populations but also rural areas. Public schools are on the frontlines of managing this challenge, tasked with identifying and supporting students who may be experiencing homelessness. But with many students and families hesitant to self-identify, the issue remains hidden from view. This blog explores key factors surrounding student homelessness and what schools can do to address it.

Definition of Student Homelessness

To understand student homelessness, we first need to define it. A student is considered homeless if they lack a fixed, regular, and adequate night-time residence:

Fixed: Permanent and attached to the ground. A student living in a tent or car would not meet this requirement.
Regular: The student must be able to return to the same place every night. Students who are “couch-surfing” from one location to another would not have a regular residence.
Adequate: The residence must be safe for the student’s mental and physical well-being. Conditions such as no heat, overcrowding, or infestations would disqualify a home from being adequate.
If any of these criteria are not met, the student qualifies for services under the Education of Homeless Children and Youth Program (EHCY).

Prevalence of Homelessness in Students

Each year, roughly 2.5% of students across American schools experience homelessness. This number, while already significant, may be an underrepresentation due to the difficulty in identifying students and a lack of awareness about who qualifies for services. Administrators can use this 2.5% benchmark to determine whether their schools may be under-identifying homeless students.

School Requirements for Students Facing Homelessness

Schools are legally required to ensure that students experiencing homelessness receive the services they need. Key requirements include:
Identification: Schools must identify homeless students to help them access services, even if those students have dropped out or are separated from school due to their housing situation.
Community Coordination: Schools should collaborate with community partners to identify students facing homelessness and provide supports.
Connection to Services: Homeless students should be connected with eligible services such as transportation, free meals, and tutoring, to name a few.

How does homelessness affect students?

The effects of homelessness on students are profound, influencing every aspect of their education, health, and overall well-being. Homeless students often face greater challenges than their peers living in poverty, including:

• Academic struggles: Homeless students tend to perform worse on standardized tests than even their low-income peers.
• Lower graduation rates: During the 2020-2021 school year, only 68% of students experiencing homelessness graduated, which is 18 percentage points below the national average for all students.
• Higher absenteeism: SchoolHouse Connection shares, “More than half (52%) of students experiencing homelessness in the 2021-2022 school year were chronically absent, a rate that jumped 20% following the pandemic and is now 22 percentage points higher than other students.”
• Health and behavioral challenges: Homeless students often deal with higher rates of illness and behavioral disruptions due to hunger, fatigue, trauma, and other factors.
• Mental health issues: Covent House shares, “69% of youth experiencing homelessness report mental health challenges.”
• Substance abuse: Individuals dealing with homelessness have higher rates of substance and alcohol abuse and misuse.
• Human Trafficking: Between 19-40% of youth and young adults experiencing homelessness are victims of sex or labor trafficking.

These compounded challenges make it difficult for homeless students to thrive in school, highlighting the importance of school-based interventions and support.

Why Students and Families Might Not Self-Identify as Experiencing Homelessness

A significant challenge in supporting homeless students is that many do not self-identify. This is often due to:

• Stigma: Families fear the social consequences of being labeled homeless.
• Unawareness: Students and families may not know they qualify for support.
• Fear of CPS involvement: Families may fear losing custody of their children if they disclose their living situation.

Why Title I Support Isn’t Enough for Students Facing Homelessness

While Title I funding provides vital resources for low-income students, it is not enough to meet the unique needs of homeless students. Homelessness presents additional challenges, such as lack of stable housing, that go beyond what Title I funding alone can address. Schools need targeted support, specifically tailored to address homelessness, in order to truly support these students.

Leveraging Universal Screenings to Improve Identification

One strategy schools can adopt to better identify homeless students is universal screening. By integrating questions about housing stability into general screenings incorporated into the registration process, schools can uncover situations where students may need additional support but have not come forward on their own. This also helps reduce the perpetuation of stigma by only approaching students or families who display some stereotypes associated with homelessness.

Training All Staff on McKinney-Vento to Help Improve Student Supports

Proper staff training is crucial in identifying and supporting homeless students. As Kenya Haynes, Program Specialist at the National Center for Homeless Education, shared on the School Safety Today podcast, staff from every department can be key in recognizing homelessness. She recounted how a custodian identified a high school student living in her car.

To help support her, he allowed her to stay in the building after hours until he had to lock up and came to work early so she could shower in the gymnasium before school. No one on campus was aware of her situation until graduation when he came in the place of a parent at the event.

She shares that training is so important because “everybody in your school community can be an observer” and help with identification.

Training all staff—from teachers to bus drivers to custodians—on the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act ensures that schools have the broad awareness needed to support these students.

A Path Forward in Supporting Students Facing Homelessness

Student homelessness is a challenge that impacts every school, regardless of size or location. By understanding the definitions, statistics, and effects of homelessness on students, and by equipping staff with the knowledge to recognize the signs, schools can ensure that these students are not left hidden in plain sight. It’s time to bring the issue of student homelessness into the open and provide the support needed to help these students succeed.