Breaking Down the Issue

• Homelessness is not a uniform experience.
• Even before the pandemic, student homelessness was increasing, and many schools were struggling to respond.
• Students experiencing homelessness may be particularly vulnerable to health-, wellbeing-, and education-related adversity brought on or exacerbated by the pandemic.

Strategies to Consider

• To successfully implement the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, schools should prioritize proactive identification and consider fostering an environment that frames policy supports as rights for students.
• Collaborations and data sharing with community providers can improve identification of students experiencing homelessness and ease access to resources and supports for families.
• Regular communication to build relationships with student-identified networks of trusted adults allows schools to tailor practices and supports in ways that meet individual needs.
• When weighing the risks and benefits of various models for reopening schools in the fall, plans must consider local COVID-19 conditions, available funding, and the realities of students’ home environments.

Strategies to Avoid

• Deficit-oriented and stigmatizing practices may have adverse short- and long-term consequences for students and their families.

Homelessness is not a uniform experience.

• Nationwide, students experiencing homelessness spend their nights in various residential settings, including: doubled up with others due to economic reasons or loss of housing (74%), in shelters (12%), in motels/hotels (7%), and in unsheltered contexts, like parks, cars, and public spaces (7%).
  • Students may move from one residential setting to another over time (e.g., doubled up into a shelter). In general, research suggests that educational outcomes and experiences vary based on the setting in which students experiencing homelessness reside. Research conducted prior to the pandemic suggests that when doubled up families function as a single unit, students may have more access to resources, such as the internet, space to complete homework, or educational support. However, doubled up families may also be less likely to be identified as homeless, disconnecting them from resources provided by schools, community- based organizations, or other agencies.
  • Research from Houston found that doubled up students had more positive educational outcomes than similar students experiencing homelessness in other residential settings.
  • National data suggests that 9% of students experiencing homelessness are unaccompanied, or not in the physical custody of a parent or guardian. Unaccompanied students, many of whom identify as LGBTQ, face unique challenges and tend to have particularly poor educational outcomes.
• Students experiencing homelessness live in communities with different resources and challenges.
  • Research has documented wide variation in the implementation of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, which provides support to students experiencing homelessness.
  • Local policies, such as “right to shelter” in New York City, and local commitment to various rehousing programs may also shape shelter capacity and housing options.
  • Student homelessness is not only a concern in large cities. A policy report by the Institute for Children, Poverty, and Homelessness found that student homelessness in Florida was concentrated in the suburbs, while another noted that Georgia had more student homelessness in rural areas than in its cities. Homelessness may be less visible in suburban and rural areas – areas that may also have unique gaps in social services and have less established practices in place.
• Students experiencing homelessness are disproportionately Native American, Black, and/or Latinx.
  • Research suggests that systemic racism shapes the implementation of education policy and the opportunities and experiences of students experiencing homelessness.
  • One study found that unaccompanied youth of color exhibited great resilience, creativity, and strength in staying connected to school, solving problems, and accessing needed guidance and support. Unfortunately, these youth also faced substantial hurdles, such as low academic expectations, deficit views, and systemic barriers to accessing supports.
  • Another study found that Black youth who graduated from high school while experiencing homelessness were often deterred from revealing their housing status by volatile racial climates at school, which subsequently cut them off from federal supports.

Even before the pandemic, student homelessness was increasing, and many schools were struggling to respond.

• Student homelessness was increasing even prior to the pandemic.
  • Between the 2015-16 and 2017-18 school years alone, the number of students experiencing homelessness increased 15%, from 1.3 million to 1.5 million.
• Research consistently documents the challenges schools and districts face in addressing rising student homelessness, particularly when coupled with economic downturns.
  • Students experiencing homelessness tend to change schools frequently. Evidence suggests that mobility disrupts academic learning and relationships, especially when it is frequent and poverty-related. Schools with high rates of students who move face unique challenges in school reform efforts.
  • While some are able to beat the odds, students experiencing homelessness tend to have lower attendance, higher rates of dropout, lower rates of graduation, and poorer achievement relative to similar low-income students. A recent report found that roughly one-quarter of students experiencing homelessness in New York City were proficient on state math and English tests in 4th grade – about half the rate of permanently-housed students.
  • Identifying students as homeless and meeting their needs can be time consuming and costly. Needs may include transportation; access to food; medical and dental care; mental health services; school supplies; clothing and hygiene items; and academic as well as socio-emotional support.
• These challenges are likely to be heightened by the pandemic – presenting unique, critical obstacles for the fall semester.

Students experiencing homelessness may be particularly vulnerable to health-, wellbeing-, and education-related adversity brought on or exacerbated by the pandemic.

• Due to the diversity in living situations, it is challenging to generalize about the risk of COVID-19 exposure for students, youth, and families experiencing homelessness.
  • High mobility of students, youth, and families may contribute to community spread, with individuals of color at particular risk for poor COVID-19 outcomes due to existing health disparities.
  • Students and families experiencing homelessness may face different coronavirus-related risks based on their residential settings. For instance, according to the CDC, sleeping in congregate settings, such as shelters, places individuals experiencing homelessness at higher risk of contracting coronavirus, but may also help connect them to other vital resources, such as medical care or testing. Conversely, sleeping in an unsheltered context (e.g., street, car, or abandoned building) reduces proximity to others, but also impedes practices, such as hand washing, that help reduce transmission.
• Social distancing and COVID-related school closures may exacerbate social isolation of students experiencing homelessness.
• The pandemic has hindered some community service providers’ ability to offer necessary supplies and supports (such as food, afterschool programming, and shelter) even as the need for these services has increased.
  • For students with inadequate hygiene items, focusing on learning may be difficult, whether virtually or in- person. Furthermore, a lack of specific items such as hand sanitizer and face masks may increase risks for contracting coronavirus.
  • Students experiencing homelessness may face challenges with online learning due to a lack of technological equipment such as laptops, tablets, or headphones, adequate internet connectivity, electricity to charge laptops or tablets, or access to a quiet space. Prior to the pandemic, students often completed school work in libraries, which provide internet, computer, and printer access – an option that is not currently available in many places.
• Due to the economic downturn related to the coronavirus, students who have not previously experienced homelessness may become homeless during the pandemic and be especially unfamiliar with their rights under McKinney-Vento.

Deficit-oriented and stigmatizing practices may have adverse short- and long-term consequences for students and their families.

• Practices that stigmatize students experiencing homelessness such as separate bus routes, homework assignments asking families to draw their house, or meeting families at the gas station to reimburse for gasoline, can hinder confidentiality, diminish students’ wellbeing, and discourage students and families from sharing information with school staff.
• Research suggests that marginalizing the role of race and its complex interactions with social class can be particularly damaging to students of color experiencing homelessness.
• While many anti-poverty strategies may also be applicable to the contexts of homelessness, one- size-fits-all solutions that assume all students and families experience homelessness in the same way, have the same needs, or that treat homelessness as an identity rather than an experience, are unlikely to effectively meet the diverse needs and assets of students experiencing homelessness.
• With few exceptions, segregation by housing status is not permissible under federal law and is linked to damaging outcomes for students.