Data illustrate need for greater focus on California’s homeless students

In the 2016-17 school year, 4.2 percent of California’s public school students were identified as homeless, according to a new report from Education Leads Home. The state’s homeless student population that year of 262,935 marks a 4.16 percent increase from the 2012-13 school year. Researchers and advocates say the facts reinforce the need for state-level policymakers, district officials and board members to allocate additional resources toward the issue and to address root causes.

Meanwhile, the Joint Committee on Legislative Audit on March 6 approved an audit of districts to verify they are accurately reporting the number of students experiencing homelessness. Officials said a quarter of schools are reporting to the state that they have no such students. The audit will also study barriers schools face in identifying students experiencing homelessness, why students may be going unreported, and best practices to identify and provide services to them.

At the same time, the concern realized for several years in California is rapidly coming to light on a national scale. Education Leads Home found that the number of students identified as homeless in the United States has increased by nearly 100 percent since 2007-08, for a 2016-17 population of 1,355,821. That number marks the highest number on record, which may be a result of improved state and school identification of homeless students. Researchers note this could be a positive step toward those students receiving more supports and a better path in life. (Federal education law defines a homeless student as one who “lacks a fixed, regular, and adequate night-time residence.”)

Students experiencing homelessness are 87 percent more likely to drop out of school than their housed peers, according to the America’s Promise Alliance’s 2016 report “Hidden in Plain Sight.”

“Homelessness among students is more than just a housing problem. It impacts every aspect of a child’s life,” said Barbara Duffield, executive director of national nonprofit and Education Leads Home partner SchoolHouse Connection. “Education is key to breaking the cycle of poverty and establishing economic mobility. It’s the only way we can prevent today’s homeless children and youth from becoming the next generation of homeless adults.”

The Education Leads Home report recommends schools and districts can help homeless students by connecting them with housing organizations, mental and physical health providers, mentoring groups and extracurricular activities.

The researchers note that additional accountability to better serve homeless students may be provided through the federal Every Student Succeeds Act, as the law now requires states to disaggregate graduation rates for homeless students. States will be required to share the 2017-18 graduation rates for homeless students next year. Data from 26 states (not including California) for 2016-17 showed that homeless students had a national average graduation rate of 64 percent, compared to the low-income student rate of 77.6 percent and 84.1 percent rate for all students.

Keeping kids in school