More Students Are Homeless Than Ever Before

MORE STUDENTS ARE living in emergency shelters, cars, motels, on the street or in some other temporary housing situation than ever before, new federal data shows.

Public schools identified more than 1.5 million children experiencing homelessness during the 2017-18 school year - an 11% increase over the previous school year and the highest number ever recorded.

The biggest increase appeared in the number of homeless students living in unsheltered situations, such as in a car, in parks and on the street, which more than doubled from the 2016-17 school year to the 2017-18 school year, jumping by 103%.

The number of homeless students staying in motels increased by 17% and the number staying with other people temporarily increased by 9%. Meanwhile, the number of homeless students staying in emergency shelters or transitional housing decreased by 2%.

"The record number of children and youth experiencing homelessness nationwide is alarming," says Barbara Duffield, executive director of SchoolHouse Connection, which is spearheading a national campaign to improve education for homeless students along with other advocacy groups like Civic, America's Promise, EducationCounsel and the Institute for Children, Poverty & Homelessness.

Florida and Texas saw the biggest increase in the number of students experiencing homelessness. Public schools in Texas identified 231,000 students as homeless during the 2017-18 school year compared to 111,000 during the 2016-17 school year. In Florida, public schools identified 95,000 students as homeless during the 2017-18 school year compared to 75,000 the previous year.

New York, Nevada, Ohio and Pennsylvania also saw significant increases. In total, 16 states experienced growth in their homeless student populations of 10% or more.

The data was published by the National Center for Homeless Education, which is funded by the Department of Education. Its researchers were quick to note that the reported figures represent an undercount as they include only those enrolled in public schools and fail to capture those who fell into homelessness during the summer, those who dropped out of school and younger children not enrolled in preschool programs.

The depth of the undercount can be alarming. California performed an audit last year on the number of homeless students and found that the state's schools had undercounted the number of students experiencing homelessness by at least 37% during the 2017-18 school year.

"As high as these numbers are, our identification efforts still need work before they accurately reflect how many children and youth - including young children under the age of 6 - experience homelessness," Duffield says. "Schools and communities need to know who is experiencing homelessness in order to help them succeed - and policymakers at all levels must prioritize action to support these invisible and often overlooked students."