District Support for Students Experiencing Homelessness
January 01, 2024
Appears in January 2024: School Administrator.
Creativity and commitment are the hallmarks of five school districts’ strategies to help their most vulnerable students
Approximately 1.1 million public school students in the United States were identified as experiencing homelessness in 2020-21. Without the security and stability of a home base, these students face barriers to social and emotional development and may struggle to stay engaged in or even attend school.
Nationally, about 2.2 percent of students are identified as experiencing homelessness, although many districts, such as Cincinnati Public Schools in Ohio, support even higher proportions of unhoused students. In Cincinnati, 6 percent of students experience homelessness and, like most districts, educators struggle to identify these students, which serves as a prerequisite to providing the support the students need.
School districts serving homeless students recognize this population is not homogeneous. The individuals represent a variety of racial and ethnic backgrounds, ages, regions and family circumstances. While occurring across all community types, student homelessness occurs at higher rates in city school districts. Homelessness tends to be higher among students of color due to factors like inequitable access to housing and historical barriers to economic opportunity. English learners and students receiving special education services are also overrepresented among students experiencing homelessness.
Housing instability can separate children from families, schools, neighborhood friends and belongings, and the acute poverty that frequently precedes homelessness can lead to food insecurity. High mobility among families experiencing homelessness also complicates efforts to receive needed health services. Unaccompanied youth — about 9 percent of all students experiencing homelessness — endure especially difficult circumstances. These students often feel a loss of safety, stability and control over their lives.
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In Browning, Mont., Schools Tackle Homelessness With Respect
The Browning Public Schools district, located on the land of the Blackfeet Nation on the eastern slopes of Glacier National Park in northern Montana, serves 2,000 students, many of whom contend with deep poverty and geographic isolation.
All students in the district are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, and many students’ families struggle with high unemployment and inadequate housing, with multiple families living in shared spaces. While 10 percent of Browning Public Schools students have been officially identified as experiencing homelessness, program officials estimate that the numbers are likely three times that amount.
Browning differs from the other districts in the Learning Policy Institute study in how it organizes its supports for students experiencing homelessness. Rather than having a homeless program focused exclusively on serving students and families experiencing homelessness, Browning has a community outreach program that serves the entire community.
The Families in Transition program, or FIT, is referred to by the community as Āissṗoōmmootsiiyō•ṗ, meaning “we help each other.” This program weaves revenue sources to support students experiencing homelessness, students in foster care or kinship care and other living arrangements. The program also provides a community-based higher education program and operates a child care center for district staff and teen parents.
To serve all students, especially those experiencing homelessness, the FIT program focuses on building relationships by respectfully engaging with all community members and providing tangible support and services.
In Native American communities, gift-giving is a way to respect and honor one another. The FIT program establishes trust and builds relationships by providing supplies or food. For example, the district has five food pantries — three in schools, one in the administrative building and one in a remote community. The food pantries are open to all students in the community, but the FIT program focuses on ensuring that students and families experiencing homelessness are served. Students can choose the food they want to bring home, giving them a more dignified shopping experience that emphasizes self-sufficiency.
Browning Public Schools offers integrated supports that address the educational, health, social service and housing needs of students and families. The district’s holistic approach to addressing the needs of all students and families has allowed them to serve students experiencing homelessness with respect and compassion.
Adapted from “Supporting Students Experiencing Homelessness: District Approaches to Supports and Funding” by Stephanie Levin, Daniel Espinoza and Michael Griffith. (Learning Policy Institute, October 2022).
Full-time Staffer in Vermont Lends Coordinated Help to Homeless Students
By Alison Novak
To address rising homelessness, the Champlain Valley School District in Vermont employs a full-time staff member to help students and their families find more stable housing. The district, which serves roughly 4,200 students in the state’s most populous county, is the only one in Vermont to use the model, according to the state education agency.
Funding for the position initially came from a $45,000 American Rescue Plan grant, supplemented with Medicaid funds.
Jennie Davis started as the district’s family outreach and assessment coordinator in February 2022. She previously worked for the housing authority in the city of Burlington. She says skyrocketing rents and home prices, combined with historically low vacancy rates, have led to more families with unstable housing in recent years. Vermont ranks second in the nation in its per capita rate of homelessness, according to data from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Existing Relationship
Housing insecurity looks different from family to family, Davis says. For some, it means living in motels as part of a program that Vermont launched at the beginning of the pandemic. For others, it’s doubling up — staying with relatives or friends. Others live in substandard housing.
School counselors at Champlain Valley’s six schools help Davis identify students in need. She works with families to fill out the paperwork to qualify for affordable housing, meets with landlords and helps with related issues such as food insecurity, transportation, child care and health care.
Since she started almost two years ago, Davis has served 91 families in the district. She works with families to avoid evictions, navigate landlord or neighbor disputes, catch up on back rent, etc. Nearly 90 percent of all families have stable, permanent housing.
Working within a school district makes her job easier. “Schools are places where families and students feel comfortable,” Davis says. “A lot of the success of this position is based on that existing relationship.”
Unusual Staffing
Having a school district employee whose sole role is helping families with housing is unusual, according to Barbara Duffield, executive director of SchoolHouse Connection, a national advocacy group for homeless children. Under federal law, every school district must have a homeless liaison, but little funding is attached to the title; school counselors or administrators often take on the role in addition to their other job responsibilities.
Noting the untraditional approach, Champlain Valley superintendent Rene Sanchez says of his district’s model, “When you have populations that are going to likely continue growing … then you need to be sure that you’re providing the support that you are able to for those students and for those families.”
The stress brought on by housing instability impacts students’ ability to show up to school ready to learn. Studies show that students experiencing homelessness are more likely to be chronically absent and have behavioral challenges and are less likely to graduate from high school.
In 2023-24, Champlain Valley no longer has American Rescue Plan funds to support Davis’ position. Sanchez says the district continues to tap into Medicaid funds to partially pay her salary but is searching for another funding source so the position can remain full-time and permanent.
Joint Sponsorship
Administrators have discussed partnering with the four towns served by the school district or other organizations or agencies to jointly fund the work. That model is being used in other parts of the country, according to Duffield of SchoolHouse Connection.
Boston Public Schools has teamed up with the Boston Housing Authority and nonprofit FamilyAid Boston to provide case management and access to housing vouchers for families experiencing homelessness. In Akron, Ohio, the school district is working with the United Way to provide housing navigation for families in need.
“I do think these sorts of initiatives really do need to be partnerships,” Duffield says. “Schools have a unique position that no other entity in the community has, but they can’t do it alone.”
Alison Novak is an education reporter for Seven Days in Burlington, Vt.
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