US homeless student population reaches 1.5m, the highest in a decade

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/feb/04/us-homeless-student-population-homelessness

Vivian Ho in San Francisco
Tue 4 Feb 2020 19.51 EST

The number of public school students experiencing homelessness in the US has increased 15% in the past three years, reaching its highest number in more than a decade.

More than 1.5 million students reported experiencing homelessness during the 2017-18 school year, according to a study by the National Center for Homeless Education, with California at the forefront with 263,000 students.

The 2017-18 number was the highest number that the NCHE has reported since it began tracking this data in 2004, George Hancock, the center director, told the Guardian. “We’re seeing it throughout the country,” he said.

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Housing instability can severely affect a child’s development and ability to learn. During this school year, the study found that only about 29% of students experiencing homelessness achieved academic proficiency in reading, roughly 24% achieved proficiency in mathematics and fewer than 26% achieved proficiency in science.

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Another challenge for homeless students is focusing on their studies while also coping with the trauma of homelessness, Hancock said. Social workers and local liaisons are working on a local level to not just identify those experiencing homelessness, but providing them the right support when they do. “A part of our work is trying to provide some technical assistance to make sure more folks know how to address trauma and that teachers, principals are trained in how to respond when families are experiencing that kind of trauma and experiencing homelessness,” he said.