What happens to students affected by homelessness?
Federal law requires that public schools help break an inevitable vicious cycle. But many of the students who need that help fall through the cracks.
Read our investigation
Thousands of schools are failing to identify and assist homeless students despite a federal mandate. Read the story.
The Center for Public Integrity has partnered with newsrooms across the country to shine a light on this often forgotten group of children and the misunderstood rights they have in school.
Our partners covered the topic from California to Washington, DC and many places in between.
STORIES OF OUR PARTNERS
Students affected by homelessness should receive additional help. Here’s how California can do better.
Some schools aren’t doing enough because of staff shortages, a lack of funds, or unaware that homeless students are entitled to resources. Experts say this is likely to worsen gaps in academic achievement between ethnic and socioeconomic groups, but there are measures that would help. From the California Health Report.
Is this Jackson County district neglecting its mandate to help homeless students stay in school?
School districts have a legal obligation to help homeless children stay in school. Most districts in the Kansas City area take this role seriously, but one may undercount homeless children and fail to provide important services to them. From KCU.
A school district in WA helped homeless students graduate. Can others?
At North Thurston Public Schools, Washington state, the 661 students who sleep on friends’ couches, in vehicles, in shelters, or in tents—with or without their families—are graduating almost as quickly as their peers. The district has shown that this feat requires only dedicated and consistent support. From the Seattle Times.
DC receives federal funding to help homeless students. But many needy schools are understaffed
The federal government provides funds to states, including DC, to support equal access to public education for homeless children and their families. But the DC school systems with the highest percentage of homeless students have not received any of the money for the past two years. By DCist/WAMU and Street Sense Media.
The state coordinator says New Mexico likely has an underrate of homeless students
School districts across New Mexico probably don’t have an accurate count of the number of students affected by homelessness, according to the state’s coordinator for the state program for education for homeless children and youth. These failures mean that vulnerable children are likely to miss out on important services and are denied the educational rights to which they are entitled. From New Mexico in detail.
Student homelessness is on the rise in Madison
The percentage of students in Wisconsin’s Madison Metropolitan School District affected by homelessness increased in the 2019-20 school year. Some proponents are sure there is more than the number identified, given the prevalence of what is known as “double homelessness”. This means that one family not listed on a lease or mortgage may live with another in a space that is not big enough for both of them. From the Cap Times.
