SchoolHouse Connection, a national nonprofit that works to support those experiencing homelessness through early care and education, released an analysis in March of the latest federal data on identification, attendance, graduation rates and more.
According to the organization, public schools identified more than 1.5 million children and youth experiencing homelessness in the 2023–24 school year, the highest number since national reporting began in 2004.
“This number is a critical measure of both the scale of child and youth homelessness, and the fact that when schools have the resources and capacity to identify and support students, more children and youth experiencing homelessness are enrolled, attending, and on a path to success,” the analysis states. “The data demonstrate both the scale of the challenge and the importance of sustained investment and targeted support to help students experiencing homelessness enroll, attend, and succeed in school. Dedicated support matters not only for immediate educational stability, but also for longer-term homelessness prevention: lack of a high school degree or GED is the single greatest risk factor for homelessness as a young adult. This makes targeted resources, policies, and effective practices critical for preventing future homelessness and for closing academic achievement gaps.”
Key findings
Drawing primarily on the National Center for Homeless Education’s recently released national data summary for the 2023–24 school year, the analysis identified six major trends.
Increased rates of identification
The number of identified homeless students increased by 12.6 percent over the previous school year, by 28.5 percent over the past two school years and by 11.6 percent since the 2018–19 school year. The increase in identification coincided with three notable conditions including significantly increased federal funding for homeless education over this time period, as well as growing economic pressures on families and major natural disasters.
According to SchoolHouse Connection, this increase in the identification of homeless students resulting from more resources, capacity and better identification is “evidence of impact and progress.” However, a decrease in homeless numbers does not necessarily mean progress in reducing homelessness, the organization found. Rather, it can mean there is a lack of resources, outreach and proactive identification. “Children and youth must first be identified as experiencing homelessness in order to receive the protections and services they need to enroll, attend, and succeed in school — and to decrease their risk of experiencing homelessness as adults,” it stated.
Chronic absenteeism
During the 2023–24 school year, there was modest improvement in chronic absenteeism rates among homeless youth over the previous few years, but it was still significantly higher than other low-income students. Even with a 3.1 percent decrease over the previous two school years, 47.7 percent of students experiencing homelessness were chronically absent — 11 percentage points higher than the 2018–19 school year.
This finding is linked to increased rates of identification, according to the analysis, which stated that “the reduction in chronic absence, while modest, occurred during a period when public schools were identifying many more students experiencing homelessness and had more resources to support their attendance.”
Graduation
The national average graduation rate for homeless students during the 2023–24 school year was 70.1 percent — an increase of 1 percent over the previous year, and 2.1 percent since the pandemic. However, homeless student graduation rates still remain well below those of other low-income students and fall drastically short of graduation outcomes among all students.
Still, any increase is positive news. And according to SchoolHouse Connection, “the improvements in high school graduation rates for homeless students occurred at the same time that public schools identified significantly more students experiencing homelessness,” which again highlights the importance of improving identification efforts.
Who is identified and when
Two of the findings included in the analysis focus on which student groups are identified and when. For instance, during the 2023–24 school year, 12.7 percent of homeless students were staying in shelters or transitional housing when they were first identified by schools as experiencing homelessness, compared to 74.3 percent who were staying temporarily with other people, often referred to as “doubling-up;” 8.5 percent who were staying in hotels or motels; and 4.4 percent who were unsheltered.
Meanwhile, the number of unaccompanied homeless youth (those experiencing homelessness on their own, without a parent or guardian) increased 3.1 percent over the previous year, and 15.5 percent over the past two years. The analysis showed public schools identified 127,848 unaccompanied homeless youth in 2023–24, representing 8.3 percent of all enrolled homeless students.
Children ages 0-5
The number of young children ages 0-5 identified and served through Education for Homeless Children and Youth (EHCY) subgrants reached a record high in 2023–24, according to SchoolHouse Connection. Local educational agencies receiving these subgrants reported identifying and serving 84,883 children from birth to age 5 who were not yet enrolled in kindergarten — a 13.3 percent increase over the previous year and a 45.3 percent increase over the prior two years.
The largest increases occurred during the period when American Rescue Plan Homeless Children and Youth (ARP-HCY) program funds were available.
“LEAs receiving regular EHCY subgrants were especially well positioned to benefit from ARP-HCY, because ARP Homeless I could be used to supplement existing EHCY subgrants and ARP Homeless II was distributed broadly by formula to reach the vast majority of LEAs. That likely gave many EHCY subgrantee districts substantially greater capacity to identify and serve young children experiencing homelessness during this period,” according to the analysis. “These figures likely understate the number of young children experiencing homelessness who were served by school districts in some way, because this dataset includes only children served through EHCY subgrants, and only 20 percent of all LEAs receive EHCY subgrants due to the national funding amount for the EHCY program.”
