Supporting Students Experiencing Homelessness in New York State: Barriers and Facilitators to Identification and Continued Enrollment
By Jennifer Erb-Downward, William Lopez, and John Bulat
Background
Housing instability can have negative educational, developmental, and health consequences for children. Nationwide, more than 1.2 million children in preK-12 schools were identified as experiencing homelessness in SY 2021-22, an increase of 10.8% over the previous year, but still lower than the number identified as homeless prior to the pandemic. New York State, excluding New York City, mirrors these national trends. While improvements in the identification of school-aged children experiencing homelessness have been seen in this region, post-pandemic numbers have not yet returned to pre-pandemic levels. In SY 2021-22, 5,088 fewer homeless students were identified by schools than in SY 2018-19. This was driven by 350 districts–just over half (57%) of school districts in the State.
By region, decreases in identification were most notable in Long Island, where 73 school districts identified 2,377 fewer children experiencing homelessness (a 28% decrease in identification) and in the Finger Lakes region, where 40 school districts identified 1,087 fewer children (a 24% decrease) from SY 2018-2019. The Mohawk region is also noteworthy. Despite only identifying 180 fewer children experiencing homelessness in SY 2021-22 compared to SY 2018-19, more than three quarters (76%) of all districts in the region reported a decrease in identification, and an additional seven districts (19%) saw no decrease but identified zero children experiencing homelessness. Because it is unlikely that a school district does not have a single child experiencing homelessness, these numbers suggest systemic challenges across the Mohawk Region with homeless student identification.
Also of concern, evidence of likely under-identification of children experiencing homelessness was prevalent across New York State. Ninety-three school districts are believed to be under-identifying homelessness based on having a lower-than-average rate of homelessness despite having a higher-than-average child poverty rate compared to the State overall. Likely under-identification was most pronounced in the Western Region (21 districts) and Southern Tier (17 districts). An additional 133 school districts reported no students experiencing homelessness. These districts, particularly those with more than 1,000 students, are also likely under-identifying homelessness among their school aged children. By region, Hudson Valley had the largest number of school districts identifying no children experiencing homelessness (25 districts, or 30% of all school districts) followed by Southern Tier and Western region both at 19 districts (41% and 23% of districts respectively). The Finger Lakes region had the fewest school districts identifying no children experiencing homelessness (only 4 districts or just 5% of districts).
In light of these data, which show significant gaps in the identification of school-aged children experiencing homelessness, the New York State Department of Education funded a qualitative study of School District McKinney-Vento liaisons to learn more about current practices of McKinney-Vento Liaisons and to identify opportunities to improve support for children experiencing homelessness.