Aug 29

Study Found Over One Million Homeless Students in America

Shocking 2009 Statistics Found Over 1 Million Homeless Students in U.S.  How Many Are Homeless in 2017?  Three Million?

Photo of homeless man in front of Salvation Army Youth Center by Uncle Paulie

Peter Miller of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, issued a study that found at least one million students were homeless in the year 2009 in the U.S  Here is part of his opening statement:

A Critical Analysis of the Research on Student Homelessness

by

Peter M. Miller

Since the onset of the economic recession, rates of student homelessness have increased rapidly in urban, suburban, and rural school districts throughout the United States. Despite the widespread urgency of the issue, there is a lack of general coherence in the research about how diverse conditions of home lessness affect students and how schools and communities can best serve them. This literature review attempts to deepen scholars’ understandings of such matters by examining (a) homeless students ‘school experience in comparison to that of other students, (b) federal policy’s shaping of homeless students’ rights and opportunities, and (c) homeless students’ key support mechanisms. The author suggests that these three focus areas provide foundational insights into the nature and extent of students’ opportunities to succeed in school. Although homeless students’ experiences are noted to be similar to those of residentially stable low-income students, they appeared to be distinguishable based on their high rates of isolation and school mobility. The McKinney- Vento Homeless Assistance Act was found to have profound formative influences on the wider field of practice, but its full implementation is limited by the disonnected nature of students’ diverse support mechanisms. Based on the findings, the author suggests that researchers and practitioners consider the people, places, and policies that affect students in more holistic manners—as networks of practice.

Approximately one million students were identified as homelesss in U.S. Schools during the 2009-2010 school year. Although this number represented only a fraction of the students who actually expeeriennced homelessness that year (many more went unidentified), it was startling because it was 41% greater than just 2 years earlier (National Center for Homeless Education, 2010). Given that 70% of school districts throughout the United States reported local increases in student homelessness during this period (National Associationn for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth {NAEHCY} First Focus, 2010), it is apparent that the crisis of student homelessness is escalating in widespread contexts. For example, large inncreases in homeless student identification were evident not only in New York (73%), California (62%), Texas (139%), and other states with large cities, but also in Iowa (136%), South Dakota (73%), New Mexico (91%), and a number of other states with smaller, less densely constituted populations (NAECY/First Focus, 2010). All told , at least 1 our of every 38 children living at or below the poverty level in the United States experienced sheltered or street homelessness in 2009.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE REPORT. (You can download the .pdf file)