A new report showed 42,599 students experienced homelessness in Washington in 2018. These school-age children continued to lag behind their housed peers in academics and graduation rates, and districts receive a fraction of the money that they need to identify and support them.
The report from Schoolhouse Washington, a project of Seattle-based nonprofit Building Changes, dives into data acquired through a sharing agreement with the state’s Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI).
Analysts’ count was an increase of 915 compared to the organization’s inaugural report last year and nearly double the number of students identified a decade ago. Their figures are higher than those reported by OSPI because of slight differences in datasets.
Washington ranks eighth in the nation for the percentage of students experiencing homelessness in 2017.
Seattle Public Schools has 4,368 students experiencing homelessness, while King County is home to 9,854, according to the Schoolhouse Washington online dashboards.
Seattle Public Schools has 4,368 students experiencing homelessness, while King County is home to 9,854.
And, while urban areas like Seattle are front of mind in the homelessness crisis, it’s actually rural areas that have the highest overall rates of student homelessness, even if the numbers in real terms are lower.
The purpose of the report is to raise awareness and focus policymakers on the growing problem of student homelessness, said Daniel Zavala, director of policy and strategic communications at Building Changes.
“This report is about identifying an issue, showcasing it as a problem that needs to be addressed and highlighting some urgency around that,” Zavala said.
Homelessness among Washington’s student population, in particular, can be easy to miss.
The annual point-in-time count conducted in January and reported to the Department of Housing and Urban Development found only 3,490 people under the age of 18 and 22,304 people total in the entire state.
That is significantly fewer than the number of students identified by Building Changes, and there’s a reason. A federal law called the McKinney Vento Act established a looser definition of “homeless” for school-aged children, counting kids who live “doubled up,” defined as “sharing the housing of other persons due to loss of housing, or economic hardship.”
Nearly three-quarters of the students in the report fall into this category, students who are invisible to the point-in-time count.
Even though they have a roof, doubled-up students have academic outcomes as bad as students living in a motel, shelter or unsheltered, according to the report.
While doubled-up students remain the largest portion of students experiencing homelessness, unsheltered homelessness is on the rise. That category is growing the fastest of the four potential “nighttime residence” categories: doubled-up, hotels/motels, shelters and unsheltered.
Schools carry a great deal of responsibility for identifying homeless students and paving their way through policies like immediate enrollment (not waiting for records from a previous school) and transportation to and from the campus. They also have to “connect them with the services and supports they need to succeed academically,” the auditor’s report says.
However, districts throughout Washington state receive a combined $2.5 million through McKinney Vento or the state’s Homeless Student Stability Program. District leaders told the auditor that they needed $29 million — more than 10 times that amount — to fully execute the law.
As districts struggle to provide for homeless students, their academic outcomes consistently lag behind those of their housed peers.
English and Language Arts proficiency run between 20 and 27 points lower than housed peers, depending on whether that student lived in a city, rural area, suburban district or town. Only 25 percent of homeless students were proficient in math, according to the report.
In addition, the students won’t necessarily find stability and safety in schools.
Homeless students were suspended 2.5 times as often as housed students and had attendance rates far below their housed classmates.
Homeless students were suspended 2.5 times as often as housed students and had attendance rates far below their housed classmates.
Race is also a factor. More than 60 percent of homeless students were students of color, despite the fact that this state is heavily White.
The numbers are even more stark in the state’s biggest city: 88 percent of homeless students in Seattle Public Schools are students of color, according to the dashboard.
Still, Zavala noted, there are bright spots. Four-year graduation rates have steadily climbed since 2015, hitting 56 percent in 2018.
The gap between homeless and housed students actually narrowed slightly as a result.
The numbers are grim, but some districts are doing better than others. Building Changes hopes to push the conversation forward in the coming year by working with OSPI and individual school districts directly to share best practices and make sure Washington’s young people are supported as they go through school.
“I think this also creates a big opportunity,” Zavala said. “There are bright spots, there are opportunities to share best practices. This is just one part of this larger need, which is creating awareness. But the next step is about solutions and strategies.”
Ashley Archibald is a Staff Reporter covering local government, policy and equity. Have a story idea? She can be can reached at ashleya (at) realchangenews (dot) org. Follow Ashley on Twitter @AshleyA_RC
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