How States and Districts Are Helping K-12 Homeless Students

Complete report

States and districts are finding avenues to assist homeless students, a population who struggles to be seen and whose numbers continue to rise in many states. State educational agencies reported that 1.3 million homeless students were enrolled in public schools during the 2016-17 school year. Imagine that number for a moment — 1,355,821 — which is more than the entire student population of the New York City school system. This is a 7 percent increase from the 2014-15 school year.

During 2016-17, the states with the highest student populations have also experienced the highest increases in enrolled homeless students — including California, New York, Texas, Florida and Illinois. Some states also saw increases of 25 percent or more in the number of enrolled homeless students between 2014-15 and 2016-17. They are, in order of the largest percentages, the District of Columbia, Louisiana, Connecticut, Maine, Tennessee and New York. With this rise in the homeless student population, what are states doing to address their needs?