Keeping Homeless Students Engaged in Education Amid a Crisis
By Myrna Castrejón, President & CEO, California Charter Schools Association
As fall turns to winter and we enter the holiday season, most Californians spend more time at home and look forward to holiday gatherings with their families. While this may be the norm, a growing percentage of residents do not have enough money to pay for a roof over their heads.
We read in the headlines every day that homelessness in California has been a persistent and tough-to-solve crisis. And while the public’s attention focuses on the many unhoused who struggle with addiction or mental health, the rise in unhoused families with school-age children is much greater than people realize — and public schools are on the front lines to create supportive points of connection that can help provide a lifeline without which the long-term impacts to children’s education can be devastating. Keeping unhoused students engaged in education and providing continuity gives families the tools and support they need to navigate temporary disruptions and help students stay on track with their educational aspirations.
The Golden State has 28% of the nation’s homeless population. Often lost in the headlines is the number of children who are also dealing with homelessness. The latest California Department of Education data shows that more than 171,000 California students were unhoused. Frontline educators believe this number is much higher as many parents are reluctant to report their housing status voluntarily.
The difference in academic outcomes among homeless students is alarming. As compared to non-homeless students, they face greater chronic absenteeism rates, lower academic outcomes, and increased dropout rates. For example, the 2021–22 school year suspension rate for K-12 non-homeless students was 3.1%, yet the rate for homeless students was 5.6%. The dropout rate is more than double — 7.2% compared to 17.2%.
Since the start of the pandemic, these disparities have only worsened. Of all student groups, homeless students have faced the most significant decline in statewide testing of any group.
CCSA’s latest research brief, Homeless Youth in California Charter Public Schools 2023, finds more than 14,700 students attending charter public schools are experiencing homelessness — that’s about 2% of the state’s charter school student population. Districts in large urban areas like Los Angeles, San Diego, Sacramento, and the Inland Empire have the largest concentrations of homeless students. CCSA’s research also finds that homelessness disproportionately affects Latino and Black charter school students compared to their peers.
So, what do we in the public education sector do to provide these children with the tools and support they need to stay engaged in their education and graduate? Few disagree that more needs to be done to support this most vulnerable group of students.
The research in our report on homeless students identified many approaches that are having a positive impact on students who are struggling with the instability and challenges that accompany homelessness.
At Scholarship Prep in Orange County, homeless youth make up 21% of the student population. To support them, the charter ensures all staff receive trauma-informed training. Scholarship Prep also offers summer programs and family education courses to homeless students and their families. In addition, Scholarship Prep provides free clothing, food, and toiletry products. The school even offers a free laundry service. Nonprofits such as Project Hope Alliance, Latino Health Access, and Serve the People partner with this school to provide many other critical supports.
Ten percent of San Diego’s The Learning Choice Academy (TLC) student population has been identified as homeless. TLC’s independent study program offers personalized learning plans, one-on-one teacher support, individualized college and career planning, and flexible schedules to all its students. This approach primarily benefits TLC students dealing with housing insecurity, allowing them to continue their learning no matter where they are. TLC also ensures that most staff members are bilingual to communicate and support English learners and their families effectively.
New Heights Charter School in Los Angeles has a dedicated Student and Family Support team that collaborates with its Homeless Youth Liaison to support the 8% of students who are homeless at the school. They provide necessities such as food, clothing, and class supplies. Regarding coursework, New Heights offers after-school intervention sessions and flexibility with assignment deadlines. The team also conducts regular check-ins to support students’ mental, social, emotional, and academic development.
To support high-needs students, Rocketship Mosaic, serving students in the Bay Area, created CareCorps, a group of educators who work directly with students and families to identify those in need and connect them to resources and services. Rocketship Mosaic also partners with local enrichment provider KidzToPros to provide STEAM-based afterschool enrichment.
Five percent of Inland Leaders’ student population has been identified as homeless. The charter school in San Bernardino partners with Olive Crest Family Services to provide counseling and mentoring for teens and young adults in crisis. For example, counselors work alongside educators to find housing for homeless students or help students transition once they have “aged out” of the public school system. The charter school also offers a mental health program, an extensive afterschool elective program, and an advisory program that connects students with an adult mentor or teacher who plans and assesses students’ development.
We know that solving the homelessness crisis in California will continue to demand creative and urgent solutions and will not change overnight, even as the Governor and local authorities have prioritized investment and attention to this complex set of problems. We educators cannot wait for other public service sectors to solve this issue, nor stand by and wait until the broader economic pressures on families decrease on their own. There is a role for new and innovative approaches to help struggling unhoused students and their families prepare for adulthood and life, and that means adapting the systems to the needs of students, not deeming the students a failure because their circumstances can’t fit neatly into the education box we have placed them in.
Charter public school leaders are on the front lines of this crisis and get the special opportunity to intervene and engage a student who might otherwise get lost in the system. They are using the best qualities of charter flexibility to meet this moment, provide equity in educational opportunities and outcomes, and deliver creative results.
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For more information about charter public schools in your area, visit https://www.ccsa.org/find-a-school.
