Through engaging in interviews with 10 local educational agency liaisons, this study provides insight into their roles, challenges, and training in serving children and youth experiencing homelessness. Using thematic analysis to analyze transcripts, common themes were uncovered. The findings highlight the liaisons' challenges related to…

COVID-19 has disrupted California's education system in fundamental ways. Districts across the state are quickly creating strategies to serve all students, and many are designing their response around the needs of their most vulnerable students. This brief highlights the response of Mother Lode Union School District (MLUSD) to the COVID-19…

The American Rescue Plan Act (ARP), Congress' most recent package for COVID-19 relief, includes billions of dollars dedicated to infants, toddlers, and children under the age of six. In addition to the $800 million in education funding included for identifying and supporting children and youth experiencing homelessness, there are opportunities…

Parent involvement is frequently identified as a variable in student success. A gap in the literature regarding how African American parents create opportunities to engage with their children's education exist. One district's outreach to parents, and parents' responses to the outreach served as a case study for exploring how African American…

This brief provides important information to service providers on the requirements under the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (subsequently referred to in this brief as the McKinney-Vento Act), as amended by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). The McKinney-Vento Act ensures educational rights and protections for homeless children and…

Attendance is vital to academic success but many children in Michigan are not making it to school. Based on recent estimates, Michigan has the sixth highest statewide chronic absenteeism rate in the country. Efforts to reduce school absences can be strengthened by understanding the characteristics of students most at risk. Race, income and…

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Houston Independent School District (HISD) moved to remote learning, which included distance learning, independent study, live online meetings, and completing assignments online or paper-based packets mailed to the home beginning on March 30, 2020. The last nine weeks of the 2019-2020 school year were…

This Research-to-Impact brief is the fourth in a series by Chapin Hall's Voices of Youth Count on understanding and addressing youth homelessness. It summarizes key lessons learned from conducting point-in-time counts of youth experiencing homelessness in 22 diverse counties across the United States. Youth counts can provide communities with…

Changing schools may greatly impede the academic achievement and social development of students experiencing homelessness. Research studies have demonstrated a link between high mobility due to homelessness and poor school performance (Cunningham, Harwood, & Hall, 2010; Obradovic, Long, Cutuli, Chan, Hinz, Heistad & Masten, 2009). Students…

In partnership with the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative and 22 San Mateo County school districts, this report and research brief explore the ways in which local students experience housing instability, and how cross-sector strategies can better identify and serve these students. This study considers a rich set of school administrative data, which allow…

To establish, maintain, and ensure an equitable grading system in Houston ISD, the grading trends of the district must be routinely monitored. It is important to understand how students enrolled in Houston ISD performed academically "pre-pandemic" as compared to the 2021-2022 school year. It is also critical to understand how classroom…

America is ramping up efforts to improve outcomes for students experiencing homelessness. In addition to increased awareness of the problem, groundbreaking legislation and policies at all levels, public and private support organizations, local communities, and states are undertaking a variety of efforts to boost outcomes for some of the country's…

Recent research in the State of Michigan has shown homelessness among children to be a key factor predicting student achievement in both rural and urban areas, yet little attention has been given, thus far, to understanding where homeless students in Michigan attend school and how their needs might differ depending on their geographic location.…

Schools often struggle to build partnerships with homeless and highly mobile (HHM) families. These families are not homogeneous; they live in and engage with schools from diverse residential contexts. Using Epstein's theory and framework and drawing from 132 interviews with HHM parents, school personnel, and community stakeholders in an urban…

During a disaster, youth may be separated from their parents or guardians. Parents who have lost their homes may place youth temporarily with friends or relatives; or youth may be separated from their parents during an emergency evacuation. Additionally, some youth could be on their own before a disaster occurs. Unaccompanied youth who lack a…