Almost 1.1 million students were reported as homeless by public school systems for the 2020-2021 school year. To ensure that youths experiencing homelessness (YEH) have the support to fully experience the learning opportunities of public school, this study sought to learn how school personnel understand YEH as well as the procedures and practices…

Each year, over 1.2 million children and youth identified as homeless in the nation's schools experience educational disruption caused by not having a safe and stable place to live. Many students who have disabilities and are experiencing homelessness face additional challenges for educational progress that require close coordination between…

This chapter explores the importance of developing spaces on campus that serve students experiencing homelessness. The authors recommend identifying a single point of contact in order to facilitate access to services.

Applications to local authorities for homelessness assistance per head are significantly higher in university towns and cities in England compared with areas without a university (1,428 per 100,000, compared with 1,007). Rates of households living in temporary accommodation are more than twice as high (475 per 100,000, compared with 218). The…

Education policies have too often ignored how conditions outside of school can alter life chances for young people, especially students of color, before they even reach the classroom. More recently, COVID-19 has made it impossible to overlook the needs of the whole child, both inside and outside of school. The authors assert that responding to a…

The purpose of this qualitative study was to identify which student groups Black students perceive as needing food assistance, to explore how Black students' perceptions of students in need impacts their decision to utilize the on-campus food pantry at California State University, Dominguez Hills (CSUDH), and to identify the circumstances that…

Basic needs insecurity -- including housing and food insecurity, as well as lack of access to healthcare, childcare, transportation, and other basic needs -- is a critical barrier that can undermine persistence and completion rates for postsecondary students. The gaps in covering critical costs such as housing and food are pervasive among students…

In this essay, I use the McKinney-Vento Homeless Education Assistance Improvements Act of 2001 to define homelessness and describe its prevalence in United States public schools. I present readers with statistics about student homelessness and situate Gorski's equity literacy within the progressive, equity-oriented foundations of the middle school…

It is well demonstrated that basic needs insecurities (i.e., food insecurity, housing insecurity, or homelessness) are more pronounced among certain groups of historically marginalized students, including students of color at traditionally under-resourced Historically Black Colleges and University (HBCUs), Predominantly Black Institutions (PBIs),…

This research examines the gap between federal and state legal standards and policies related to educational provision for school-age youth detained in the United States, and secondary evidence documenting the educational services that are provided to unaccompanied im/migrant children in federal custody. The educational provision for unaccompanied…

This article contributes to the literature on street-connectedness and inclusive education, presenting original research findings from two Kenyan studies. Both studies aim to understand street-connected young people's experiences of education. The first focused on transitioning from the street into education or training, to explore the challenges…

The COVID-19 pandemic and transition to online learning brings new challenges in meeting the unique social and emotional needs of young adolescents. Furthermore, the pandemic has exposed and exacerbated deep inequities in our society. The crisis highlights the growing racial and economic disparities that occur when students do not have the online…

Although the transition to adulthood after graduation can be difficult for any student, additional challenges remain for independent students. The authors define independent students as undergraduates between the ages of 18 and 24 who have no dependency on a parent or guardian, such as foster care alumni. It is important that higher education…

During the 2019-20 school year, public schools identified 1.3 million students who were experiencing homelessness--2.5 percent of all those enrolled. With the added $800 million that Congress provided in 2021 through the American Rescue Plan's Homeless Children and Youth program (ARP-HCY), many states have started or expanded initiatives to…

Washington has made some strides in recent years toward increasing awareness and state support of students' basic needs but has lacked state and regional information to drive larger-scale policies, programs, and investments to address the attainment barriers associated with basic needs insecurity. State and regional data on unmet basic needs can…