A homeless student population outnumbers the total number of homeless people in Stanislaus County. The two counts come from the same county, but the data gathering and definitions have produced wildly different totals.
The Stanislaus County Office of Education is preparing to provide a total of 6,500 homeless students with school supplies from Operation Backpack as school years look to restart within the next month.
The number seemingly exceeds the total homeless population calculated by Stanislaus County, but the calculation from SCOE takes into account different kinds of homeless situations to provide needed support and resources for students.
1. Different homeless counts have produced wildly differing totals
“The numbers really are all over the map and it can be frustrating,” said Ken Fitzgerald, Director of Safe and Supportive Schools with SCOE.
Stanislaus County has a total homeless population of 1,356, yet estimates from SCOE placed a total homeless student population of 6,500. Additionally, data from the California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data System indicated that there were 3,831 homeless students in the 2016-17 school year.
The reason for this difference is in the definitions of homelessness and the way data is collected. Generally, the 1,356 number from the homeless count comes a point-in-time count; this generally counts the number of people sleeping on the street, in parks, or in other like places.
The 6,500 number used by SCOE for programs like Operation Backpack is an estimate pulled from different sources, including definitions from the McKinney Vento Act and the inclusion of students who may meet homeless definitions under the law within that year.
The official number given by the state from data collected by the schools is 3,831. However, according to Fitzgerald, the number is prone to fluctuation. Just three years prior the number was over 7,000, but, even though the number decreased by almost half, Fitzgerald is not convinced that the total population went down by that amount.
“We know that our numbers weren’t cut in half, but what happens is a lot of times parents don’t want to say that they're homeless just because of the perceived stigma that might come with that,” said Fitzgerald.
2. Schools follow a law that includes different kinds of homelessness
“When I was kid, for about year... I lived in an actual school bus that was converted into an RV, and we lived there for a year,” said Fitzgerald. “I would never have considered myself homeless. My parents wouldn’t have considered us homeless, but McKinney Vento specifically says a home on wheels and that student would then qualify as homeless.”
The law provides additional resources and support to children experiencing homelessness to children who fall under the definition.
Students fall in several definitions of homeless and all are defined by the McKinney–Vento Homeless Assistance Act. The act determines homelessness on traditional homelessness, like living out of a car or trailer, living in a trailer, hotel or motel, and last designation is “doubled up.”
“If you have two families that live in a single-family home, under McKinney-Vento we would designate those students as homeless. That designation is meant to give them additional support and additional rights to access education for K-12 students,” said Fitzgerald.
In general, the law applies itself to students with a housing situation that is not permanent, even if they’re living in someone else’s home.
3. Homeless designation provides resources to displaced students
One of the reasons this designation is given is to provide resources and support to students who may need it.
Students experiencing homelessness as defined by the law are eligible for immediate enrollment in their place of residence. Fitzgerald stated that a family sleeping on a curb or in a car could have this as their residence, and they would be eligible for enrollment in the district they were in.
Additionally, homeless students in high school may only have to complete only 130 credits, the state minimum, to be eligible for a diploma, if they are homeless after completing their second year of high school.
One provision that has proved to be trouble for smaller districts is a transportation requirement. According to Fitzgerald, the homeless student could be a student in Sacramento, but be in a “doubled up” situation in Roseville. The student could stay in Sacramento’s school district, and the district would have to provide transportation at no cost.
“That’s something in the McKinney-Vento that some school districts really struggle with because some of the smaller more rural districts, they have some challenges in meeting that requirement. But that’s specifically what the law says,” added Fitzgerald.
4. Success depends on information sharing between parents and schools
Schools track success for homeless students differently. While some may rely on graduation rates, or standardized testing, these generally measure their standards over a long term.
“Our goal in supporting these students is to really use data points that are right up front. We’re going to know right away. Attendance is a great one for that,” said Fitzgerald.
Other ways include having staff “keep an extra an eye out on social and emotional needs,” according to Fitzgerald. This would allow them to observe if students are behaving differently than they normally do.
Declining rates of homeless children would not necessarily be an indicator due to concerns of underreporting students who may meet the definition. This concern adds challenges for the district’s data and challenges the school’s ability to provide resources and supports to the student who may need them.
“The fact that the data points aren’t clear make that challenging- make it a little bit frustrating,” said Fitzgerald. “I think that the best way that we can support kids who are homeless, or at risk of becoming homeless, is for us to have sensitivity to those needs and be able to reach out and ask the questions about their living situation and how we might best be able to support them.”