Across the country, some 1.3 million public school children and youth are classified as homeless by the federal government. The challenges facing these youngsters in school are formidable. They're more likely to miss classes, score poorly on standardized tests and have physical, emotional or psychological problems. They're also more likely to move frequently from one school district to another without anyone ever noticing that something is wrong — or to drop out of school altogether.
That is why last month the U.S. department of Education issued new guidelines to states and school districts on how to better support students who are homeless. The new rules aim to address the needs of homeless young people and ensure their right to an education is protected despite the problems they face. Implicit in the department's recommendations is a recognition that getting an education is still the surest path out of poverty for homeless students.
The Great Recession of 2008 saw a near doubling of the homeless student population. Families that until then had enjoyed a relatively stable middle-class lifestyle suddenly found themselves in danger of losing their jobs and homes as unemployment and home foreclosures soared.
Many families were forced to move in temporarily with relatives or friends, and they were the lucky ones: Those less fortunate ended up in public homeless shelters or worse — sleeping in the woods or on the streets. Some never recovered. A 2012 report by the National Center on Family Homelessness found the downturn had left one in 45 children in the U.S. homeless; in the fourth year of the recovery an estimated 3,000 school-age children and youth in Maryland were still living without a permanent roof over their heads.
The new Department of Education guidelines require local school districts to identify young people who may be suffering from homelessness and provide them with additional support services. The rules also aim to ensure schools coordinate their efforts with public and private child welfare agencies, local law-enforcement, the court system and child care providers, domestic violence agencies and runaway and homeless youth shelters. The goal is to provide a measure of stability in the lives of students experiencing homelessness that allows them to keep their school careers on track..
The U.S. Department of Education also announced changes to streamline the path to higher education for homeless students by making it easier for them to apply for financial aid to attend college. Young people who are homeless won't be required to provide their parents' financial information when they fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid form, and they'll also get a fact sheet to help them navigate the FAFSA.
The department's most recent data probably still underestimate the total number of children and youth who are homeless. It doesn't count infants and toddlers, or young children who aren't enrolled in public preschool programs who may be homeless. Nor does it count older children who aren't enrolled in school, who have dropped out or who have run away from home.
In Baltimore City, where most of the state's homeless population is concentrated and many young people leave school before graduating, educators face an especially difficult task in identifying the children at highest risk for being homeless and persuading them to continue their educations. Many of them have been alienated from their families by physical or sexual abuse or by parents who abuse drugs or alcohol themselves. But if they are to overcome the serious disadvantages that come from not having a place to go home to at the end of the day school attendance is their best chance of turning their lives around and Maryland should be doing everything it can to help them seize it.