Fully Supporting California's Students Facing Homelessness

There are two major institutions supporting California’s students facing homelessness, the California Department of Education (CDE) and Continuum of Cares (CoCs). CDE oversees public education and holds local educational agencies accountable for student achievement. CoCs are the regional or local branch that coordinates homelessness funding for services and housing. The integration of both of these agencies is vital to fully supporting homeless students and their families.

California is home to almost a quarter of the United States’ homeless children population (0-18) and a third of youth homelessness (0-24), with CDE identifying 246,480 students facing homelessness during the 2022-23 school year. During the 2022-23 school year, 93,080 students were identified by CoCs as eligible for housing services in their identification system (HMIS). During the same school year, CDE identified 41,163 HMIS eligible students, missing approximately 51,917 students across the state that were accounted for in the HMIS system.

We will explore how education and housing services can better align to meet the comprehensive needs of students facing homelessness to truly support the opportunity to stay and succeed in school. Specifically, this will highlight:

1. Data collected by CDE and CoCs, demonstrating data misalignment and the need for enhanced data collaboration between these agencies. 
2. The newly available dwelling-type data released by CDE to explore areas of most need for students facing homelessness. 
3. Explore strategies for increased alignment and improved services for students facing homelessness.

CDE identified 246,480 students facing homelessness during the 2022-2023 school year

California's students facing homelessness are most concentrated in urban areas, especially in Southern California. Click on a county below (red dot) to find out the total count of students facing homelessness in that county.

CDE released dwelling-type data to understand the different housing situations of the students they identify. The four dwelling types they identify are Doubled Up, Temporary Shelters, Hotels/Motels, and Temporarily Unsheltered.

• Doubled Up: A temporary residence where a homeless family is sharing the housing of other persons due to the loss of housing, economic hardship, or other similar reasons.
• Temporary Shelters: A temporary residence provided for homeless individuals who would otherwise sleep on the street, or a temporary residence provided to individuals in emergency situations.
• Hotels/Motels: A temporary residence for homeless individuals usually requiring payment or vouchers for lodging and services on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis.
• Temporarily Unsheltered: A type of residence for homeless individuals that is not meant for human habitation, such as cars, parks, sidewalks, abandoned buildings, campgrounds, trailer parks, bus and train stations, or persons abandoned in the hospital (on the street). A rule of thumb would be to see the dwelling as comparable to an automobile in that it shelters but is not adequate housing.

Doubled Up

During the 2022-23 school year, CDE identified 205,317 students (0-18) across the state living in a doubled up situation. These students account for the highest percentage of identified students facing homelessness by CDE (83 percent). The differences between urban and rural areas can be observed below, as counties in urban areas have a higher percentage of students identified as doubled-up compared to more rural counties.

Temporary Shelters

During the 2022-23 school year, CDE identified 17,007 students (0-18) across the state living in temporary shelters (6.9%). Again there are regional differences, with some of the Eastern rural counties identifying the highest percentage of students in Temporary Shelters.

Hotels/Motels

During the 2022-23 school year, CDE identified 14,788 students (0-18) across the state living in hotels/motels (6%). These families tend to rely on vouchers to continue staying in a hotel/motel.

Temporarily Unsheltered

During the 2022-23 school year, CDE identified 9,366 students (0-18) across the state as temporarily unsheltered (3.8%).

HUD is the federal agency responsible for national policy and programs that address housing needs and enforce housing laws. While the source of funding stems from HUD, families facing homeless interact with housing support at the local level through Continuum of Care (CoCs) organizations. The CoC provides funds to the entities that administer housing services for homeless individuals. The CoC only identifies families in their data system (HMIS) if they meet the HUD defined homeless definition, which is much more restrictive than CDE's definition.

CoC Boundaries

California's 58 counties are divided into 44 Continuums of Care (CoC) regions. A Continuum of Care is a local or regional planning body that coordinates funding for homelessness services and housing. Utilize the map to locate your CoC and district intersections.

Total Count of Students Identified by CoCs

During the 2022-2023 year, the CoCs across California identified 93,080 students (0-18) as eligible for housing support. These students (with their families) were inputting into the CoC data collection system, HMIS.

Total Count of CDE Identified Students that "Should" be Eligible to be entered into HMIS

This count was created by assuming that student's identified by CDE in Temporary Shelters, Hotels/Motels, and Temporarily Unsheltered would all fall under the HUD definition of homelessness and could be entered into the HMIS system by the CoC. Below is the total count of these "HMIS eligible" students.

Eligible and in the HMIS System

The map below combines the data from the two previous maps, the "Continuum of Care (CoC) Total Count" and the "Count Eligible to be entered into HMIS". The comparison is between the data collected by the school system (CDE) and the data collected by the housing authority (CoCs).

• The CoCs identified 93,080 students as eligible for housing services in their identification system (HMIS).
• During the same school year, CDE identified 41,163 HUD-eligible students, missing approximately 51,917 students across the state that were accounted for by the CoCs.
• The map below allows us to see which counties have the best data alignment (dark green) compared to counties that have vastly different counts (purple). Click on a county below to see a side-by-side comparison of the "Continuum of Care (CoC) Total Count" and the "Count Eligible to be entered into HMIS".

How can education and housing services better align to fully meet the needs of students facing homelessness?

Best Practices for alignment between Education and Housing Services:

1. Ensuring CoC boards save seats for education staff to attend meetings:
   1. It is valuable to have an education staff member on the board of CoCs to both better understand what housing is locally available for homeless families and share resources/data from the school systems.
2. Read and edit access of HMIS:
   1. HMIS includes much more detailed information about families then typically known by education staff. Having read and edit access to HMIS allows for school staff to understand the full range of supports being offered to their students and reduces retraumatizing families since their story would already be in the system. It allows for more coordinator and wrap around services.
3. Uplift youth (0-18) voices:
   1. Ask students in schools about their needs and how they can be better supported. ( SchoolHouse Connection , and  Y-PLAN  civic leadership initiative)
4. Adapt the housing questionnaire (filled out by all students during the school year) to include more detailed information to better understand if their family qualifies for housing support:
   1. The housing questionnaire is often the first time a student is identified as homeless and the questionnaire can be an important tool for understanding the needs of the student and their family.
   2. The housing questionnaire should include: Veteran status of guardians (there are specific HUD funding streams to support Veterans), pre-school members of family, release of information (in order for data to be shared between education and housing agencies), and which specific service the family would like to be referred to.
   3. Additionally, the housing questionnaire should include an indicator for students and families to understand if they qualify for services and the contact information for local resources to give them agency in finding support.