Transforming Homeless Education Policy & Practice
Y-PLAN: Supporting Unhoused Youth in Oakland Unified School District
Overview
11th grade Y-PLAN students at Oakland High School within the Law and Social Justice Career Pathway engaged in the policy-making process to improve the district program for unhoused students, focusing on district implementation of federal McKinney-Vento legislation. They designed and conducted an extensive survey of 177 Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) students and 18 OUSD teachers to identify central challenges facing their unhoused peers. Over the course of the 2020-2021 and 2021-2022 school years, students researched, proposed, and presented actionable policy solutions, which centered on basic needs and career development centers, academic programming assistance, and financial literacy and independence. Within one month of the students’ presentations, OUSD provided funding to hire three new McKinney-Vento case managers to immediately scale up resources for unhoused students.
Y-PLAN is a civic learning, action-research strategy that engages young people to be agents of change in their cities through a 5-Step Methodology.
Community of Practice
Instructor: Mallory Logan, Oakland High School
Civic Clients: (1) Local: Trish Anderson, McKinney-Vento Liaison Oakland Unified School District; (2) State: California Department of Education, McKinney-Vento Homeless Education Office
Student Scholars: 100 11th Grade Students, Law and Social Justice Career Pathway
Higher Education Partner: Dr. Deborah Mckoy, UC Berkeley Department of City and Regional Planning & Center for Cities + Schools
Community Partner: Financial Literacy Group
To learn more about homelessness across California Counties, check out the Interactive State of Crisis Map found here:
Project Question
How can we best improve the support & outcomes for unhoused youth in Oakland Unified School District (OUSD)? Specifically:
- What are academic solutions to increase college readiness?
- How can we create career opportunities and greater access to transportation networks?
- How can we increase financial literacy and independence for students and families?
- How can we best support students’ basic needs?
Scope & Background
Unhoused Student Facts (2020-2021)
Snapshot of OUSD Unhoused Youth
Of 1,065 McKinney-Vento Eligible Students:
- 55% (96 of 175) of unhoused high school seniors graduated
- 44% of unhoused non-Newcomer youth are emancipated youth
- 61% of unhoused high school seniors participated in College & Career Pathways
- 82% of unhoused newcomer students were temporarily doubled up (couch-surfing)
Challenges
Civic Client Challenges from the McKinney-Vento Office
School districts like OUSD face substantial hurdles to fulfilling their MKV duties, including inadequate state and federal funding, which leads to under-resourced and understaffed homeless liaisons within schools. At the start of this project, Trish Anderson, OUSD’s program liaison, was personally responsible for supporting upwards of 100 unhoused students,making consistent outreach difficult. While OUSD hired three additional case workers in 2020, its MKV staff was still stretched incredibly thin, with each case manager assigned roughly 100 individuals. For this reason, their McKinney-Vento office is only able to assist by advocating for immediate needs such as school enrollment, food stability, and protecting students from punishment for court-related absences.
Another major challenge at OUSD is determining which students are unhoused. Even once they are identified, it can be difficult to get youth or their families to complete the paperwork needed to qualify for MKV services. Inconsistent home addresses, confidentiality concerns, and lack of consistent contact with parents contribute to these challenges. In a survey, a majority of unhoused students stated they would prefer to keep themselves anonymous.
Trish Anderson Interview:
"In terms of identification, the challenge this year has been implementing a survey in our enrollment packet for school. What happened was parents self-identified as being housing insecure, but they never came in to see me. Right, so they're not mandated to one self identify." (June 2022)
- Lack of Knowledge and Resources
- Due to lack of teaching on how to support students for teachers, there is a lack of identification and aid for students.
- No designated secondary liaison and an understaffed MKV office.
- Many cases are instead dumped upon people services.
- Identification: Tracking and Enrolling Unhoused Students
- While there are housing surveys in enrollment packet, many parents do not self identify and the MKV office is unable to support students if parents do not sign the MKV enrollment form authorizing OUSD to support students.
- Inconsistent home addresses, confidentiality concerns, and lack of consistent contact with parents contribute to the challenges the MKV office face.
- Majority of unhoused students stated in a survey they would prefer to keep themselves anonymous.
- Budget Instability
- Unstable budgets from California Department of Education are also a challenge for liaisons from local education agencies.
- According to Title I Part A, 90% of MKV funding goes to transportation (AC bus passes and discounted BART passes).
- Can be challenging to navigate policies at the local, state, and district levels.
Challenges of Unhoused Youth & Families
After mapping, interviewing, and conducting site visits to different community programs and sites seeking to support unhoused youth, such as the Oakland Tiny Home Village, students analyzed their data and identified the following as central challenges facing unhoused students:
"I think [these challenges] are self-evident. The challenges are lack of shelter, availability, lack of academic opportunities, a consistent schedule, transportation, financial literacy and mental health. I think those are all pretty right on."
- Lack of Mental Health Resources
- Unhoused students have a higher probability of developing mental health disorders stemming from financial and housing instability
- 46% of unhoused students suffer from chronic health problems; 45% of them have psychiatric or emotional conditions, including depression, addictions, and anxiety; and 36% have PTSD
- Housing Instabiity & Lack of Basic Needs
- Food and housing instability can lead to harsh living and learning conditions. Lack of personal space, hygiene, and support services can also lead to absenteeism and difficulty forming connections with teachers and peers
- Approximately 37.2% of unhoused youth drop out of high school (with only 13.4% meeting A-G standards for admission into California state universities)
- Lack of financial literacy and independence
- Many families have low wage employment, often minimum wage
- High costs of living and rent make it difficult for families to save money, and many are unaware of how to prioritize expenses and budgeting
For more information regarding student cohort graduation and dropout rates for a specific year, school, or pathway, you can visit the Oakland Unified School District Data Dashboard:
Youth Data & Insights
Student Insights
To better understand the experiences, needs, and key issues facing their unhoused peers, the Y-PLAN students conducted a survey in Spring 2022. Key insights included:
- 40.1% of student responders either experienced or know someone who has experienced staying with other people due to housing instability
- 84.7% of student responders are unaware of the McKinney-Vento Law or its available resources
- 67.6% of students don’t know of any program or services for unhoused youth
- 88.9% of teacher responders have never received training on how to support students experiencing homelessness
- The top 3 things students believe OUSD can do to support unhoused youth are mental health support, financial support, and academic support
Student Data
A Survey of 188 students reveal key, youth insights:
Teacher Data
A survey of 18 OUSD teachers illustrates their level of awareness, but lack of training:
Recommendations
By the end of the second year, over 100 Oakland High School students generated 35 recommendations to respond to the issues facing unhoused students in OUSD, many of which align closely with district goals for community schools with wrap-around services. OUSD was one of the first districts in the nation to announce its intent to become the first Full Service Community School District in 2011, “ensuring that every student gains the skills and knowledge they need to succeed both in and out of the classroom” (OUSD website). Y-PLAN student recommendations to policy makers included categories like: Basic Needs and Career Development Centers; Academic Programming Assistance; and Financial Literacy and Independence.
“We are supposed to be a community school district, aren’t we? So many of our recommendations can be funded and staffed by OUSD Community Schools, can’t they?” Y-PLAN 2022 Student Scholar
Presentation
As students finalized their visions for change, they prepared to present their recommendations to their client and other stakeholders at the district and city at large. As the first year took place during distance learning, the 2021 cohort of student teams presented on a virtual roundtable to over 30 adults including their project client, two school board members, OUSD’s Chief Academic Officer, and a range of city and community leaders. In the second year, all 10th grade LSJ Academy students presented at a public poster session at their school as well as a smaller cohort at the Y-PLAN Summit at Oakland City Hall. Student teams summarized their recommendations on professional planning posters and distributed two-page policy briefs engaging with civic and community leaders from school administration to Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf.
Educational and civic/community leaders all lauded the students’ recommendations, as well as all their diligent work over the semester. Their client, McKinney-Vento liaison Trish Anderson, told the students,
“Your work gives voice to those who are so often forgotten or unable to speak for themselves. All your ideas are powerful and I will be taking them to the school board as we fight for more resources and support.”
One school board member commented, “We are so incredibly grateful for your work and insights. I am almost embarrassed to hear some of the data you shared. These kids, all our students, deserve more. It is critically important that we respond quickly to many of your recommendations.”
Impact
2020-2021 Project:
Within one month of the students' presentations, OUSD provided funding to hire three new McKinney-Vento case managers to immediately scale up resources for unhoused students.
2021-2021 Project:
Local, regional and statewide leaders at the California Department of Education are acting on students' calls for tapping into the new $4.1 billion in state funds to better support homeless students in Oakland and across the state.
- Y-PLAN student scholars have already spoken at 3 statewide and regional meetings this fall aimed at leveraging and aligning this funding! CDE is now looking to include McKinney-Vento funding in future requests for California's Community School Partnership Funding.
Next Steps
The Y-PLAN client was amazed by the swift response of the panel who attended the students’ presentations. OUSD provided funding within one month for Trish Anderson to hire three new case managers to immediately scale up resources to serve hundreds of unhoused students. The student’s work ignited many school-level discussions about how to better support students through an academic and basic needs hub.
Since the April 2022 presentation, student recommendations to fund McKinney-Vento programs with recent investments in community schools are already being taken up by local and statewide leaders. They have also inspired a Fall 2022 roundtable at UC Berkeley with the California Department of Education’s Homeless Education Department focused explicitly on aligning new statewide $3 billion investment in community schools and other education programming with McKinney-Vento program funds and services.
Two district-led Y-PLAN research projects are already underway for the 2022-2023 school year at OUSD and Sacramento City Unified School District (SCUSD) Law and Social Justice Career Academies.
To learn more about other Y-PLAN projects:
For more information on Y-PLAN:
For more information on the Center for Cities + Schools: