SchoolHouse Connection is a national non-profit organization working to overcome homelessness through education. We provide strategic advocacy and practical assistance in partnership with early childhood programs, schools, institutions of higher education, service providers, families, and youth.
The Issue
Child and youth homelessness is widespread and devastating – but hidden. Education can help break the cycle.
The Education of Children and Youth Experiencing Homelessness: Current Trends, Challenges, and Needs
This fact sheet includes the current trends, challenges, and need of children and youth experiencing homelessness.
Seen and Served: How Dedicated Federal Funding Supports the Identification of Students Experiencing Homelessness
Millions of children in the United States are impacted by homelessness, a rapidly escalating crisis that demands prompt action. This article highlights the numerous obstacles faced by homeless students and offers policy recommendations to address their needs.
Tips for Homeless Higher Education Liaisons
Many institutions of higher education are designating liaisons for students experiencing homelessness. Similar to their counterparts in K-12 education, homeless higher education liaisons support students by connecting them to available resources on and off-campus, and removing barriers to their college retention and success. This tip sheet provides basic strategies for homeless higher education liaisons.
Hidden Homelessness: Why Child, Youth, and Family Homelessness is a Crisis We Cannot Ignore
Through first-person storytelling, the series explores the ways in which homelessness is an equity issue that is inextricably connected to others; it is an experience that many vulnerable student groups face at disproportionate rates and intersects deeply with other national crises of mental health, academic achievement gaps, xenophobia, and the impacts of systemic racism.
Hidden Homelessness: Youth Voices is a sub-series developed by SchoolHouse Connection that highlights the often overlooked and unseen experiences that define child and youth homelessness. Under the education subtitle of federal law (the McKinney-Vento Act), the definition of homelessness includes common situations for families and youth experiencing homelessness, including living in cars, temporarily staying with others, and in “substandard housing.”
Act by March 17 to Support Funding for Homeless Children & Youth
A bipartisan “Dear Colleague” letter is circulating in the U.S. House of Representatives that calls for $800 million for the McKinney-Vento Act’s Education for Homeless Children and Youth (EHCY) program and $300 million for the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act (RHYA) program in the FY 2024 budget. Please urge your U.S. Representative to sign on to the bipartisan Davis-Bacon-Panetta letter.
Hidden Homelessness in the U.S.: Why Congress Must Change HUD’s Definition of Homelessness to Align With Other Federal Agencies
Learn why Congress must change the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s definition of homelessness to align with other federal agencies.
The Pitfalls of HUD’s Point-in-Time Count for Children, Youth, and Families
On December 19, 2022, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) released its 2022 Annual Homeless Assessment Report Part I (AHAR), boasting continuous decreases in both family and youth homelessness. In this brief, we explain why HUD’s data are flawed and misleading, and why other federal data sources provide a more accurate picture of child, youth, and family homelessness.
Hidden Homelessness in the U.S.: Why Congress Must Change HUD’s Definition of Homelessness to Align With Other Federal Agencies
Learn why Congress must change the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s definition of homelessness to align with other federal agencies.
The Pitfalls of HUD’s Point-in-Time Count for Children, Youth, and Families
On December 19, 2022, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) released its 2022 Annual Homeless Assessment Report Part I (AHAR), boasting continuous decreases in both family and youth homelessness. In this brief, we explain why HUD’s data are flawed and misleading, and why other federal data sources provide a more accurate picture of child, youth, and family homelessness.
Innovation in Illinois: New Law and Funding Supports Homeless and Foster Youth in Higher Education
Designating homeless higher education liaisons is a best practice for supporting students experiencing homelessness and students with experience in foster care. Illinois is among the states that has enacted a law, the Higher Education Housing and Opportunities Act, which aims to address the needs of homeless students and students in foster care on college and university campuses.
Early Childhood
Infants are at greater risk of living in homeless shelters than any other age group in the United States. Early childhood programs prevent the harmful life-long effects of homelessness on education, health and well-being.
PreK-12
In the 2019-20 school year, public schools identified nearly 1.3 million homeless students. Schools provide basic needs, caring adults, stability, normalcy, and the skills to avoid homelessness as adults.
Higher Education
The majority of well-paying jobs created today require education beyond high school. Post-secondary attainment is increasingly necessary to break the cycle of poverty and homelessness, and live a healthy, productive life.
Unaccompanied Youth
Unaccompanied homeless youth are young people experiencing homelessness who are not in the physical custody of a parent or guardian. 4.2 million youth and young adults experience homelessness each year.
How to Contact your McKinney-Vento Liaison
Under the McKinney-Vento Act, every local educational agency is required to designate a liaison for homeless children and youth. The local educational agency liaison coordinates services to ensure that homeless children and youths enroll in school and have the opportunity to succeed academically.
Click HERE to find the contact information of your local homeless education liaison.
Note: This contact information may change frequently due to staff turnover. If you have problems finding the right school district homeless liaison, please contact your state homeless education coordinator.