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School Attendance Support for Students Experiencing Homelessness

This page highlights how – and why – schools and communities can remove attendance barriers for students experiencing homelessness. Explore data, practical resources, and examples that promote school stability, reduce chronic absenteeism, and support student success.

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Why Addressing Student Homelessness Is Essential to Reducing Chronic Absence

Millions of students are not showing up to school. For students experiencing homelessness, school can be a source of stability in otherwise turbulent lives and a place of opportunity to gain the education and skills they need to avoid homelessness as adults. Yet unprecedented levels of homelessness are creating barriers that push students away from school.

In 2023–2024, public schools identified more than 1.5 million children and youth experiencing homelessness, a 13% increase from the previous year.

Many face barriers to regular attendance, including high mobility, trauma, lack of transportation, and unmet basic needs. Nearly half were chronically absent, a rate 22 percentage points higher than other students.

This page highlights how full implementation of the McKinney-Vento Act can help remove attendance barriers, promote school stability, reduce chronic absenteeism, and support student success.

It’s hard to get to school every day when you’re experiencing homelessness—whether it is access to public transportation, food, clothing, sleep, fear of bullying because of your appearance, or the lack of material things (not having a backpack or necessary school supplies or support at home). Schools don’t always address these student insecurities. They run through a standard checklist, but there isn’t always strong follow through.
– Tina
SchoolHouse Connection Scholar

New: Local Educational Agency (LEA) Toolkit–Improving Attendance for Students Experiencing Homelessness

Provides “plug and play” materials that districts are already using to improve attendance for students experiencing homelessness, so LEAs can begin implementing effective practices right away. Resources come from urban, suburban, and rural districts across the country and are designed to be downloaded and adapted to local needs. Together, they help districts move from ideas to action and strengthen attendance support for McKinney-Vento students.

Best for: School district staff | School staff | LEA
Last updated: April 2026
Partner: Attendance Works
Funder: Imagine Learning Foundation

Explore the LEA Toolkit

Resource Library

Henrico County: A Data-Driven Approach With Heart

Case study | PDF

This case study shows how a district combined attendance data, transportation, intake, and community partnerships to improve attendance and graduation outcomes, and is especially useful for teams designing a strong central-office model.

Best for: School district staff | School staff | LEA
Date published: March 2025
Partner: Attendance Works
Funder: Imagine Learning Foundation

Adams 12: Breaking Down Silos to Boost Regular Attendance Rates

Case study | PDF

This case study highlights a culturally diverse district team, automated attendance alerts, case management, and wraparound supports, and is best for districts building cross-silo systems to improve attendance.

Best for: School district staff | School staff | LEA
Date published: March 2025
Partner: Attendance Works
Funder: Imagine Learning Foundation

Coalinga-Huron Unified School District: A Small Rural District, Making a Big Difference in Absenteeism

Case study | PDF

This rural case study shows how weekly team huddles, county-level coordination, and community partnerships can reduce chronic absenteeism, and is especially useful for small districts looking for a repeatable data-and-team model.

Best for: School district staff | School staff | LEA
Date published: March 2025
Partner: Attendance Works
Funder: Imagine Learning Foundation

Kansas City, Kansas: Partnering to Reduce Chronic Absence Amid Rising Homelessness

Case study | PDF

This case study shows how attendance and homelessness initiatives can be integrated through school-based specialists, transportation supports, and wraparound services, and is especially useful for districts aligning attendance teams with McKinney-Vento work.

Best for: School district staff | School staff | LEA
Date published: March 2025
Partner: Attendance Works
Funder: Imagine Learning Foundation

From Student Navigators to Mental Health Assessments: More Best Practices to Increase School Attendance for Students Experiencing Homelessness

Brief | Case study collection | PDF

This collection of district examples highlights student navigation, family outreach, mental health supports, and other strategies that help students stay connected to school, and is best for users who want more models beyond the four featured case studies.

Best for: School district staff | School staff | LEA | National
Date published: March 2025
Partner: Attendance Works
Funder: Imagine Learning Foundation

More to Explore

Jump To: The Reality of Rising Student Homelessness Strategies Districts Are Using Using Attendance Data Building a Team Transportation as a Strategy Leveraging Key Funding Sources McKinney-Vento Attendance Policy

The Reality of Rising Student Homelessness

To achieve better outcomes, districts and schools must be able to identify and support the growing number of students experiencing homelessness. Public schools identified over 1.5 million children and youth experiencing homelessness in the 2023-2024 school year.

This is the highest number on record, surpassing pre-pandemic numbers. The number of identified homeless students increased by 12.63% over the previous school year, by 28.5% over the past two school years, and by 11.6% since the 2018-2019 school year.

How Linked Is Homelessness and Chronic Absence?

Student homelessness and school attendance are deeply interconnected. In the 2023–2024 school year, public schools reported 47.7% of students experiencing homelessness were chronically absent, a rate 22 percentage points higher than other students. National 2023–2024 chronic absence data for economically disadvantaged students are not yet available; however, in the 31 states with publicly reported data for both groups, students experiencing homelessness had chronic absenteeism rates that were, on average, 16.43% higher than economically disadvantaged students.

Research summarized by Attendance Works shows that chronic absence makes it harder for students to learn to read by third grade, achieve in middle school, and graduate from high school. Poor attendance also undermines educational engagement and can hamper students’ social-emotional development and executive functioning. At the same time, poor attendance is often driven by the realities of homelessness itself, including high mobility, trauma, lack of transportation, and unmet basic needs.

What Strategies Are Districts Using to Reduce Chronic Absenteeism?

In late 2024 and early 2025, SchoolHouse Connection and Attendance Works spoke to school districts across the country to distill some successful approaches and effective tools for improving attendance among students experiencing homelessness. Ten key strategies that came from the research included:

  1. Train school staff to help identify students who are eligible for support.
  2. Track attendance data and use the findings to drive change.
  3. Break down silos across school district departments.
  4. Demonstrate respect for family and youth circumstances.
  5. Focus on transportation to remove one of the biggest barriers.
  6. Provide mental health support.
  7. Engage community-based organizations.
  8. Tap local education foundations to provide flexible funds.
  9. Maximize Title I Part A homeless set-aside funds to increase staff capacity and services.
  10. Encourage states to supplement local and federal funding.

More Best Practices to Increase School Attendance for Students Experiencing Homelessness

As the number of students experiencing homelessness rises across the nation, so does the need for strategies that help these students attend school regularly. To this end, SchoolHouse Connection and Attendance Works spoke to school districts across the country to find the best approaches for improving school attendance for this population.

In addition to our featured case studies, we identified innovative strategies in six more school districts.

  1. Student Navigators | North Thurston Public Schools, Washington
  2. State Funding to Prevent Homelessness | Oxford Hills School District, Maine
  3. Mental Health Assessments | Fresno Unified School District, California
  4. Free Afterschool Programs | Lake County School District, Colorado
  5. Family Outreach | Middletown Public Schools, Rhode Island 
  6. Disaster Response | Paradise Unified School District, California

Use Attendance Data to Catch Problems Early and Act Quickly

Under-identification of students experiencing homelessness remains a significant challenge for public schools, and changes in attendance patterns are often among the earliest indicators of student homelessness. Once these students are identified, local educational agencies (LEAs) can use attendance data to understand barriers to regular school participation better and to determine how the educational protections provided under the McKinney-Vento Act can be leveraged to support improved attendance and engagement.

Access to real-time attendance data is necessary to prevent and reduce chronic absenteeism among students experiencing homelessness.

LEAs may have access to real-time data reports on average daily attendance (ADA) and chronic absenteeism rates for students experiencing homelessness. LEAs may leverage these data sources to identify students at risk, flag concerns early, and support data-driven decision-making.

LEAs can establish a protocol for reviewing attendance data and evaluating staff capacity to intervene when there are barriers to attendance. These practices help track progress even when overall chronic absenteeism rates change slowly.

Build a Team Around the Student: School Staff, Liaisons, and Community Partners

At the core of this work is a dedicated team across silos. LEAs who have been successful in improving the attendance of their students experiencing homelessness are typically working in teams that support monitoring real time attendance data, student intake, troubleshooting transportation challenges, community outreach, and other activities to identify and support the regular attendance of students experiencing homelessness.

These teams typically include McKinney-Vento liaisons and teams, attendance personnel, counselors and  social workers. These teams work best when they stay closely connected to families and community partners. The goal is to create the environment and the conditions in which all students but especially those experiencing homelessness are able and want to come to school, and to send the message that they are welcomed and valued.  

BUILD A BETTER TEAM WITH THESE RESOURCES

Transportation as a Critical Strategy for Supporting Consistent Attendance Among Students Experiencing Homelessness 

Transportation remains one of the largest challenges to improving school attendance for students experiencing homelessness, especially when students are far from their school of origin, beyond bus lines, or moving from motels, shelters, or relatives’ homes. LEAs use a range of strategies to remove this barrier, including tailored bus routes, vans, bus tokens, gas cards, rideshare or car services with vetted drivers, and even driver’s education when needed. These creative transportation strategies are essential because delays in rerouting transportation can result in absences and missed instructional time.

Transportation strategies are strongest when they are responsive to students’ circumstances and coordinated with broader support. Reliable transportation can significantly help students overcome barriers to attendance and keep them connected to school even during periods of instability.

EXPLORE TRANSPORTATION STRATEGIES

Leveraging Key Funding Sources to Address Chronic Absenteeism Among Students Experiencing Homelessness

Federal funding can play a critical role in addressing chronic absenteeism among students experiencing homelessness when it is used to remove the barriers that keep students from attending school consistently. The Title I, Part A homeless set aside and McKinney-Vento Education for Homeless Children and Youth (EHCY) grant funds are most commonly used by LEAs. Other public and private funding sources can be used together to support staffing, transportation, outreach, attendance monitoring, and direct student supports. These funding sources are most effective when they are used strategically to support attendance initiatives specifically for students experiencing homelessness. 

Across these examples, the lesson is clear: dedicated funding to support the educational needs students experiencing homelessness can improve their attendance and academic achievement. 

EXPLORE FUNDING STRATEGIES

Attendance Policy Under McKinney-Vento

Under the McKinney-Vento Act, local educational agencies must remove barriers to the enrollment and retention of students experiencing homelessness, including barriers related to fees, fines, and absences. When absences or tardiness are directly related to homelessness, local policies and practices should focus on identifying the barrier, connecting the student and family to support, and ensuring full participation and consistent school attendance.

In practice, that means developing clear written procedures for when absences related to homelessness may be considered excused, who has the authority to make that determination, and how those decisions are communicated and recorded. LEAs should ensure that no student experiencing homelessness is penalized for tardiness or absences directly related to their homelessness.

A Policy and Practice Guide to Removing Attendance Barriers Under the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act

Developed in partnership with CountMeIn and SchoolHouse Connection, this resource is grounded in the requirements of the McKinney-Vento Act, which mandates that local educational agencies (LEAs) remove barriers to the enrollment and retention of students experiencing homelessness, including barriers related to fees, fines, and absences (42 U.S.C. §§ 11432(g)(1)(I), 11432(g)(7)). The scenarios included in this guide were intentionally selected to reflect common attendance-related barriers for students experiencing homelessness that may arise throughout the school-year. The sample practices and policies were inspired by existing McKinney-Vento policies from LEAs across the country. This resource is designed to give LEAs a starting point and practical ideas for revising their practices and policies related to the identification, enrollment, and retention of homeless students, helping to ensure their full participation and consistent school attendance.

Explore the Guide