Putting Homelessness in Context: The Schools and Neighborhoods of Students Experiencing Homelessness

• Published date: 01 January 2021
• DOI: 10.1177/0002716220987830
• Date: 01 January 2021
• Subject Matter: Trajectories and Transitions

158 ANNALS, AAPSS, 693, January 2021

DOI: 10.1177/0002716220987830

Putting

Homelessness

in Context: The

Schools and

Neighborhoods

of Students

Experiencing

Homelessness

By

TASMINDA K. DHALIWAL,

SOLEDAD DE GREGORIO,

ANN OWENS,

and

GARY PAINTER

987830ANN The Annals Of The American AcademyPutting Homelessness In Context

research-article2021

The number of K–12 students experiencing homeless-

ness is increasing across the country. Schools may serve

as sources of support and stability for homeless chil-

dren, but little is known about the types of schools that

homeless students attend or about the communities in

which they live. We investigate the context of student

homelessness in Los Angeles by analyzing student-level

administrative data from the Los Angeles Unified

School District and publicly available data on neighbor-

hoods and schools from school years 2008–2009 to

2016–2017. Our findings suggest that homeless stu-

dents tend to be clustered within lower-achieving

schools with higher concentrations of disadvantaged

student groups and live in neighborhoods with higher

concentrated disadvantage. Despite policy provisions

to ensure stability, homeless students have high rates of

school and residential mobility in the years they are

homeless, and mobile students tend to move to less-

disadvantaged schools. We conclude with policy impli-

cations to strengthen the implementation of the federal

McKinney-Vento Act.

Keywords: education; homeless students; mobility;

McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance

Act; schools; neighborhoods

The number of K–12 students experiencing

homelessness has grown since the Great

Recession. Recent federal counts find more

than 1.3 million K–12 students experienced

homelessness in the 2016–17 school year, a 7

percent increase from the 2014–15 school year

(National Center for Homeless Education

2019; see Parolin, this volume). Education data

are uniquely positioned to capture trends in

homelessness and housing insecurity because

federal education policy, pursuant to the

McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act

Tasminda K. Dhaliwal is a doctoral candidate in Urban

Education Policy at the University of Southern California.

Her research focuses on the ways social and economic

conditions shape student outcomes and the effectiveness

of policies designed to reduce inequality.

Correspondence: tdhaliwa@usc.edu

PUTTING HOMELESSNESS IN CONTEXT 159

(McKinney-Vento Act), requires schools to identify and support homeless stu-

dents. The McKinney-Vento Act defines homelessness as lacking a fixed, ade-

quate, and stable nighttime residence, including living doubled up (i.e., living

with others due to housing loss or economic hardship, which is true for the

majority of K–12 homeless students), and provides some funds to support these

students (McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act 2015; National Center for

Homeless Education 2019). Other agencies, such as the U.S. Department of

Housing and Urban Development (HUD), have a more limited charter and,

therefore, do not include doubled-up families in their homeless counts. The

inclusion of doubled-up students (and their families) means education data pro-

vide a broader view of housing insecurity than other agencies.

School districts around the country are concerned about rising homelessness

for many reasons, including the direct negative consequences of homelessness on

students’ academic and behavioral outcomes (e.g., Cowen 2017; De Gregorio

etal. 2020; Fantuzzo et al. 2012; Rafferty and Shinn 1991). Policy-makers and

advocates have long recognized the potential of schools to serve as a source of

support and stability for homeless students by providing resources (e.g., free and

reduced price lunch [FRL] program) and social connection (Masten etal. 1997).

The McKinney-Vento Act requires schools to remove barriers to school enroll-

ment (e.g., proof of address, immunization records), provide transportation to

and from school, promote stability in school enrollment, and, in cases where

school mobility is desirable, ensure moves are in the best interest of students

(McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act 2015).

Despite recognition that schools may be especially important community insti-

tutions for homeless children, little existing research has systematically examined

the types of schools that students experiencing homelessness attend, the com-

munities in which they live, and how these change with transitions into and out

of homelessness. Our research contributes to such knowledge by analyzing a rich

student-level administrative panel from the country’s second largest school dis-

trict, the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), and publicly available

data on schools and neighborhoods from the 2008–2009 to 2016–2017 school

years to address the following research questions: (1) What are the characteristics

of homeless students’ schools and neighborhoods? (2) How are homeless stu-

dents spatially distributed in LAUSD schools and communities? and (3) How do

Soledad De Gregorio is a postdoctoral scholar at the University of Southern California’s Sol

Price Center for Social Innovation. Her research examines how childhood experiences and

public policies affect student outcomes and inequality.

Ann Owens is an associate professor of sociology and associate director of the Sol Price Center

for Social Innovation at the University of Southern California. Her research examines neigh-

borhood and school inequality, with attention to housing, urban, and education policy.

Gary Painter is a professor in the Sol Price School of Public Policy at the University of Southern

California and director of the Sol Price Center for Social Innovation and the Homelessness

Policy Research Institute. His research focuses on social innovation, housing, urban economics,

and education policy.

NOTE: We are grateful to the Los Angeles Unified School District for providing data access.