A Critical Moment: Child and Youth Homelessness
The economic downturn has placed more families in a precarious position. Analysis of recently released federal data shows that the number of homeless children in public schools has increased by 41 percent over the past two school years. An increase in federal funding has enabled more school districts to provide support for this swelling population of homeless children.
The brief, compiled by First Focus in July 2010, summarizes recent federal data and illuminates current education budgets in order to gauge how schools can continue to assist homeless children. The brief includes a state-by-state breakdown of the increase in homeless students enrolled in the school year 2006 to 2007 and the school year 2008 to 2009. It concludes that by suggesting Congress appropriate at least $140 for fiscal year 2011 in order to prevent homeless children from losing access to schools.
