5 Facts About Homeless Students in NYS
Fact 1
Nearly 1 out of every 10 New York public school students were homeless last year. To put that into perspective, consider an average sized friend group is around 10 people. Amongst every ten friends that you have, you will have one homeless friend. Let’s say you run into 30 different people at school a day. That’s around 3 homeless students that you just encounter on a daily basis without you realizing. It’s kind of crazy to think about, isn’t it?
Fact 2
As things start to transition to online, resources become less and less available for homeless students. The absence of a stable internet and reliable electronic devices make it nearly impossible for homeless students to keep up with their peers in school. The disadvantage ought not to be overlooked. According to surveys, the number one reason for low-graduation rate is absence of resources. Lack of readily available resources fails talent, and ruins many homeless students’ lives.
Fact 3
Being homeless has largely deprived a student’s opportunity of receiving education, stable residency, and parent guardianship. They also face issues like delays in transfer of school records, lack of transportation, and lack of immunization records, which often further prevent homeless children from enrolling in school because of these protocols.
Fact 4
In addition to enrolling in schools, homeless families move frequently. Reasons can be unstable shelter stay, unaffordable living apartment, or to escape abusive partners. In recent years, 42% of homeless children transferred schools at least once, and 51% of these students transferred twice or more.
Fact 5
Without proper education opportunities, homeless children are much less likely to escape poverty as they grow up. Homeless children are more likely to fall behind class due to their high mobility. Studies show that about 3-6 months of education are lost with every move, and in a recent study of homeless children in New York City, 23% of homeless children repeated a grade, and 13% were placed in special education classes, many times inappropriately
Resources：Institute for Children and Poverty, 2003；U.S. Department of Education, 2004