From the People’s Emergency Center (http://www.pec-cares.org):
7 in 9 homeless students do not get identified by Pennsylvania’s schools. That lone fact is driving a conversation throughout the Commonwealth.
Getting supported by school is the most effective way of supporting homeless students. Without support, their odds of academic failure and other risks is so much higher than their peers.
Pennsylvania’s Department of Education is receiving $32 million to address student homelessness, an enormous increase from its usual $4 million annual federal grant. They will, in turn, provide grants to their Education for Children and Youth Experiencing Homelessness operation. What will they do with this one-time historic opportunity?
How do we know 7 in 9 homeless students? Researchers associated with Nemours Children’s Health System and the University of Pennsylvania released their report “High School Students Experiencing Homelessness: Findings from the 2019 Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS).”
You can read this report at the link below. You can also access the Powerpoint slides and audio of the June 22nd forum that we organized. The audio includes recommendations from the authors as well as the forum’s co-hosts, Congresspersons Dwight Evans and Mike Evans, and a panel that included Gwendolyn Bailey of YSI, Colleen Landy from the School District of Philadelphia, Carlos Carter of the Homeless Education Fund, and Erin Patterson of SchoolHouse Connection.
Recommended action step: the answer is local. Talk to your school districts, school principals, counselors and other school personnel see how you can to support them.
Questions? Contact PEC at policy@pec-cares.org, or at 215.840.5104.
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