Post on 08-Aug-2020
transcript
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Reports indicate a 35 percent increase in Pennsylvania’s
children and youth who experience homelessness
Are policy makers okay with that?
The number of children and youth experiencing homelessness in Pennsylvania has increased
every year over the past four years. For the first time in history, the number of homeless
children and youth exceeds 27,000 according to a Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE)
report. People’s Emergency Center (PEC) summarizes the PDE report to inform the region’s
leadership about this population.
20,556 19,914
22,61824,504
26,27327,724
SY 2010-11 SY 2011-12 SY 2012-13 SY 2013-14 SY 2014-15 SY 2015-16
Total # PA Homeless Children and Youth SERVED, School Year 2011 to School Year 2016
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Highlights:
Pennsylvania reported that 27,724 children and youth who experienced homelessness
were served in School Year (SY) 2013-14, a 35 percent increase from SY 2010-2011.
Most homeless students are living doubled-up (living in someone else’s house
temporarily) and not in shelters or outdoors. In Pennsylvania, 64 percent of homeless
students lived doubled up. Only 29 percent were in shelters, transitional housing, or
awaiting foster care placement; six percent were in hotels or motels; and 1 percent was
unsheltered. This metric should be of interest to those who use Point in Time Counts to
provide data addressing youth homelessness.
There were 6,765 children, ages birth through kindergarten, identified as homeless.
o Philadelphia identified 1,873 children, ages birth through kindergarten, a lower
number than the 1,999 children ages 0-5 identified through the homeless
housing system.i
All regions in Pennsylvania, with the exception of Region 1 (Philadelphia), experienced
increasing numbers of homeless students.
5,879 high school students were homeless in FY 2015-2016. Region 2 experienced the
highest number, and two other regions had higher numbers than Philadelphia. All
regions but one had more homeless seniors than Philadelphia.
Coordination between schools and agencies is the single highest service delivery funded
by the McKinney Vento homeless education funding stream, followed by school
supplies, clothing, and transportation.
65% of students remain in their schools. 20% had enrolled in two schools. 4% had more
than 2 moves.
Who should read this policy brief? Most importantly, policy makers need to understand
that homelessness among children and youth is increasing and that this phenomena is not
confined to urban regions. This data should also inform services provided by social service
providers, advocates and educators working with children and youth who experience
homelessness.
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PEC Commentary:
The fact that the number of homeless
children and youth increases every year
can suggest good news. In part, the
increase means that the authorities
whose task it is to serve and support
children and youth are doing their job.
School districts improve every year in
identifying and helping children and
youth. As districts hire more counselors,
nurses, and social workers, it is likely that
these responsible adults will help to
further identify and assist homeless
students. In addition, data collection is
improving, particularly around pre-
kindergarten. Now that the federal
government has improved the Head
Start and Child Care regulations, it can
be expected that next year, Pennsylvania
will identify even more children and
youth experiencing homelessness.
The fact that homeless children and
youth are mostly living doubled-up
should inform discussions around the
state’s strategy for outreach to this
population. Continuum of Care programs
(i.e., homeless housing system) use the
Point in Time Count (PIT) to make
strategic decisions in part because they
are required to do so by the United
States Department of Housing and Urban
Development (HUD); however, many
observers agree that the PIT does not
adequately identify children and youth
experiencing homelessness.
Pennsylvania municipality leaders are
working on innovative methods to
conduct outreach and coordinate
services.
o In Pittsburgh, the Homeless Children’s
Education Fund released an app called
Big Burgh (see
https://www.bigburgh.com/app.html#
/who) to be used by police officers and
others who find youth experiencing
homelessness on the street to connect
them to services.
o Philadelphia’s Philly Coalition for
Youth is developing a numerous new
approaches to reach out and support
youth. See http://bit.ly/2FqopMH
o Pennsylvania’s Education for
Homeless Children and Youth
Program supports local schools and
districts to support homeless students.
Advocates around the nation are
seeking to expand funding from
Congress. For state information, see
http://bit.ly/2G2kSkT and
https://www.facebook.com/ECYEHPA/
for more information. For national
advocacy campaigns, see the
“Education Leads Homes” campaign
at
http://www.educationleadshome.org/
o Most Continuum of Care programs
throughout the Commonwealth
(homeless housing system) are focused
on new ways to reach youth.
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Data sources: • Education for Children and Youth Experiencing Homelessness Program 2015-2016 State
Evaluation Report: http://bit.ly/2G2kSkT
• Data for school years comes from PEC's previous summary reports, found at
https://www.pec-cares.org/policy-publications.html which used reports from PDE
published in those years.
• Comparative data comes from Pennsylvania Department of Education:
http://bit.ly/2FhKH36
What does this summary contain? Key indicators found in the reports cited above
include:
• Number of homeless children and youth enrolled and/or served by the education
system and/or other community-based services.
• Number of homeless children and youth by region.
• Nighttime residency statistics for students experiencing homelessness.
• Academic achievement comparing 3rd and 8th graders who experience homelessness to
their peers.
Number of Children and Youth Who Experience Homelessness,
Pennsylvania:
The education system reports two different numbers
of homeless children and youth: those served by the
schools and those enrolled in school. The term
served includes all children and youth who are
identified as meeting the education system’s
McKinney-Vento Act definition of homelessness.
Students from Pre-kindergarten through 12th grade make up the enrolled category.
Caution should be used in comparing counts of students. Changes from year to year could be a
result from numerous factors, including improved outreach and identification as well as an
increase in the homeless population.
Keep informed on these issues by adding
your email to the monthly e-newsletter PEC
Perspective by sending your address to
poliyc@pec-cares.org, and follow us on
Twitter at #PAHomelessYouth.
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20,556 19,914
22,618
24,50426,273
27,724
SY 2010-11 SY 2011-12 SY 2012-13 SY 2013-14 SY 2014-15 SY 2015-16
Total # PA Homeless Children and Youth SERVED, School Year 2011 to School Year 2016
18,621 18,231 19,459
21,309 22,014 23,164
SY 2010-11 SY 2011-12 SY 2012-13 SY 2013-14 SY 2014-15 SY 2015-16
Total # PA Students Experienced Homelessness and ENROLLED, 2011 to 2016
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Number of Homeless Students by Region: See map below to identify regions.
All regions but Region 1 (Philadelphia) experienced increasing numbers.
Homelessness among children and youth is not confined to urban regions as Region 2
exceeds Region 1 (Philadelphia) and Region 4 (includes Allegheny).
Regions 2014-2015 2015-2016 Region 1 5,764 5,518
Region 2 5,267 6,041
Region 3 1,703 1,954
Region 4 4,333 4,716
Region 5 2,615 2,798
Region 6 1,249 1,290
Region 7 1,775 1,802
Region 8 3,567 3,603
Total 26,273 27,722
Number of Children and Youth experiencing Homelessness BY GRADE
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Birth to Kindergarten
Region 1 (Philadelphia) has the highest number of children birth through kindergarten, followed by Region 2.
1,873
1,536
289
1,147
832
314
368
406
6,765
- 1,000 2,000 3,000 4,000 5,000 6,000 7,000 8,000
Region 1
Region 2
Region 3
Region 4
Region 5
Region 6
Region 7
Region 8
State
Total # Birth to Kindergarden, PA, FY 2015-2016
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Grades 1, 2, 3
Grades 4 – 8
433
399
129
333
186
114 129
276
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
Region 1 Region 2 Region 3 Region 4 Region 5 Region 6 Region 7 Region 8
# PA Homeless Students Grade 1 to 3, By Region, FY 2015-2016
Grade 3 Grade 2 Grade 1
235 291117
256112 68 82
236
271337
153
269
10675 114
240
341
328
142
256
14477
109
252
347334
135
273
141
82127
263
402342
132
276
181
89
123
291
0
200
400
600
800
1000
1200
1400
1600
1800
Region 1 Region 2 Region 3 Region 4 Region 5 Region 6 Region 7 Region 8
# PA Homeless Students, by Grades 4 to 8, FY 2015-2016
Grade 8 Grade 7 Grade 6 Grade 5 Grade 4
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High School
5,879 high school students were homeless in FY 2015-2016.
Region 2 has the highest number of homeless high school students.
Six other regions have identified more homeless seniors than Philadelphia.
Region 1 (Philadelphia) has only the fourth highest number of homeless high school students.
2015-16 Served High School Students
Grades Region
1 Region
2 Region
3 Region
4 Region
5 Region
6 Region
7 Region
8 State
Grade 12 125 419 139 336 204 109 134 263 1,729
Grade 11 135 270 100 231 132 69 95 194 1,226
Grade 10 145 318 107 218 153 53 87 217 1,298
Grade 9 212 375 108 293 125 59 111 343 1,626
Total = 617 1,382 454 1,078 614 290 427 1,017 5,879
125
419
139
336
204
109134
263
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
400
450
Region 1 Region 2 Region 3 Region 4 Region 5 Region 6 Region 7 Region 8
# PA Served High School Students, FY 2015-2016
Grade 12 Grade 11 Grade 10 Grade 9
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Nighttime Residence: Knowing where homeless students reside helps provide
information to school personnel for their outreach strategies. It would also assist those working for Continuum of Care programs who are addressing family homelessness.
The overwhelming majority of homeless students are living doubled up at a rate of
almost double from students found in shelters.
Academic Achievement
Reviewing a sample of homeless students by 3rd and 8th grades, PDE showed how the students
scored on standardized tests. Homeless students in the 3rd and 8th grades have fallen very far
behind their peers.
A number of strategies around the state are focused on increasing participation of homeless
young children into high quality early learning programs, which could affect the outcomes of the
3rd grade reading and math scores on standardized testing.
Strategies to increase high school graduation rates might want to consider new interventions
14,127
6,302
1,353232
14,362
7,016
1,490296
Doubled-Up Shelters Hotels/Motels Unsheltered
Primary Nighttime Residence of PA Enrolled Homeless Students, FY 2014-15 compared to FY
2015-2016
SY 2014-15 SY 2015-16
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for homeless students.
Source of 2016 PSSA scores is Pennsylvania Department of Education: http://bit.ly/2FhKH36
34%36%
27%
3%
13.6%
25.5%
45.7%
15.2%
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
45%
50%
Below Basic Basic Proficient Advanced
Comparing PSSA READING results of 3rd Grade homeless students to all 3rd Grade students, FY
2016, PA
Grade 3, homeless students (N=1555) All 3rd Grade Students (n=125284)
52%
24%
18%
6%
24.6%21.0%
28.1%
54.4%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
Below Basic Basic Proficient Advanced
Comparing PSSA MATH results of 3rd Grade homeless students to all 3rd Grade students, FY
2016, PA
Grade 3, homeless students (N=1599) All 3rd Grade Students (n=125420)
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29.9%
40.9%
25.2%
4.0%
58.3%
11.3%
40.9%
17.5%
0.0%
10.0%
20.0%
30.0%
40.0%
50.0%
60.0%
70.0%
Below Basic Basic Proficient Advanced
Comparing PSSA READING results of 8th Grade homeless students to all 8th Grade students, FY
2016, PA
Grade 8, homeless students (N=1102) All 8th Grade Students (n=123275)
71.5%
19.3%
7.6%1.6%
40.2%
28.6% 31.2%
10.5%
0.0%
10.0%
20.0%
30.0%
40.0%
50.0%
60.0%
70.0%
80.0%
Below Basic Basic Proficient Advanced
Comparing PSSA MATH results of 8th Grade homeless students to all 8th Grade students, FY
2016, PA
Grade 8, homeless students (N=1599) All 8th Grade Students (n=125420)
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The PA Department of Education’s evaluators made these statements: 1. The number of children/youth experiencing homelessness for more than one year is
increasing slightly each year.
2. Transportation remains the most common barrier statewide.
3. 65% of students remain in their schools. 20% had enrolled in two schools. 4% had more
than 2 moves.
4. Coordination between schools and agencies is the single highest service delivery
funded by the McKinney Vento homeless education funding stream, followed by school
supplies, clothing, and transportation.
5. 77% of enrolled homeless students were documented as receiving Title 1 services and
those services were often instructional support services.
i Philadelphia Office of Homeless Services
The People’s Emergency Center’s mission is to nurture families, strengthen neighborhoods
and drive change in West Philadelphia. PEC offers more than 250 affordable housing units,
job training, parenting and early childhood education, financial education and planning,
life skills and technology coursework. PEC seeks to change the life trajectory for the
women and children who seek its services and inspire them to aspire to new heights. All
inquiries can be sent to policy@pec-cares.org.