The number of homeless students in our nation's public schools has risen significantly since 2006, reaching over 1.3 million in 2013-14. What more can be done to help homeless students stay on track to graduation and on to a more stable future? Civic Enterprises, the National Association for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth, the Raikes Foundation, and America’s Promise Alliance hosted a webinar to share research about the current state of homeless students in America’s public schools. In addition, the webinar addressed new ESSA guidelines that will require districts and states – for the first time – to report high school graduation rates for homeless students. Speakers included: *Tanya Tucker, Vice President of Alliance Engagement, America’s Promise Alliance *Erin Ingram, Policy Advisors, Civic Enterprises *Barbara Duffield, Director of Policy and Programs, National Association for the Education of Homeless Youth and Children *Patricia A. Popp, Ph. D., State Coordinator with Project HOPE-VA and Clinical Associate Professor, School of Education, The College of William and Mary *Hannah Johnson, a student who has experienced homelessness and is now a sophomore studying elementary education at Virginia Commonwealth University The webinar stemmed from the report – Hidden in Plain Sight - written by Civic Enterprises with Hart Research Associates and recently released by the GradNation campaign. The report looks into how educators, policymakers and community organizations can help more students cope with homelessness, graduate from high school and get on a path to adult success. Download the full Hidden in Plain Sight report at http://www.gradnation.org/report/hidden-plain-sight.

1. Hidden in Plain Sight
Report Briefing and Discussion on the
Education of Homeless Students
Join the conversation online using
#UnSeenStudents and #GradNation

2. Tanya Tucker
Vice President of Alliance Engagement
America’s Promise Alliance
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3. | www.GradNation.org | #GradNation
Hidden in Plain Sight Webinar Speakers
Erin Ingram
Policy Advisor
Civic Enterprises
Barbara Duffield
Director of Policy & Programs
National Association for the
Education of Homeless Children
and Youth
Patricia A. Popp, Ph. D.
State Coordinator with
Project HOPE-VA and
Clinical Associate Professor,
School of Education
The College of William and Mary
Hannah Johnson
Sophomore at Virginia
Commonwealth University

4. Erin Ingram
Policy Advisor
Civic Enterprises
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5. Student Homelessness is Rising
0
200,000
400,000
600,000
800,000
1,000,000
1,200,000
1,400,000
1,600,000
2006-07 2007-08 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14
Academic Year
Rising Rates of Student Homelessness, 2006-07
to 2013-14
Total Number of
Homeless of Homeless
Students Enrolled in
LEAs with or without
McKinney-Vento
Subgrants
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6. • 82 percent said being homeless had big impact on their life overall
• 60 percent said it was hard to stay in school while they were homeless, and 68
percent it was hard to do well in school
• 42 percent said they dropped out of school at least once
• 78 percent of formerly homeless students surveyed for this report say
homelessness was something they experienced more than once
• 94 percent say they stayed with other people rather than in one consistent
place
• 50 percent say they slept in a car, park, abandoned building, bus station or
other public place
Disruption and Trauma
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7. Support Needed to Stay in and Succeed in School
Youth: Which was a bigger challenge for you in being able
to stay in school and focus on doing well in school?
Feeling safe and a
sense of stability,
and getting the
emotional support I
needed
Making sure I had the
specific things
I needed, such as school
supplies, transportation,
and help with school
work
22%
54%
24%
Both were equally important
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8. Youth: When you were homeless or in very unstable housing, were you
connected with any services or programs outside school?
Frequency of Connection Beyond School
39%61%
Not connected with
outside
services/programs
Connected
with outside services/
program
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9. Core Challenges for Liaisons
Liaisons: Based on your experiences, which THREE of these are
your biggest obstacles in providing the students and families
you work with the services and supports they need?
14%
16%
16%
24%
29%
30%
36%
57%
78%Funding
Time, staff, resources to handle
caseload
Community awareness
about the problem
Ability to find safe spaces for
students before/after school
Collaborating/sharing info with
outside entities/agencies
Support from local or city
government
School staff awareness
about the problem
Collaborating/sharing info with
other schools/districts
Lack of compassion or empathy
toward the problem
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10. Barbara Duffield
Director of Policy & Programs
National Association for the Education
of Homeless Children and Youth
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11. The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA):
Effective Dates for Homeless Amendments
ESSA was the vehicle for amending the education subtitle of
the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act.
McKinney-Vento amendments take effect October 1, 2016.
• “Awaiting foster care placement” is removed December
10, 2017 in AR, DE, and NV (2016 in all other states)
Title I homeless provisions take effect for the 2017-18 school
year.
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12. • State coordinator and local liaison capacity
• Identification and outreach
• Professional development and training
• School stability: feeder schools, pre-school, and
transportation
• Credit accrual
• Removing barriers caused by fees, fines, and absences
• Transition to higher education
• Early childhood access
• Separation of homelessness and foster care provisions
• Disaggregated achievement and graduation rates
ESSA Amendments on Homelessness
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13. Patricia A. Popp, Ph. D.
State Coordinator with Project HOPE-VA and
Clinical Associate Professor
School of Education,
The College of William and Mary
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14. Lessons Learned: How Virginia is Helping
Homeless Students
Results
• consistent with anecdotal from NAEHCY scholars
• few knew about McKinney-Vento and liaisons
Invisibility and improved identification
• Invisibility varies a great deal across Virginia – some very proactive
programs are in place
• Using poverty data when monitoring LEAs has been a good
conversation starter about identification efforts
• New starting this year – posters targeted to youth in places like
restrooms
• There needs to be greater focus on counselors in high schools
knowing about our program
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15. Lessons Learned: How Virginia is Helping
Homeless Students
Main challenge
• Inability to find a safe space – Virginia only has 3 RHY programs in the
entire commonwealth; there are extremely limited options for young people
who need safe housing and services; recent review of our 211 systems
underscored this
Best practices/essential supports
• Ongoing awareness building and training in communities and schools
• Sharing strategies localities have found effective
ESSA
• Many changes were codification of best practice already in place in
Virginia
• Hope for greatest impact – school stability for preschoolers
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16. Virginia’s On-Time Graduation Rates
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2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
State 81.3 83.2 85.5 86.6 88 89.1 89.9 90.5
Homeless 59.8 66.5 71.4 70.9 72.1 73.9 73.5 74.9
Homeless Anytime 57.4 61.7 65.9 65.8 67.7 70 70.4 71.8
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
PercentofCohort 9.2% increase
15.1/14.4%
increase

17. Hannah Johnson
Sophomore at Virginia
Commonwealth University
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18. Reflections from a Student who Experienced Homelessness
• Identification
• Barriers and challenges
• Connections to resources
• Attendance
• Concrete support from school
• Advice
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19. Q&A
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20. For more information on the education of homeless students, please visit:
http://www.gradnation.org/report/hidden-plain-sight
To learn more about ESSA implementation resources, please visit:
http://naehcy.org/educational-resources/essa
Supporting Sponsors
Lead Sponsor
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21. Hidden in Plain Sight
Report Briefing and Discussion on the
Education of Homeless Students
Join the conversation online using
#UnSeenStudents and #GradNation