More than 18,852 children in Arkansas experience homelessness each year, ranking the state 48th nationally. Eight out of every 100 (8%) of the 250,000 children living in poverty in Arkansas are homeless. The largest groups are white (54%) and black (34%) children. Homeless children include 7,918 under age 6, 8,195 in K-8 grades, and 2,739 in 9-12 grades. Food insecurity is also a major problem, with one in 18 Arkansas households experiencing very low food security.

1. WOMEN AND CHILDREN

3.  Arkansas ranks 48th in the nation in child
homelessness. This rank is a composite of the
number of children currently homeless in the
state, an assessment of how children are
faring in various domains (i.e., food
security, health, education), the risk of
children becoming homeless, and the state
planning and policy efforts

4. Extent of Child Homelessness
 More than 18,852 Arkansas children
experience homelessness each year
according to the data collected by the
McKinney-Vento Educational Programs.1
Arkansas ranks 33rd in the number of
homeless children and 45th in the
percentage of children who are homeless.1
Of the 250,000 children living in poverty in
Arkansas, eight out of every one hundred
(8%) are homeless

5.  Age and Race/ Ethnicity
Arkansas has 250,000 children living in poverty.
Fifty-four percent of Arkansas’s children living in
families with incomes below the poverty level are
White, non-Hispanic, 34% are Black, non-
Hispanic, and 10% are Hispanic.
 Ages of Homeless Children1
Under 6 years3 7,918
Grades K–8 (enrolled) 8,195
Grades 9–12* (enrolled) 2,739
Total Homeless Children 18,852
*These totals DO NOT include approximately 1,100
homeless, unaccompanied youth.

6. White (54%)
Black (34%)
Asian (1%)
Native
American (1%)
Hispanic (10%)

8.  The U.S. Department of Agriculture
estimates that one in 18 of Arkansas’s
households have very low food
security, indicating that they have
experienced hunger.10 The prevalence of
very low food security in Arkansas is higher
than the national average of one in 26.
Households living in poverty and headed by a
single woman with children are especially
vulnerable to very low food security. When
these households become homeless, they
represent the extreme end of the food
insecurity range in Arkansas.

9. WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO?

12. WRITE AND VOICE YOUR
CONCERNS TO THE
GOVERNMENT, REACH IN YOUR
POCKET AND PULL OUT
SOMETHING IF YOU CAN, LETS
NOT STAND BY AND LET OUR
FUTURE GO TO WASTE, ENHANCE
YOUR COMPASSION FOR ALL

21. Lets us be mindful, to keep
prayers going up, for women
and children, for the ones
that circumstance crippled
them. Now remember that
no one is immune, to
homelessness.

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