Homelessness in High School: Rates and Associated Features From the 2019 Youth Risk Behavior Survey

• In Event: Students Experiencing Homelessness: Key Findings for Practice and Policy Decision Making

Abstract

Perspective/Objectives: Education systems fail to identify many students experiencing homelessness (Cutuli et al., 2020), preventing them from exercising rights and receiving services to which they are entitled. Particularly because homelessness disproportionately affects Black, Indigenous, and Latinx students (Evangelist & Shaefer, 2020; Morton et al., 2018) and students who identify as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, or Transgender (LGBT; Corliss et al., 2011), addressing the needs of students experiencing homelessness is essential to “Cultivating Equitable Education Systems for the 21st Century.” To address this systematic shortfall we use publicly available, representative data to examine rates of homelessness among high school students and its associations with race/ethnicity, LGBT identification, sex, victimization experiences, and indicators of poor functioning.

Method/Data Source: The Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) is an anonymous paper-and-pencil survey administered by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention every two years using a complex sampling design to ensure representativeness. We used data from 24 states and 12 school districts that included at least one housing question as part of the 2019 YRBSS, and we operationalized homelessness consistent with the McKinney-Vento definition that guides U.S. Department of Education homelessness estimates and policy. We created dichotomous indicators for three types of victimization (sexual, physical, bullying), and five indicators of poor functioning: poor grades, alcohol abuse, substance use, risky sexual behavior, and severe suicidality.

Results: About 9.17% [95% CI 7.77-10.80%] of students in the 24 states and 13.68% [95% CI 12.14-15.56%] of students in the 12 districts experienced homelessness within the last 30 days. As depicted in Figure 2.1, in both the states and districts, students reporting homelessness were more likely to be Black/African American, Hispanic/Latinx, Native Hawaiian/Alaska/American (compared to White students), male, or LGBT. In the states data, Asian/Asian American students were less likely than their White peers to report homelessness. In the districts data, younger students were more likely to report homelessness than older students. In both states and districts data, students reporting homelessness were more likely to report experiencing each of the three types of victimization: sexual, physical, and bullying. In logistic regression models controlling for demographics and victimization, students who reported homelessness were more likely than their stably housed peers to report: poor grades, alcohol abuse, substance use, risky sexual behavior, and severe suicidality (States: Table 2.1, Districts: Table 2.2).

Significance: Homelessness in high school disproportionately impacts Black, Indigenous, Latinx, and LGBT students, with implications for their academic, social-emotional, and behavioral functioning. Cultivating equitable education systems requires a multi-pronged approach of 1) adequately funding McKinney-Vento programming to allow schools to establish systems to identify and support students experiencing homelessness, 2) supporting education research efforts to develop these programs using rigorous tests of efficacy and effectiveness, 3) supporting research and intervention tailored to the unique needs of LGBT youth and BIPOC youth, and 4) incorporating anti-racist practices throughout the education and health and human service response to homelessness among high school students.

Authors

• Danielle Hatchimonji, Nemours Children's Health

• Dan Treglia, University of Pennsylvania

• Claire Flatley

• J. J. Cutuli, Nemours Children's Health System