Youth Participatory Action Research: Transforming Systems to Address Student Homelessness

• In Event: Envisioning Futures in Times of Crisis: Lessons from School-University-Community Partnership Research & Practice

Abstract

This presentation shares findings from a five-year university–community–school research-practice partnership focused on transforming how California’s education and public systems identify and support students experiencing homelessness. These findings provide the opportunity to explore how multilevel partnerships support youth-driven systems change, especially in relation to pressing and complicated issues. Through a collaborative, multigenerational framework grounded in Youth Participatory Action Research, our project—Youth-led Homeless Education Action Research: Uniting Systems (Y-HEAR-US)—engages high school students, graduate research fellows, and civic leaders in co-producing policy-relevant knowledge and solutions.

The Y-HEAR-US initiative is part of the larger University-Community Links network. It’s grounded in a hybrid framework that integrates YPAR (Cammarota & Fine, 2008; Mirra et al., 2015) with high school pedagogies such as career pathways (Oakes et al., 2010) and the Community Schools model (Klevan et al., 2023; Maier et al., 2017). These strategies provide entry points for authentic, project-based learning and holistic student support. Together, they align with the federal McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (NCHE, 2020), which guarantees educational access and stability for students experiencing homelessness. Building on youth civic agency literature (Kirshner, 2007; Rogers & Terriquez, 2020), we frame students not only as learners but also as policy actors capable of transforming public institutions. This approach extends university-community-school collaborative research literature (Bang & Vossoughi, 2016; Penuel et al., 2017) by modeling how multigenerational collaboration and institutional alignment can address structural inequities through youth-led research.

This presentation shares the Y-HEAR-US theory of action, participatory research design, and key findings, followed by implications for researchers and practitioners working at the intersection of education, housing, and youth development systems.
Objectives are to: (1) Highlight how youth-led research can inform and improve local and state educational policy; (2) Demonstrate the role of multilevel partnerships in advancing youth-driven systems change, and; (3) Offer insights into how participatory processes foster youth agency and institutional learning.
Y-HEAR-US draws on 20+ years of experience from two UC Berkeley research-practice partnership initiatives: Y-PLAN, which engages high school students in civic inquiry tied to real-world social challenges, and PLUS, a graduate student policy lab embedded within public institutions. From 2020–2024, the research project involved 260+ high school students, 62 graduate fellows, and partnerships with school districts, county offices, and the California Department of Education.
Key research findings include: (a) Widespread under-identification of homeless students due to fragmented definitions and weak interagency coordination; (b) The importance of transportation, mental health, and safe spaces in promoting attendance and engagement; (C) State-level policy shifts informed by student data, including new McKinney-Vento liaison trainings and improved identification strategies.

Importantly, youth-driven findings led to direct action: one district hired new case managers and launched incentive programs, and the state hosted multi-agency convenings where students presented data to policymakers. The project’s impact also includes a statewide cross-agency toolkit and a public StoryMap to share student-generated insights.
This case demonstrates how YPAR can function as a policy intervention and equity strategy—not just pedagogy. By centering youth as co-researchers and civic actors, Y-HEAR-US offers a replicable model for systems transformation rooted in multigenerational, cross-sector collaboration.

Authors

• Deborah McKoy, University of California - Berkeley

• Ruby Kosewicz-Strickland, University of California - Berkeley