Examination of Doubled-up Middle School Students in Los Angeles

• In Event: Bridging the Gap: Supporting Children Experiencing Homelessness Through Schools and Social Services

Abstract

As student homelessness remains a top concern for school districts around the country, a better understanding of the experiences of students living in doubled-up families –almost 80 percent of students identified as homeless nationwide– can provide essential information to educators, policymakers, and service providers. Our study examines the experiences of middle school students living in doubled-up conditions –sometimes described as hidden homelessness— with their families in Los Angeles County, and the experience of Homeless Student Liaisons and school systems identifying and serving these students and families. This mixed-methods research study aims to uncover nuances around doubled-up homelessness for BIPOC youth – who experiences doubled-up homelessness, what these experiences look like, what resources are available, and what resources students and their families most utilize. To do so, this study uses both primary data collection and existing secondary data analysis, which seeks to describe the overall variation across school districts. The secondary data includes de-identified administrative data from the Los Angeles County Office of Education (LACOE). While publicly available data through the California Department of Education (CDE) provides counts of students experiencing homelessness by county and grade, the administrative data from LACOE is more micro-level allowing further disaggregation by school district, housing type (e.g., shelter vs. doubled-up), grade, and importantly racial subgroups. The primary data collection is three-fold: 1) a web-based survey sent to the universe of 81 Homeless Liaisons across Los Angeles County, 2) telephone interviews with a subset of Homeless Liaisons, and 3) a additional interviews of school staff and community organizations.

Authors

• Soledad De Gregorio, Abt Global
  Presenting Author

• Zachary T. McDermott, Abt Global
  Non-Presenting Co-Author