This brief seeks to improve staff effectiveness while maximizing and streamlining support for students and families experiencing homelessness, ensuring they receive the assistance they need and deserve. The guidance is intended for, but not limited to, Massachusetts policymakers and Boston Public Schools (BPS) administrators, offering key insights…

Across the United States, state and local education agencies work to ensure equitable access to high-quality education for all students, including students who are experiencing homelessness. This barrier to academic success is, unfortunately, not unique. To equitably serve all students, states and districts must first identify students…

There are approximately 1.5 million K-12 students and an additional 1.4 million children under the age of six experiencing homelessness across the United States. While many of these students attend traditional public schools, a growing number, at least 60,000, are enrolled in charter schools. Charter schools are independently-operated public…

Federal rules on immigrant youth and families are changing rapidly, from Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) to Temporary Protected Status (TPS). Recently, schools are welcoming more immigrant families from all over the world due to violence and natural disasters. This brief provides basic information about eligibility for education…

Schools often struggle to build partnerships with homeless and highly mobile (HHM) families. These families are not homogeneous; they live in and engage with schools from diverse residential contexts. Using Epstein's theory and framework and drawing from 132 interviews with HHM parents, school personnel, and community stakeholders in an urban…

A lack of stable housing creates challenges for students who want to participate in daily school activities, including: (1) getting to school; (2) accessing laundry or shower facilities; (3) finding a place to study or do homework; and (4) staying awake in class because of inadequate sleep the night before. Despite these and the other challenges,…

Children and youth represent a growing proportion of the homeless population. Using the lens of transformative leadership, this multifamily case study explores the realities of homeless children, the challenges their families face, and the role of school leaders in ensuring that they receive a quality education. It recommends that leaders (1)…