New Policy Brief: Education and Homeless Children

Posted by on December 14, 2009

PEC publishes new policy brief on homeless education

People’s Emergency Center is publishing a two-part policy brief on education and homeless children focusing on how the number of homeless children is determined and their academic  performance.

According to a series of recent reports, the number of homeless children and teens in Philadelphia and throughout the United States has increased over the past year, while in Pennsylvania as a whole there has been a decline.

The School District of Philadelphia identified 5,000 homeless students in the 2007-08 school year, an increase of 6% over the previous year. For the same time period, the US Department of Education reported a 17% increase in homeless students in the nation as a whole2 and Pennsylvania reported a 9% decrease.

Nationally, homeless students are more likely to double up in someone else’s residence, while Pennsylvania and Philadelphia homeless students generally reside in shelter.

Part I of the policy brief summarizes findings on the number of homeless children in Philadelphia, in Pennsylvania, and the nation as a whole. Part II will be published in January and will examine the educational performance of homeless children.

To download the first part of the report, click here.

http://www.pec-cares.org/clientfolders/pdf/policy_brief_ed_&homeless_children_part_1_counting_homeless_children.pdf