Report: Child and Youth Homelessness in Philadelphia

Posted by HopePHL on March 4, 2025

We are sharing Part 3 of the ‘Children Cannot Wait’ campaign to share data about child and youth homelessness in Philadelphia.

We examined data from the School District of Philadelphia and the PA Department of Education, offering you an excellent source of data for Philadelphia’s homeless children.

Highlights include:

• Philadelphia identified and supported 10,029 children and youth as experiencing homelessness in School Year (SY) 2023, a 20% increase since the previous year, and a 27% increase since 2020. Of the 10,029 children and youth:

• • 7,603 children and youth from Pre-K to Grade 12 experienced homelessness in 2023.
  • 3,233 were infants, toddlers and PreK children, or 32% of all homeless children and youth.
  • Students experiencing homelessness have a higher rate of truancy and being suspended, and significantly lower academic achievement than their housed peers.
  • There was a 44% increase in identifying Pre-K students (mostly in Head Start).
  • The SDP reviewed a subset of the total number of children and youth and found that 80% of all children and youth identified as homeless were living doubled up in SY 2023, a significant increase from the previous year.
  • National data suggests that addressing student homelessness can result in lower truancy and absenteeism rates, and higher academic achievement.

Our recommendations are:

1. Outreach: We recommend that the City of Philadelphia and community organizations support the Philadelphia School District’s efforts by proactively reaching out to homeless students and their families residing doubled up as they have fewer resources available to them than those in shelter – and connect them to services.
2. Funding: The City and/or the School District should provide $4.5 million in funding to engage community-based housing agencies that would maintain its capacity to identify and serve students experiencing homelessness.
3. Collaboration for Social Impact: A coalition of SDP staff, community groups, corporate leadership, and City government needs to be formed to address specific issues confronting students experiencing homelessness.
4. Academic Achievement: The City of Philadelphia must organize a concerted effort to address the developmental needs of young children in methods that are proven to affect academic achievement when the children are in K-12. Activities could include targeted literacy campaigns, increasing access to high-quality early learning, and increasing the number of staff at the city shelters to focus on academics.

Read the report here.