Statistics on student homelessness from the California Department of Education (2018-19) are now available on RACECOUNTS.org. The data show the number of students experiencing homelessness as a percentage of all enrolled students. According to the Council on Community Pediatrics, a child’s health and housing security are closely linked. Homelessness makes children more likely to suffer from chronic disease and malnutrition, as well as from the psychological effects of trauma. A child’s education is frequently interrupted as a result of housing insecurity as well.
Performance: Statewide, 3.4% of students experience homelessness. Sonoma County had the lowest rate of student homelessness (0.8%). Alpine County had the highest rate at 15.2%.
Disparity: Inyo County schools had the most racially disparate student homelessness rates. There 7.5% of non-Latino Black students experience homelessness, compared to 0.1% of non-Latino White students. The same pattern holds true across the state with non-Latino Black students being most likely to experience homelessness (5.2%), followed by non-Latino Pacific Islanders (4.6%), and non-Latino American Indian/Alaska Natives and Latino students (both at 4.5%).
Impact: Over 150,000 of the 207,677 students experiencing homelessness are Latino. This means that Latino students represent 72.8% of these students statewide. Click here for data.