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Camden City School District is committed to identifying and serving students experiencing homelessness to ensure they receive a free, appropriate public education. It considers data from students enrolled in district schools at the conclusion of each of the 2014-15 to 2018-19 school years as well as publicly available data from other local education agencies in Camden. We hope that this report offers insights into patterns of student homelessness. Our ultimate goal is to innovate new ways of identifying and supporting students who experience homelessness. Identified homelessness demonstrated that housing problems were prevalent in 2018-19. About 1 out of every 20 (4.59%) students was identified as experiencing homelessness. Nine out of ten (90.41%) of these students were staying doubled-up. Most (58.89%) students experiencing homelessness were enrolled in four district schools. Homelessness rates were about the same for each grade, though lower for preschool. Annual rates of identified homelessness increased over time but are likely undercounts. Rates increased markedly in SY 2017-18 and stayed around this level in 2018-19. This increase coincides with students entering the district affected by Hurricanes Irma and Maria as well as a relevant change in district practice to improve capacity. This increase was not evident for students in district preschool programs. Some homeless situations (staying in hotels/motels, shelter) were less prevalent in recent years, suggesting an undercount. Hurricane Maria's impact elsewhere contributed to increases in student homelessness. Students affected by hurricanes accounted for the increase in homelessness in 2017-18. Homelessness nearly doubled for Hispanic and Latino students in 2017-18 while homelessness increased by only about 10% for African American students. Homelessness more than doubled (146% increase) in schools with bilingual programs during 2017-18 while homelessness decreased in schools without a bilingual program. Homelessness was sometimes linked to differences in educational functioning. The average absence rate was higher most years for the homelessness group. Students experiencing homelessness were less likely to be proficient in standardized tests. Homelessness appears unrelated to out-of-school suspensions in recent years. Student homelessness may be underreported in most charter and renaissance agencies. No consistent pattern of student homelessness was evident across the 9 Camden education agencies from 2014-15 to 2017-18. Four agencies (44.44% of city education agencies) did not report any homelessness. Two agencies reported persistent annual homelessness rates under 2%. [This report was created as part of a research-practice partnership among Nemours, Children's Health System, Camden Coalition of Healthcare Providers, and Camden City School District.]

Building on the Center for American Progress' workforce equity framework, which proposes creating and filling quality jobs with career options for all workers, this report proposes changing workforce accountability standards in order to drive labor markets toward quality job creation. It argues for restructuring workforce accountability from its current skills-focused compliance orientation to a systemic practice of increasing access to better jobs and improving career outcomes. This descriptive review--and the recommendations that follow--draw from an interdisciplinary literature on job quality metrics. The report provides an overview of the accountability indicators required under current law and makes a case for why they serve as poor indicators for measuring job quality. The report conceptualizes broadening the notions of workforce development by proposing a data dashboard of multiple workforce metrics. The concluding section briefly recommends how policymakers can begin to restructure the workforce accountability system.

Homelessness is a reality for many families with young children in the United States. Homeless children and youths lack a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence. In 2017, about a third of all people who stayed in a shelter were families with children, and nearly half of children served by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)-funded emergency and transitional housing providers were age five or younger (HUD, 2018). Furthermore, children under the age of one make up less than six percent of the overall child population in the United States, yet they constitute 10 percent of the child population served by HUD-funded shelters. In January 2016, the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) released "Early Childhood Homelessness 50-State Profiles" (ED609119) as part of an interagency early childhood workgroup of the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH). ACF released a second state profile in 2017 (ED609123) and then the U.S. Department of Education (ED) issued reports in 2018 (ED594740), 2019 (ED600425), and 2020 (ED609095). This report presents the five-year trend for publicly available data collected from 2013-14 to 2017-18 by ED, the U.S. Census Bureau (Census), HUD (2014 to 2018), and the Annie E. Casey Foundation (2013 to 2017). Its purpose is to inform policymakers, practitioners, and researchers on the change in the size and service coverage of young children experiencing homelessness during this five-year period. This report presents five-year trends using information from the previous reports covering data collected from 2013-14 to 2017-18 to provide a snapshot of children under age six who are experiencing homelessness at the national level. The data are from the 50 States, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico--limited information is also available for selected U.S. territories--and the following data are presented by state: (1) Number of children under age six by jurisdiction from 2014 to 2018 (Exhibit 1); (2) Number and percentage of children under age six experiencing homelessness by jurisdiction from 2013-14 to 2017-18 (Exhibit 2); and (3) Number and percentage of children under age six experiencing homelessness served by federally-funded education programs from 2013-14 to 2017-18 (i.e., Head Start and McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act subgrants) (Exhibit 3). This report also includes two indicators on related factors: the percentage of families experiencing a "high housing cost burden" (defined as spending 30 percent or more of monthly income on housing expenses) and the percentage of young children under age six with no parent in the labor force in the United States (Exhibit 4).

Equitable education requires racially, and economically integrated schools staffed by skilled teachers who are adequately prepared to teach in diverse classrooms. This summary includes best practices reflecting the concerted efforts of communities across the country working to pursue integrated communities reflecting the rich diversity in the United States. [For the accompanying literature review, see ED629235. For the accompanying bibliography, see ED629236.]

This year's "America's Children in Brief" highlights selected indicators by metropolitan status to give the reader a closer look at how well-being is influenced by the type of community in which children and their families live. The "Brief" also provides a snapshot of the overall well-being of America's children through the At-a-Glance summary table displaying the most recent data for all 41 indicators that describe the well-being of children. The focus on metropolitan status is motivated by the long-standing recognition that there are substantial differences across communities and such differences may influence child well-being in diverse ways. Underlying characteristics of communities that affect child well-being reported in this "Brief" include the following types of factors: (1) demographic characteristics of the population; (2) physical characteristics of natural and built environments; (3) economic activity and conditions; (4) social and cultural factors; (5) community institutions, resources, and services; and (6) health and wellness. [For "America's Children: Key National Indicators of Well-Being, 2019," see ED599946.]

Three out of four jobs now require education or training beyond high school, yet some students face formidable barriers to attending college. Disruptions to K-12 education, trauma, loss, food insecurity, and housing instability are known impediments to the educational success of youth who have been in foster care. These types of challenges may well be felt by more youth in the general population as a result of the COVID-19 crisis. Youth formerly in foster care can be a magnifier for the challenges higher education now faces even more broadly. If we can "flatten the college curve" for youth in foster care, we can apply similar strategies and policies to solve postsecondary access and persistence challenges for many of our most vulnerable students and intentionally broaden the focus on equitable access to postsecondary education to groups of students with unique and complex life circumstances. This report offers in-depth information on postsecondary matriculation and persistence rates for students formerly in foster care as a means to inform and improve policies and practices for the benefit of all youth.

The efficiency-equity trade-offs in public service delivery may be influenced by the dependency of local governments on their own resources rather than inter-governmental grants. School districts in the United States are expected both to produce human capital efficiently and to provide educational opportunity equally. To ascertain school district trade-offs, we estimate effects of revenue source on student performances in math and reading. Achievement is estimated from 225,000 observations weighted to be district representative. Estimates are made with OLS [ordinary least squares], geographic discontinuity models exploiting differences at state borders, and 2SLS [two-stage least squares] models that use changes in housing prices as an instrument. For every 10 percent increase in local revenue share, achievement increases by a sizeable 0.02 to 0.06 standard deviations. Gains for students from low socio-economic backgrounds are about half those from higher ones. Both voice and exit channels moderate the efficiency-equity trade-off. Implications for federalism and state policy are discussed.

Community schools are an evidence-based strategy to advance a "whole child" approach to education by offering integrated student supports (e.g., health care or housing assistance), expanded and enriched learning time, family and community engagement, and collaborative leadership and practices. This brief examines how local government and nonprofit agencies in two California counties--Los Angeles and Alameda--have provided technical assistance to support community school initiatives. The community schools strategy is more relevant than ever during the time of COVID-19, as unemployment rates skyrocket and many parents, especially those from lower-income communities, report concerns that their children will fall behind academically as a result of school closures. Community schools--which are growing in popularity across California, with initiatives present or emerging in Los Angeles, Oakland, and many other districts--are especially well-positioned to meet the myriad needs of students and families during this crisis. By providing a well-coordinated and comprehensive set of supports, even in a distance learning environment, community schools can help respond to the digital divide and address essential supports such as food delivery and health care.

This "2018-2019 Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee (IACC) Strategic Plan Update" is the work of the IACC membership that was appointed under the Autism CARES Act of 2014. The Committee agreed that the "2016-2017 IACC Strategic Plan" reflected a comprehensive review of the state of the field and provided a set of 23 new research, services, and policy-related objectives. Together, the Committee hopes that the "2018-2019 IACC Strategic Plan Update" will provide an insightful overview of the recent efforts in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) research, services, and outreach as they relate to the issues and goals described in the "2016-2017 IACC Strategic Plan." The "2018-2019 IACC Strategic Plan Update" includes: (1) a synopsis of presentations and discussions that took place at IACC Full Committee meetings in 2018 and 2019; (2) a recap of the activities of the IACC Working Group focused on improving health outcomes for people on the autism spectrum; (3) a recap of the activities of the IACC Working Group focused on housing issues experienced by people on the autism spectrum and their families; (4) a summary of the "2016 ASD Research Portfolio Analysis Report," which is the first analysis of research activities among federal and private funders as they correspond to the objectives of the "2016-2017 IACC Strategic Plan"; and (5) a synopsis of the "Department of Health and Human Services Report to Congress on Activities Related to Autism Spectrum Disorders and Other Developmental Disabilities Under the Autism Collaboration, Accountability, Research, Education and Support Act (Autism CARES Act) of 2014 (FY 2014-FY 2018)," highlighting recent federal activities related to ASD research and services. [For "2016-2017 Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee Strategic Plan for Autism Spectrum Disorder," see ED589791.]

Public spending on children is an investment in the nation's future, as it aims to support their healthy development and human potential. To inform policymakers, children's advocates, and the general public about how public funds are spent on children, this 14th edition of the annual "Kids' Share" report provides an updated analysis of federal expenditures on children from 1960 to 2019. This year's "Kids' Share" report also provides a baseline view of public expenditures before the COVID-19 pandemic. Our projections of federal expenditures on children through 2030 give a sense of how budget priorities were scheduled to unfold under the law before the pandemic and related economic and legislative responses. View a single-page formatted version of the report with text and charts side-by-side here (https://www.urban.org/sites/default/files/2020/07/27/kids_share_2020_chartbook_spread.pdf). A few highlights of the chartbook: (1) Federal expenditures per child were slightly higher in 2019 than in recent years, after adjusting for inflation. In 2019, the federal government spent about $6,700 per child younger than 19. The increase primarily reflects some delayed effects of the temporary expansion of the child tax credit enacted in the Tax Cut and Jobs Act (TCJA) of 2017; (2) As a share of federal spending, the $408 billion invested in children in 2019 remained at roughly 9 percent of all federal outlays for the second year in a row; (3) As a share of the economy, federal investments in children represented 1.9 percent of GDP, similar to last year but lower than other years in the past decade; (4) The child tax credit was the largest source of federal support for children in 2019, surpassing Medicaid, which had been the largest program for many years. More than three-fifths of federal expenditures on children are from tax provisions or health spending; (5) The share of federal expenditures on children targeted to families with low incomes has grown over time, reaching 57 percent in 2019; (6) Under prepandemic law, children's programs are projected to receive only two cents of every dollar of the projected $1.6 trillion increase in federal spending over the next decade; (7) Under prepandemic law, children's share of the federal budget is projected to drop from 9.2 percent to 7.3 percent over the next decade, as built-in spending on Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and interest payments on the debt consume a growing share of the budget; (8) The federal government spends nearly as much on interest payments on the debt as on children; and (9) Over the next decade, all categories of spending on children except health are projected to decline relative to GDP. Most categories also see declines or remain at similar levels in real dollars. [For the 2019 report, see ED607694.]

America is ramping up efforts to improve outcomes for students experiencing homelessness. In addition to increased awareness of the problem, groundbreaking legislation and policies at all levels, public and private support organizations, local communities, and states are undertaking a variety of efforts to boost outcomes for some of the country's most vulnerable children and youth. Examples around the country can inspire other schools, districts, communities, and states to identify, engage, and support students experiencing homelessness in America's schools. To learn more about a variety of efforts that identify and support students experiencing homelessness in schools and districts throughout the country, Civic conducted interviews with educators in Virginia, New Hampshire, Texas, Montana, and Michigan. The goal of this project is to identify strategies schools and districts are using to successfully mitigate the challenges these students face attending and succeeding in school and disseminate those best practices. This work supplements multiple efforts of Building Changes, a Washington State-based nonprofit, aimed at identifying replicable practices for schools on how best to meet the needs of their students experiencing homelessness. Through a combination of quantitative and qualitative analysis, Building Changes has developed a menu of strategies schools can utilize to support these students. Case studies further illuminate some of these practices and provide examples other schools and districts can draw upon to improve outcomes for students experiencing homelessness. [This report was produced in partnership with the Education Leads Home Campaign.]

Despite the recent dramatic rise in student homelessness in the U.S., little research evidence exists on the effects of homelessness programs and interventions on students and young people. This paper examines the effects of a homelessness prevention and rapid rehousing program--which combines temporary rental subsidies with light-touch case management--on homeless and highly mobile students in a large urban school district. By linking detailed district administrative data with programmatic data, I create a novel dataset that allows me to estimate impacts to students in the immediate weeks and months following exposure to the rehousing intervention. Specifically, I use generalized and event study difference-in-differences models to estimate within-student differences in district and school mobility, attendance, and behavioral outcomes before and after beginning participation in the program. I find that the treatment improves student behavior, significantly reducing the likelihood of students having multiple behavioral incidents in a month, but increases students' absence rates and chronic absenteeism, particularly for students who are rehoused outside the city proper but remain enrolled in the central district. These results highlight both the positive impacts of this type of intervention, as well as unintended consequences, raising questions around the priorities and inherent tradeoffs of rehousing programs.

This Policy Guide provides a comprehensive overview of the equity issues amplified in the cross-section of high school-to-college transitions and the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as concrete ideas for policy action to address immediate and arising high-priority concerns. It is organized into six thematic areas: admissions and enrollment, academic readiness, access to financial resources, experiential learning, new learning environments and non-academic supports.

This report presents state- and county-level data for the Appalachian Region. The 12 chapters focus on: (1) Population Basics; (2) Age; (3) Race and Hispanic Origin; (4) Housing Occupancy, Tenure, and Type; (5) Education, Device Ownership, and Internet Access; (6) Labor Force, Employment, and Unemployment; (7) Transportation and Commuting Patterns; (8) Income and Poverty (9) Health and Insurance Coverage; (10) Disability Status; (11) Migration; and (12) Veteran Status. Most of the data contained in this chartbook come from the 2014-2018 American Community Survey. This year's Chartbook includes two appendices. Appendix A uses selected demographic and socioeconomic measures to provide an overview comparing rural Appalachia (defined here as nonmetropolitan counties not adjacent to any metropolitan area) to rural areas outside the Appalachian Region. (It also includes a map showing the location of these rural counties.) Appendix B contains two reference maps--one of the five Appalachian subregions, and one of the five rural-urban county types. Both the subregions and county types are referenced throughout the report. [For the 2012-2016 Chartbook, see ED585953.]

This publication presents the challenges and opportunities confronting early childhood development in vulnerable urban contexts, derived from specialised research by Arup and the Bernard van Leer Foundation (BvLF). The data is clear: vulnerable urban areas such as refugee and informal settlements house a growing population in critical need, and the number and size of these areas will only increase in the coming decades. Living in these contexts has particularly significant negative impacts on young children aged 0 to 5. At present, governments, development and humanitarian organisations, and urban practitioners devote little attention to the specific needs of the 0-5 age group in projects aimed at improving conditions in informal and refugee settlements. This age group's needs are different than those of older children but are often 'lumped in' with them from a planning and policy perspective, or worse, go entirely unrecognised. In addition, the complexity of vulnerability in these contexts makes it difficult to design and implement effective early childhood development solutions that consider the influence of the built environment. Arup and BvLF have partnered to help bridge this gap. The Proximity of Care approach was developed to better understand the needs and constraints faced by young children, their caregivers, and pregnant women in informal and refugee settlements; and to ultimately help improve their living conditions and well-being. [This report was co-produced by Arup.]

This paper provides insight on how postsecondary students' financial situation was impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Results are based on the recent Statistics Canada crowdsourcing data collection completed by over 100,000 postsecondary students between April 19 and May 1, 2020.

Student debt balances are ballooning, posing a serious threat to the financial security of millions of borrowers across the country. In the last 15 years, total outstanding student debt has grown six-fold and now hovers at over $1.5 trillion. Student debt has significant short- and long-term impacts on individuals, their communities, and the broader economy. The crisis demands urgent action to alleviate its impacts on individuals, their families, their communities, and the broader economy. While it is too early to say what the long-term impacts of the crisis will be, what has unfolded so far indicates a need to curb further escalation. Solving the crisis will require solutions from a range of stakeholders and actors--and states have an opportunity to act immediately. To provide options to states to address this growing threat to financial security, Aspen Institute Financial Security Program conducted a scan of possible state solutions to address student loan burdens. The identified solutions fit into three types of actions that align with the borrower experience, with particular consideration for how they help low-income borrowers and borrowers of color: (1) Reduce the out-of-pocket cost of attendance; (2) Protect students as they navigate existing debt; and (3) Decrease existing student debt burdens. [Research and writing assistance for this report was provided by Jordan Thomas.]

In 2018, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative engaged the John W. Gardner Center for Youth and Their Communities at Stanford University (Gardner Center) to partner with public school districts in San Mateo County, CA to examine the barriers to educational success that homeless and highly mobile students face. Given the increasing prevalence of homelessness and unstable living arrangements among youth nation-wide, and particular challenges related to income inequality and rising housing costs in San Mateo County, this partnership aims to identify factors that may promote academic achievement among this vulnerable population. This report presents results for the first of three stages of this investigation into the prevalence and distribution of youth experiencing housing instability in San Mateo County, breaking the school districts into three geographically-based sub-groups. The first stage describes youth enrolled in the Sequoia Union High School District and its eight feeder elementary school districts. This report aims to address three key research questions: (1) What is the size and distribution of the homeless and highly mobile student population in Sequoia area school districts during the last three to five years? (2) To what degree do circumstances vary for this student population (e.g., in terms of chronicity of homelessness, instability of current living arrangements, placement in foster care, newcomer immigrant background, family structure)? and (3) How does being homeless or highly mobile affect students' educational outcomes?

In January 2016, the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) released the first 50-state profile on Early Childhood Homelessness as part of an interagency collaboration with multiple departments and agencies participating on the early childhood workgroup of the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH). This report updates ED's annual "Early Childhood Homelessness State Profiles" and provides a snapshot of early childhood data available for children who are experiencing homelessness in each state, plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. It includes publicly available data for 2017-2018 from the U.S. Census Bureau (Census), ED, HUD, HHS, and the Annie E. Casey Foundation and reports the following by state: (1) Total population under age six in 2018; (2) Estimated number of children under age six experiencing homelessness in 2017-2018; (3) Estimated extent of homelessness (e.g., one-in-[X] children under age six experienced homelessness in 2017-2018); and (4) Estimated enrollment of children under age six in Federally funded early childhood programs (i.e., Head Start and school districts receiving "McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act" ("McKinney-Vento Act") subgrants) in 2017-2018. As in previous profiles, the 2020 report includes two indicators referred to as related factors. These factors are the percentage of families experiencing a "high housing cost burden" (defined as spending 30 percent or more of monthly income on housing expenses), and the percentage of young children under age six with no parent in the labor force in the United States. These factors were included because of their relationship to homelessness and, in particular, to spark dialogue about addressing homelessness for children under age six. While these data on related factors are not available for the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, this report does provide information about the number of children experiencing homelessness served by Head Start/Early Head Start in these areas. [For the 2019 report, see ED600425.]

The enduring condition of racial and ethnic segregation in schools and housing in metropolitan Hartford, Connecticut, is rooted in historical and contemporary racial discrimination and in practices and policies that exacted disparate harm on Black and Latinx people. School segregation both reflects and reinforces segregation in housing that was created, sustained, and exacerbated over decades. By all available measures, both the state of Connecticut and the Hartford metropolitan area have extremely high levels of racial and ethnic segregation in housing and public schools relative to other metropolitan areas in the United States. The purpose of this report is to increase awareness both of the role of government and other actors in creating and cementing segregation and of the consequences of the condition of racial and ethnic separation. The hope is that this knowledge will inspire redress in the form of holistic policy making in multiple sectors, including housing, education, health, and economic development. This report can also inform grant making that acknowledges and seeks to address root causes of racial inequality, an inequality long a hallmark of the state of Connecticut. The report offers recommendations to inform these conversations, from which more and better ideas will surely emerge. [The report was published with the Sillerman Center for the Advancement of Philanthropy at Brandeis University and the Open Communities Alliance (OCA).]

In early August 2020, as educators prepared for an uncertain school year, there was a worrying theme from school district homeless liaisons: numbers of identified homeless students were down--in some cases, significantly down--despite evidence of increased need. In September and October of 2020, a survey was conducted of local educational agency homeless liaisons who are designated under federal law (the McKinney-Vento Act) to carry out specific responsibilities to ensure the identification, enrollment, and support of children and youth experiencing homelessness. The liaisons were asked whether their numbers of identified homeless students were higher or lower than at the same time in the previous school year and by how much, and their perception of the reasons for these trends. They were also asked to describe the greatest unmet needs of children and youth experiencing homelessness in their communities; whether their school districts were directing the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act education dollars to homeless students, and if so, how those funds were being used. This report examines the findings of the survey that show a drop in the number of children and youth experiencing homelessness who have been identified and supported by public schools in the fall of 2020, despite evidence of increased need during the pandemic. Liaisons also described significant unmet needs beyond access to education, and the failure of federal CARES Act dollars to reach some of the most vulnerable students--children and youth whose invisibility prevents them from being prioritized in policy and funding decisions. It concludes with recommendations for policymakers, educational and relief agencies, and philanthropic organizations. [This report was prepared with the SchoolHouse Connection.]

This is the 31st edition of the "KIDS COUNT Data Book." The Annie E. Casey Foundation has published this comprehensive assessment of the well-being of children in the United States every year since 1990, during periods of growth and recession and in times of relative prosperity and great anxiety. But since the Foundation began publishing the Data Book, there has never been a year like this. Undoubtedly, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the world will remember 2020 as a year of fear, pain and loss for everyone, including children old enough to recall what happened long after this time is behind. The crisis has overwhelmed states and communities and has decimated the health and economic stability of families, with a profoundly disparate effect on people of color. This "Data Book" provides the information on child well-being as it stood before the pandemic to help inform the work of the policymakers, researchers and advocates who depend on this regularly published report. [For the "Kids Count Data Book, 2019: State Trends in Child Well-Being," see ED596239.]