Housing Instability & Educational Outcomes of San Mateo County Youth: New Research Shines a Light on the Impact of Homelessness on Students

This study explores the ways in which local students experience housing instability--and how cross-sector strategies can better identify and serve these students. The report accompanying this brief considers a rich set of school administrative data, collected over the course of three school years prior to the COVID-19 pandemic: 2016-17 through 2018-19. Early evidence suggest the COVID-19 pandemic has and will continue to exacerbate the crisis of housing instability; some who had previously experienced housing stability are, for the first time, experiencing some form of housing instability, and others who previously experienced some form of housing instability may now face even greater or more frequent instability. The report's findings highlight the importance of strengthening systems for identifying students who are experiencing housing instability, improving data systems for recording and maintaining this information, and using such data to inform policy and practice not only in schools and districts, but throughout the county. Needs are greater than prior to the pandemic, adding to the strength of calls for integrated county- and state-wide responses to this ongoing crisis in housing and more. [For the full report, see ED624057.]