SchoolHouse Connection

06/23/2026

The latest research reinforces what many educators and service providers already see every day: homelessness disrupts learning, development, and long-term opportunity. This quarter’s research roundup highlights what stability can make possible across early childhood, K-12, and higher education.
👶 Early Childhood Research
🔗 https://schoolhouseconnection.org/article/the-research-roundup-q2-2026

• Discover why executive functioning skills matter for young children experiencing homelessness — and how strengthening those skills may support long-term academic achievement.

• Learn how stability in routines, resources, and relationships shapes early development — and what policies and practices can help create more stable conditions for children.
📚 K-12 Research
🔗 https://schoolhouseconnection.org/article/the-research-roundup-q2-2026

• See why schools must be included in county and city homelessness-response planning — especially when they are often closest to children, youth, and families experiencing homelessness.

• Learn how underidentification may hide the true scale of student homelessness — and why better data matters for reaching students who are missed.

• Explore how school-housing partnerships can support children’s housing stability, health, well-being, and academic outcomes.
🎓 Higher Education Research
🔗 https://schoolhouseconnection.org/article/the-research-roundup-q2-2026

• Learn why college students experiencing homelessness face greater barriers to basic needs — and what supports can help with enrollment, persistence, and completion.

• See why clear information about emergency financial aid matters as basic needs insecurity persists for students in higher education.

• Discover how caregiving college students face unique housing challenges — and how financial aid awareness can support more stable housing.

• Learn how public benefits and financial aid can support young adults with low incomes, including youth experiencing homelessness, as they pursue education beyond high school.
👉 Explore our latest research roundup to dive into the sources and findings: https://schoolhouseconnection.org/article/the-research-roundup-q2-2026

Q2 2026 research spans early childhood to college: underidentification, system gaps, and school-housing partnerships. Explore the findings.

06/23/2026

The nation’s most-cited homelessness count leaves out most homeless children and youth. Make it make sense. *Hint*....you can’t.
See what HUD data misses, and why school and early childhood data matter. 🔗 https://schoolhouseconnection.org/article/hud-pit-count-misses-homeless-children-youth
Public schools identified more than 1.5 million homeless children and youth last year. An estimated 446,996 infants and toddlers experienced homelessness in 2022–23. And more than 80% of the children and youth schools identify as homeless don’t meet HUD’s definition.
That means they don’t appear in .S. Department of Housing and Urban Development data — and too often, they’re left out of the story and the solutions.

06/19/2026

For many Black students experiencing homelessness, asking for help can mean weighing a real question: Will this support me, or could it make things worse?

Black high school students are 2.25 times more likely to experience homelessness than white high school students (YRBS).

But higher rates of homelessness are only part of the story.

Students also face barriers to being identified and supported. One SchoolHouse Connection Scholar put it bluntly: “There is a stigma against homeless people, and especially black homeless people.”

Stigma. Fear. Shame. Distrust. Past experiences with public systems that may not have always protected Black children and families with the care and dignity they deserve.

As researcher Earl Edwards wrote for SchoolHouse Connection, the “institutional networks often designed to help students… disproportionately criminalize Black youth.” He also found that Black students experiencing homelessness may distrust school staff because of their school’s close ties to those institutions.

That distrust has consequences.

When students do not feel safe disclosing homelessness, they can miss out on transportation, enrollment protections, school stability, and other support they have a legal right to receive.

Another Scholar said support should feel “normal and accessible, not something you have to earn by telling your whole story.”

For too many Black students experiencing homelessness, the biggest barrier can be feeling unsafe asking for help.

It takes not just asking better questions, but building enough trust that students feel safe answering.

06/18/2026

ICYMI — House FY2027 funding bills: Proposed EHCY level-funding, Title I cuts, and other critical programs at risk. 👇 Here is what you need to know and what you can share with your network! 🔗 https://bit.ly/4oGVGG4

On June 9, the House Appropriations Committee passed its FY2027 funding bill on a 34-28 party-line vote, rejecting the Trump Administration’s proposal to eliminate the McKinney-Vento Act’s Education for Homeless Children and Youth (EHCY) program and fold it into a block grant.

The bill maintains EHCY funding at its current level of $129 million. That matters.

EHCY remains the only federal education program specifically designed to identify and support children and youth experiencing homelessness. While we are relieved that EHCY funding is preserved, we are deeply concerned by the bill’s proposed $1.9 billion cut to Title I, Part A and the elimination of several other programs that serve children, youth, and families experiencing homelessness.

‼️ Remember: these proposals are not final. ‼️

They are one part of a lengthy appropriations process.

📃 Some key numbers from the House education proposal:

→ EHCY would remain protected at $129 million
→ Title I, Part A would be cut by $1.9 billion
→ Federal Work Study would be cut by 26%
→ Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants (SEOG) would be cut by 40%
→ Basic Needs in Postsecondary Education would be cut by 50%

❌ Some programs that would not receive FY2027 funding under the House bill:

→ Title III English Language Acquisition
→ Preschool Development Grants

🙋‍♂️ What’s in the House housing proposal?

→ HUD funding would be cut by more than 8%
→ Continuum of Care would be cut by 5.7%
→ Emergency Shelter Grants would remain flat funded
→ The U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness would be cut by 93%, as part of a proposed wind-down of the agency

🔗 Read the full funding breakdown: https://bit.ly/4oGVGG4

🤔 What happens next?

The House Appropriations Committee bills are not law.

The Senate Appropriations Committee has not yet released or marked up its FY2027 education or housing bills, and is likely to reject most of the cuts in the House bills. Given upcoming Congressional recesses, Congress is also unlikely to meet its September 30 deadline to fund the government. The most likely scenario is a short-term spending bill — known as a Continuing Resolution, or CR — to keep the government open until after the November elections.

📣 That means there is still time to act!

Join SchoolHouse Connection andNational Network For Youth on Tuesday, July 7 at 1PM Eastern for a Federal Policy Update on child and youth homelessness. We’ll cover what’s in the FY2027 bills, what these proposals could mean for children, youth, and families, and where your voice can make a difference.

Register now: https://bit.ly/4xRL4s2

06/16/2026

Too many college students are trying to stay enrolled while also trying to find a safe place to sleep. For students experiencing homelessness — including student parents — lacking housing stability can make it nearly impossible to focus on coursework, financial aid, child care, transportation, and graduation.

🗓️ This Thursday, June 18th 👉 Join New America, SchoolHouse Connection, and Oppstartsathome Opportunity Starts at Home for When College and Housing Collide: Addressing Homelessness Among College Students, a virtual discussion on what it will take to better identify and support students experiencing homelessness in higher education.

We’re looking forward to hearing from:

• Ewaoluwa Obatuase, MPP, New America

• Richard Davis Jr., New America

• Jillian Sitjar, SchoolHouse Connection

• Julie Walker, Opportunity Starts at Home / National Low Income Housing Coalition

• Chantelle Wilkinson, National Low Income Housing Coalition

• Harper, SchoolHouse Connection Scholar, author of a new Op-Ed in Youth Today 🔗 https://youthtoday.org/2026/05/lived-coat-closet-stay-college

Together, we’ll discuss the data, lived experiences, policy solutions, and actionable insights to strengthen support systems for college students who struggle with homelessness.

📅 June 18, 2026

🕒 3:00–4:00 PM EDT

✍️ Register here: https://www.newamerica.org/events/when-college-and-housing-collide-addressing-homelessness-among-college-students/

At this webinar, researchers from New America and SchoolHouse Connection will offer actionable insights to strengthen support systems for college students who struggle with homelessness.

06/06/2026

SchoolHouse Connection's Youth Leadership and Scholarship team member Roshanda Pinson attended the Georgia Department of Education Office of Federal Program’s Awards of Excellence Ceremony to celebrate scholars Aleyana and Davion.

She reflected, "It was such a joy to be able to celebrate our scholars and witness the overwhelming sense of pride from their community. I was absolutely beaming while they were being presented with their award because I know how deserving they are of this recognition. They exude academic excellence, are hardworking and so very generous with their time. While they aspire to go into careers where they can make an impact, they are already positive influences and serve as inspiration."

🥳 Our entire SHC team couldn’t be more proud of our Scholars!

06/03/2026

Sleeping in a bathtub before freshman year, navigating dorm closures over breaks, waiting until the last possible day to know whether housing would make an exception, and eventually renting “the coat closet under my friends’ staircase” just to keep going. In a new Op-Ed for Today , Scholar Harper shares what it took to stay enrolled in college while experiencing homelessness. 🔗 https://youthtoday.org/2026/05/lived-coat-closet-stay-college

“I had no family support and no place to live.”

This is the reality too many students are carrying quietly. Public schools identified more than 1.5 million children and youth experiencing homelessness in 2023–2024, and our higher education research with Trellis Strategies shows how hidden this crisis remains in college: 73% of students experiencing homelessness had moved in with others because of financial problems, 50% had couch surfed, but only 21% said they had been homeless when asked directly.

Harper’s story is a powerful reminder that students should not have to depend on one professor, one exception, or one mentor knowing how to navigate the system.

“Without this support, I think I would’ve dropped out of college.”

We are proud to say that Harper very recently secured stable housing. Read Harper’s full Op-Ed in Youth Today, and learn why higher education liaisons, year-round housing access, and policies that bend before students break are urgently needed. 🔗 https://youthtoday.org/2026/05/lived-coat-closet-stay-college

06/02/2026

When a young child experiences homelessness, the systems around them can help create stability. Thank you to The BUILD Initiative for creating space for this critical conversation. Last month, Erin Patterson, Senior Director of Strategic Initiatives and Partnerships at SchoolHouse Connection, presented at BUILD’s state convening on the importance of early childhood systems in addressing child and family homelessness.

We were honored to be part of the conversation, and encouraged by the thoughtful questions states are asking about how to strengthen systems, remove barriers, and better support children and families experiencing homelessness.

Early childhood systems have a powerful role to play in connecting families to stability, care, and opportunity during some of their most vulnerable moments.

Special thanks to SEARCH Homeless Services and Tracy Duarte for your sharp insights and continued leadership on behalf of children and families experiencing homelessness.

06/01/2026

“SchoolHouse Connection gave me a voice to advocate for other students.” Through our Youth Leadership and Scholarship Program, 2022 Scholar Juan found support that helped him transition to college, connect with resources, and step into advocacy for other students facing the barriers that homelessness creates.

The program is more than a scholarship. It supports young people as they graduate high school, transition into college, and grow as leaders whose lived expertise can help change systems.

⏰ This year's application cycle ends tomorrow, June 2nd! To learn more and help students apply by midnight, visit SchoolHouseConnection.org/Scholarship.

05/30/2026

You may not always get to see the impact of your work. But consider this your reminder: It is real. It is significant. And it can change the course of a child’s entire life.

For everyone supporting babies, infants, toddlers, and young children experiencing homelessness — in child care, Early Head Start, Head Start, schools, shelters, programs, and communities — your work matters.

As SHC's Sarah Vrabic shares, “The benefits can feel intangible. But can be significant across their entire lives.”

An infant or toddler who stays connected to care today is better prepared for kindergarten.

A child who has stability in the earliest years can be better set up to graduate high school.

And that same child experiencing homelessness who receives support now can carry that foundation into adulthood, work, and life.