Oregon sees record number of homeless students

During the 2014-15 school year, Oregon school districts served 20,524 K-12 students experiencinghomelessness, officials said Thursday. That represents an 8 percent increase and brings thehomelessstudent count up to levels not seen since the 2010-11 school year.

The majority of the increase was in the number of students identified as “unsheltered,” meaning they live in vehicles, tents, and other forms of substandard housing.

“Despite an improving economy, many Oregon families are still struggling just to meet their most basic needs,” Oregon Deputy Superintendent Salam Noor said. “Far too many children don’t know where their next meal is coming from or where they will sleep at night.

“The significant increase inhomelessyouth – particularly in unsheltered youth – is deeply troubling. However, I know that this is an issue that our local communities, social services partners, and schools are working to address. I am very proud of the good work done by our school districthomelessliaisons to reach out to students and families and provide support during such a challenging time.”

Every Oregon school district employs ahomelessliaison who identifies and provides services and support to students experiencinghomelessness. These liaisons not only help keep students in school, but they also work with students and families to connect them with social services and other resources to help them get back on their feet.

Families needing support can access a list of district liaisons online at:http://www.ode.state.or.us/Go/HomelessEd. In addition, families can receive assistance with housing, food, and other services – including contacts for their local district liaison – by calling 211.

“Ourhomelessliaisons do incredible work identifying and supporting students and families and connecting them to vital community services,” said Oregon Department of EducationHomelessSpecialist Dona Bolt. “For many of our families, the economic recovery has not yet become a reality. Families are still looking for work, struggling to get by, and trying to provide a sense of stability to their children.It is critical that we all work together to address the complex underlying issues and get more children – and adults – into permanent and stable housing.”

In Central Oregon, the new report finds 96 homeless K-12 students in the Crook County School District, just under 3 percent of the total. The Jefferson County School District reported 80 homeless students, for 2.7 percent of the total, but Culver’s 131 homeless students represent nearly 19 percent of the total population. The Ashwood and Black Butte Ranch districts did not report any homeless students.

In Deschutes County, the Bend-La Pine Schools reported 680 homeless students, nearly 4 percent of the total, while Redmond had 543, for just over 7.4 percent, and Sisters reported 41, or 3.7 percent of total enrollment.

Bend-La Pine Schools’ figure was a slight increase from last year, when the state identified 650 homeless students in the district., officials said The percentage of Bend-La Pine students reported as homeless was 3.97 percent, up from 3.86 percent in 2013-14.

Bend-La Pine Schools said it has a security network in place to help homeless students, including a dedicated homeless liaison and Family Access Network Advocates, who work hard to ensure all students receive the help they need to be able to come to school ready to learn.

“We are deeply committed to helping those students living in transitional housing situations and work hard to ensure they are able to come to school and receive the same consistent education as each of our students,” said Director Dana Arntson.

Under the federal McKinney-VentoHomelessEducation Program, students are identified ashomelessif they are: living in a shelter, residing in a motel, sharing housing due to economic hardship, or living in an unsheltered situation such as a vehicle, tent, or other substandard housing.

The number of children and youth in shelters has remained steady in recent years, a sign that capacity has been reached and new shelter beds are not available. The largest increases came from the numbers of children living in motels (a 14% increase) and the number of unsheltered youth (a 19% increase).

The number ofhomelessstudents who are unaccompanied by parents or guardians also increased by 6.5%, to 3,321. The vast majority ofhomelessyouth, both in Oregon and nationally, are living in doubled up housing due to economic hardship.

Homelessis not just limited to our urban centers. While the largest numbers of children experiencinghomelessness are in urban districts such as Beaverton, Reynolds, Portland, and Medford, small rural districts such as Butte Falls, McKenzie, and Culver also have high percentages ofhomelessyouth. Forhomeless counts by school district,click here.