Needing to worry about where your next meal will come from or where you will sleep at night leaves little energy to practice spelling words or study geometry. This is the reality for far too many of New York’s students and their families. 

The Children’s Agenda’s 2023 report A Place to Call Home: Housing Security and Child Well-Being looked at student mobility in the Rochester City School District (RCSD), and the impact housing challenges may have on a child’s education. Some of the key findings included:  

• 38% of students switched schools, changed addresses, or left the district between the 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 school years.  

• There was a wide range between schools with as low as 21% and as high as 49% of students moving.  

• 8% of RCSD students were homeless at some point during the two school years. This is compared to 1% of suburban Monroe County and 5.5% of New York state.  

• The rates of both student homelessness and evictions fell a lot during the pandemic. This may be due to the pause on evictions, a temporarily increased social safety net, and less reporting from schools.  

Latest Data

The latest data from the NYS Technical and Educational Assistance Center for Homeless Students shows that rates of student homelessness have passed pre-pandemic levels. The total number of homeless students across New York rose by over 20,000 in only one school year.  

Locally, the number of homeless students is not as high as five years ago. However, the increase since 2020-2021 is concerning. Prior to the start of the pandemic, RCSD students made up about 70% of the total homeless student population in Monroe County. Only one quarter of students in the county are enrolled in RCSD, so this is a huge overrepresentation. In the 2022-2023 school year, this ratio dropped to 54%. This means that the level of homelessness in suburban districts is rising.  

 Much of the rise in homelessness is likely caused by the end of the COVID-era restrictions on evictions. The rate of eviction filings in Monroe County far outpaced New York State as a whole in 2022. Only eight other counties in the state had higher rates.  

This is not only an issue that impacts pre-K through 12th grade students. Young children are most likely to experience poverty. Over 43,000 infants and toddlers (ages birth to three) in New York experienced homelessness in 2021-2022. This is over 1 in 20 young children (5.18%), the highest percentage of all 50 states.  

Why It Matters

Poverty and homelessness are associated with lower academic achievement and graduation rates, more behavioral and mental health challenges, and poorer child health. New York must do more to support its children and families so all students have the opportunity to reach their full potential.  

To learn more about rates of student homelessness in your school district or county, visit: Data on Student Homelessness | NYSTEACHS 

To learn more about eviction filings in your county, visit: Cornell ILR Eviction Filings Dashboard 

Shannon Mullin is a Research & Policy Analyst at The Children’s Agenda.