Social workers often cite homelessness as one of the most traumatic experiences that can happen to someone because nearly every aspect of the person's life deteriorates: mental and physical health, personal and family relationships, employment and self-sufficiency dissolve. Imagine the toll, then, that homelessness takes on school-age children.
More than 63,000 students were reported as homeless during the 2007-2008 school year in New York, says research from the NYS Technical and Education Assistance Center for Homeless Students. The nonprofit is funded by the New York State Department of Education.
The Rochester School District had the second-largest homeless student population in the state in 2007-2008 - 695 out of 33,000. New York City had the most homeless students: 51,316 out of 1.1 million.
Present-day figures are probably higher since the data was compiled before the recession and the collapse of the housing market.
And, keep in mind, the Rochester figure does not include the surrounding districts.
"Certainly in the city there is a great deal of poverty, so there is a problem with homelessness anyway," says Roseann Kilduff, the city schools coordinator of homeless students and families. "But all school districts have the problem, even in the suburbs."
Under the federal McKinney-Vento law, every school district in the country is required to have a liaison like Kilduff. And some services are mandated: immediate enrollment into the district even if student records are unavailable, free or reduced-cost meals, and transportation.
"The goal is to provide emotional support and stability, and keeping that child in school is a critical part of it," Kilduff says.
The situations that lead to student homelessness vary, she says, but at least 35 percent is the result of domestic violence.
Often families reach what Elaine Spaull calls critical capacity, where they cannot afford to take care of all family members.
"The oldest kids are the first to be put out on the street, but some leave on their own," she says.
Spaull is a City Council member and director of Center for Youth. Her organization worked with 320 homeless students last year, she says.