Invisible Children

                                                                                                   by: Analisa Smith, EdD

In 2021-2022, there were 49.4 students enrolled in public schools in grades K-12. According to the latest statistics available, 1,280,886 public school students were homeless in the 2019-2020 school year (NCES, 2021). Homelessness affects approximately 2.6% of all students in public schools. Homelessness influences every aspect of a student’s life (physical, emotional, cognitive, social, behavioral, and neurodevelopmental) and homelessness can inhibit development overall. In South Carolina, 1.5% of all public school students were homeless in 2019-2020 (NCES, 2021). Subgroups of students experiencing homelessness are students with disabilities, English language learners, students who are migratory. Although students with disabilities are 14% of the overall population of homeless students nationwide, they are 19% of the total national student homeless population (Zhang et al, 2021). 

Students who are homeless are extremely susceptible to personal and academic challenges. Often teachers who work with these children may not even know they are homeless and only discover this information by coincidence. For some homeless students, due to an educator’s inability to know the living status of students, students who are homeless can blend into the background and be invisible for living and educational needs.