Locations
District of Columbia
Statistics on children, youth and families in Washington, D.C. from the Annie E. Casey Foundation and DC Action
Students homeless at any point during the school year in District of Columbia
Students homeless at any point during the school year
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Definition and Source
PROVIDER
Definition
Definition: A unique count of students who experienced homelessness during the school year. A homeless person, as defined by the Department of Education, is an individual who "lacks fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence." Unlike the Department of Housing and Urban Development (whose definition is the basis of the "literally homeless" measure also in the Kids Count data portal), this definition includes individuals who are "doubled up", meaning that they are staying with friends and family out of economic necessity. The Department of Education homeless designation is cumulative for the school year, meaning that if the student was homeless for even one night of the school year, they are considered homeless for the entire school year.
Source: OSSE's Homeless Education Program Statistics & Reports page. Older (2013-14, 14-15, and 16-17) data pull from the Federal Data Summary report published in December 2017 by the National Center for Homeless Education.
Updated October 2023
Data Source
Notes
This count dropped when students were all or mostly learning virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It's unclear whether that drop in the data is an accurate reflection of the number of young people experiencing homelessness (inasmuch as the eviction moratorium was an effective policy), versus reflecting the challenges that young people experiencing homelessness faced with virtual learning or that educators may have faced in identifying which students were experiencing homelessness when teaching virtually.
Last Updated
October 2023