Homelessness among California children surges to crisis levels
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Rising rents, low wages, and funding cuts have fueled a surge in child homelessness across California, leaving schools struggling to support vulnerable students.
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A large homeless encampment is shown in Phoenix, on Aug. 5, 2020. (AP)
The number of children living in unstable housing across California has grown sharply in recent years, The Guardian reported.
In 2021, the state began requiring schools to survey families about housing conditions. Though not comprehensive, the data reveal a worsening problem.
By October 2024, nearly 20,000 more students were identified as homeless compared with the previous year, raising the state average to 4 percent, the highest in a decade, according to the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC).
Researchers note that greater awareness among schools may partly explain the increase, but the one-day October count likely underrepresents the true scale of student homelessness.
What defines a homeless
Under federal definitions, students are classified as homeless if they lack a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence. That includes children living on the streets, in shelters, in motels, in vehicles, doubled up with other families, or in converted garages like Brigitte’s.
Homeless students encounter steep educational challenges: higher absenteeism, frequent school changes, increased suspension risk, and enrollment in high-poverty schools. Compared to peers, they are less likely to meet academic standards, finish high school, or attend college. Addressing these barriers benefits both students and the state.
Monterey County: California’s epicenter of student homelessness
While the state average masks variation, Monterey County records the highest student homelessness in California. Sixteen percent of public school children there have experienced homelessness, up from 4.2 percent a decade ago, according to state data.
“It’s a pretty staggering statistic to consider,” said Brett Guinan, co-author of the PPIC report. To underscore the scale of the crisis, he noted that the surge occurred even as overall enrollment in Monterey County dropped to historic lows.
90+% of homeless students 'doubled up'
More than 90 percent of homeless students in the county are “doubled up”, living with multiple families in overcrowded housing or converted garages, according to the California Department of Education.
Rising rents, stagnant wages, and the state’s long-running housing shortage have made precarious living arrangements increasingly common.
In Salinas, 57.1% of renters spend more than one-third of their income on housing costs.
Funding to support homeless students has also declined. Federal pandemic relief provided $99 million statewide, but those funds have now expired, Guinan said, leaving “a lot of uncertainty over what funding for homeless students will look like moving forward.”
Schools as the safety net
In Monterey County, schools are often the first line of support for children without stable housing. Districts step in to ensure students can continue learning despite severe housing insecurity.
“Our job in the school district isn’t to fix homelessness,” said Donna Smith, who coordinates services for homeless children and youth at the county’s office of education. “It’s to provide services to students experiencing homelessness.”
Those services include school supplies, hygiene kits, clothing, transportation, tutoring, and help navigating healthcare.
Because documentation is often a barrier, schools are required to enroll homeless students immediately, regardless of missing birth certificates, vaccination records, or other paperwork. “We’ll enroll the students right away and then work backwards,” Smith said.
Support varies: some children need only a backpack, while others require food assistance and ongoing aid. Grants also help families cover rent arrears or apartment deposits to prevent further homelessness.
Teachers are trained to recognize signs of instability and adapt academic expectations. “We know that kids living in shelters can’t always do their homework, it’s loud,” Smith said.
Families crammed into single rooms
She described families crammed into single rooms, converted garages, and sometimes unconverted ones. “Sometimes there’s a couple of families living together, sometimes three,” she stressed.
Homelessness, she emphasized, affects families across employment and immigration status. “These are not necessarily children of migrant families,” she said. “Maybe their families are sick, or they lost a job, or they do have a job, but it’s not enough to pay the rent.”
In Monterey County, 13 percent of homeless students are migrants, compared with 3 percent statewide.
Conditions are especially dire in agricultural areas. In 2023, a farmer was fined after illegally housing about 100 people, including children as young as two, in converted greenhouses. “There were many, many families living together in those,” Smith said. “They got shut down because it’s illegal.”
Housing costs
While the housing crisis affects all residents, migrant families face unique obstacles. Many agricultural workers are undocumented and therefore ineligible for housing subsidies. Families often rely on informal cash-based work, such as childcare or selling food at kiosks, which provides no pay stubs for landlords.
“When a season ends, where are you getting the money for your rent?” Johnson asked. Unemployment benefits are sometimes available, she added, but rarely enough to cover rent and basic expenses.
“Housing is the crucial piece of the puzzle that’s missing,” she said, recalling how children without internet access during the pandemic fell behind in remote learning. “So you start just seeing how important housing was to the overall well-being of not only that child, but the family.”
Uncertain future, rising fear
The expiration of federal pandemic funding has also hindered schools’ ability to track and support homeless students, as per the report.
“I suspect that the numbers [of homeless students] will probably go down as we lose our ability to identify these students,” said PPIC’s Brett Guinan. Without dedicated staff or extended hours, schools will struggle to capture the full picture.
In Monterey County, the challenge is compounded for undocumented families facing Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations.
“Our kids are fearful. Our families are fearful, and as these ICE raids ramp up, I can tell you, we are going to see our attendance at school in the fall decline,” said Dr. Deneen Guss, superintendent for the county’s 72,000 students. “We already know it’s going to happen because we’re hearing families saying they don’t wanna go to the doctor. They don’t wanna leave their house.”
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