Telling the Story of Youth Homelessness Through Data: Innovative
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Transcript Telling the Story of Youth Homelessness Through Data: Innovative
Telling the Story of Youth Homelessness
Through Data: Innovative Practices at the
State and County Level
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Educating CA’s
Youth
• Nearly 270,000 students
experienced homelessness in
2012-13, 4% of CA’s student
body
• We have the largest share of
homeless students in the
country (21%) with rates
double that of the national
average
• Increase of 39% since the
2009-10 school year
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Methods
Data on student homelessness broken down by
county and state legislative district
School district address used to organize data into
state Senate & Assembly district using “Find Your
State Legislator” website
School zip code used to organize by county
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Key Findings
•
Over 1/2 of homeless students are in Pre-K – 5th
grade, 1/5th in middle school, and 1/3rd high school
Percentage of homeless students by nighttime
residence
California
Percent
Doubled Up with Friends or Relatives
86.1%
Hotel/Motel
3.9%
Temporary Shelter
7.1%
Unsheltered
2.9%
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Key Findings
Homeless students attend schools in urban, suburban, and
rural areas
• Though Los Angeles Unified School District identified the
highest overall numbers of homeless students (14,323),
rural Trinity County had the highest percentage of homeless
students (13.3%).
• Suburban Assembly Districts such as AD40 (San Bernardino
County) and AD7 (Sacramento) were among the top six in
overall numbers of homeless students, indicating the
geographic diversity of the problem.
•
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Outcomes
Big media splash!
20+ articles up and down the state, interest from national
publications
Uncovered policy issues we hadn’t previously
considered
Collaborating with legislators
Increased awareness action
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We Count! California
Statewide technical assistance project helping CA
communities conduct more youth-inclusive
homeless counts
California Homeless Youth Project and the University
of California, Berkeley School of Public Health, and
funded by the California Wellness Foundation
Sharing resources & funding with low resource &
rural communities
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Santa Cruz, CA
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Increasing Visibility
Multiple Data
Sources
COC PIT
Counts
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Increasing Visibility
COE/LEA data show extremely high number of
homeless children and youth
HMIS (shelter) data show high numbers and
proportions of homeless children and families
Family support services show growing needs of
families with children
Yet, headline PIT count data in California show a
small number of homeless families and an even
smaller number of unaccompanied children
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Developing One Narrative
Coordinating and partnering to improve local and
national understanding
Showing how data interact
Keeping it simple
Working together to improve outcomes
Schools
COE
Headlines
COC
Family
Support
Partnerships
PIT
HMIS
Knowledge
Outreach
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Working Together – Santa Cruz, CA
2009
2011
2013
2015
• COE was involved in PIT Count coordination and planning
• COE and McKinney Vento youth participated in supplemental youth count
• COE involved in PIT Count Coordination and planning
• Conducted validated count of McKinney Vento students
• COE involved in PIT Count coordination and planning
• Conduct validated count of McKinney Vento students
• Expanded survey for families experiencing homelessness
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Using the Data for Action – Santa
Cruz, CA
Updating the County’s strategic plan to end
homelessness
Focusing in on homeless youth and families
Developing partnerships with COC, COE, county staff,
community stakeholders and ASR
Teasing out what we know about homeless youth and families,
where they are headed without local change efforts and how
everyone can work together to end homelessness in Santa
Cruz County
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Lessons Learned
There is a need to explicitly focus on homeless
students using research & data or their unique needs
will be missed
Multiple data sources help us tell the story of youth
homelessness
Collaborative work drives action
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Q&A
If you have any questions, feel free to email Shahera
Hyatt at [email protected], Samantha
Green at [email protected], or
Nohemi Macias at [email protected]
Join our Google Group to learn more:
https://groups.google.com/forum/?hl=en#!forum/w
e-count-california
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