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Student homelessness rises in California even as overall enrollment falls
Nearly 300,000 California K-12 students experienced homelessness in the 2024-25 school year, according to research from UCLA’s Center for the Transformation of Schools.
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Olivia Hughes
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LAist
)
Nearly 300,000 California K-12 students experienced homelessness in the 2024-25 school year, the highest numbers ever recorded by UCLA researchers and a 10% increase from the prior peak in the 2018-19 school year.
“The sheer magnitude of how many students are experiencing homelessness and how much it's increased, that was the biggest finding for us,” said Grace Kim, study co-author and research analyst at the UCLA Center for the Transformation of Schools.
Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and Ventura counties account for half of the students experiencing homelessness in the state. About 62,000 — nearly 5% — of L.A. County students experience homelessness in the 2024-25 school year.
Researchers at UCLA’s Center for the Transformation of Schools examined data collected by the California Department of Education between the 2017-18 and 2024-25 school years, including homeless student enrollment, attendance and test scores.
Schools are required to identify students who lack stable housing and provide resources, such as transportation, so they can access the same quality of education as a housed child.
Students experiencing homelessness are more likely to frequently miss school and fall behind academically. While many students have started to score higher on the state’s standardized math and reading tests following pandemic-related declines, the percentage of students experiencing homelessness who meet the benchmarks is about 20% lower than their housed peers, the research found.
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Black, American Indian and Alaska Native students experienced higher rates of homelessness than their peers of other races — about 1 in 12.
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Homelessness among families with children has been on the rise. Five families share about navigating housing stability and trying to do the best for their children. -
Officials say the number of unhoused people in families with children countywide was down compared to the year before. But they say there's more to the story. -
L.A. County is proposing cuts to homeless services next year, at a time when families have already been struggling to find shelter. One family shares their story.
California’s most recent budget includes $116 million to help schools identify and support students experiencing homelessness. The report’s authors say while “encouraging,” more than one-time funding is needed to support students experiencing homelessness.
“Having integrated systems of support is also a super important factor,” Kim said. “The reason why we see these gaps in terms of academic achievement or chronic absenteeism … it's not [students’] fault.”
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