NYC report HOMELESS PREVENTION AT-RISK STUDENTS IN NEW YORK CITY SCHOOLS

In the 2021-2022 school year, more than 104,000, or 1 out of 10 students resided in temporary housing (New York City Department of Education, 2022). Most of these students families lived doubled up with another family, while nearly one third resided in shelter. Students in such circumstances face enormous challenges to learning, contributing to a vicious cycle of poverty, homelessness, and educational underattainment which can be devastating to students and their families.New York City has implemented a multifaceted response to support those at risk of homelessness. Specifically, the Department of the Human Resources Administration and Social Services (HRA/DSS) operates homeless prevention programs that provide services to households identified as at-risk and who, without an intervention, might experience homelessness. Despite providing services to many families at risk of homelessness and preventing homelessness, the risk pool is often so large that most families with risk factors for homelessness never enter shelter or ever experience homelessness. This situation makes identifying families who will become homeless in the absence of an intervention critically important.This report presents findings from research designed to identify risk factors and produce a new predictive model to help school staff identify students at the highest risk of imminent homelessness. The report starts by summarizing prior efforts to target homelessness prevention programs. Then, the report describes factors that are known to be associated with student homelessness. After this background, the report describes the methods, key findings, and implications of the analysis. The Center for Innovation through Data Intelligence (CIDI) conducted the study in collaboration with partners at the University of Pennsylvania.