The Impacts of Homelessness on Child Development

By Faith Benson, AmeriCorps State & National Member

A child’s school experiences play a huge role in healthy child development. Since most children spend a large portion of their childhood attending school, maintaining a stable and consistent school environment is vital to a child’s functioning both within that space and outside of it. Research has shown that children thrive on predictable routines (Hemmeter, 2006). Alternatively, children who change schools multiple times throughout their academic years are at developmental risk, emotionally, socially, and academically. In a national survey of K-8 students from 1998 to 2007, thirteen percent of all students changed schools four or more times within those eight years. (Government Accountability Office, 2010). Although there are many different reasons a child may be changing schools frequently, experiencing homelessness is the highest predictor. According to district data from Chicago Public Schools in the 2023-2024 school year, the number of students in temporary living situations (STLS) was 17,700 kids. That total is up 64 percent when compared to 2021-2022 when there were 10,836 STLS students identified (Matt Masterson, 2024). Parents, school staff, and social service personnel should be aware of the developmental risks moving frequently is having on children experiencing homelessness. 

By definition, child development is the entirety of the time a child grows from full dependence on their caretaker into independent adulthood. This time period can look different for different individuals but it is usually from birth until a person is 18 or 21 years old. Child development includes all the changes a child goes through biologically, socially, emotionally, and in this case, academically. When a child’s development is said to be at risk, their socioemotional functioning is being threatened by some outside factors. Child development can be negatively impacted by many different types of adversities. Changing schools frequently throughout the early academic years is just one variable that can lead to a plethora of developmental delays.

The first category of developmental risk moving homes and schools can have on a child pertains to emotional well-being. Children who are still developing experience many complex emotions that they have not dealt with before, such as their sense of identity, their self-esteem, and the ability to self-regulate their emotions. Oftentimes, beginning new grades, changing classrooms, or joining new extracurricular activities can be stress and anxiety-inducing for a child. On the flip side, remaining in the same school for a couple of years can help children develop familiarity with teachers and peers outside their classrooms. This reinforces a sense of belonging and overall emotional stability within the school environment (Entwisle and Alexander, 1998). Alternatively, children who have a history of frequent school changes may lead to that child to emotionally withdraw. In other words, the child could refrain from emotional investment in his peers and teachers because they feel as though another move is inevitable (Grigg J, 2012). Another way frequently moving negatively manifests itself in the classroom is a fear of trying new things, and anxiety surrounding transitions from one activity to the next.

The second category of developmental risk changing schools can have on a child is with regard to their social interactions. For a developing child, the social aspect of school is arguably just as important as the academics. From a very young age, children are learning how to interact socially with peers and adults. They are learning who they are and what role they want to play within different social groups and environments. Thus, a large part of school is learning how to form social connections and bonds with one's classmates as well as their authority figures. For better or worse, many schools have a sort of established social system or hierarchy. Always being the new kid can make it close to impossible for that child to engage in social settings. Research has found that adolescents who move schools frequently tend to be more socially isolated and less involved in extracurricular activities than non-mobile adolescents (Pribesh, 1999). Children experiencing homelessness can also feel isolated when they try to engage with peers who have different living experiences and socioeconomic statuses than them. 

The third and final impact changing schools has on adolescents is lower academic performance. When children change schools they are at risk of missing out on materials, their grades dropping, and even having to repeat grades. Whether the child changes schools in the middle of the academic year or at the beginning of a new grade, curriculum, expectations, and pace vary between schools. Thus, any change can be taxing on a child’s academic performance. According to data from the University of Michigan's Panel Study of Income Dynamicound, “the number of moves the children made at ages 4-7, as well as at ages 12-15, had a significant and negative impact on whether the children had graduated from high school by the time they were 19-24 years old” (Moving On, 1998). 

As a society, we must understand and advocate for healthy child development. When a child frequently moves schools their emotional, social, and academic development are at risk. Early intervention in these scenarios may diminish long-term risk. Granted, moving is a part of life and unavoidable at times, but not in all cases. Spreading awareness about the risks that frequent moves have on a child can help parents, schools, and social service agencies better support children and families experiencing homelessness. The McKinney-Vento Act is one policy that advocates for children experiencing housing insecurity to not only remain in one school regardless of their living location but also attempt to alleviate some of the logistical strains that come with changing school districts. 

This Act was established to protect the educational rights of children experiencing homelessness. There are multiple facets of the McKinney-Vento Act as it pertains to what schools are required to provide pro-bono to youth experiencing housing insecurity. The first is documentation. According to McKinney-Vento, schools cannot delay a child’s enrollment due to missing documentation such as medical records, birth certificates, proof of residence, and proof of guardianship. This Act also protects undocumented students as it is illegal for schools to inquire about immigration status. Additionally, unaccompanied youth can enroll without a parent or guardian. The next section of this Act is additional school fees. According to McKinney-Vento, schools must waive all additional school fees for children experiencing homelessness. These fees include field trips, uniforms, sports equipment, school supplies, graduation, school dances or other events, and school lunches. In addition to this, school-aged children experiencing homelessness are always eligible for school services such as tutoring, counseling, before and after-school programs, and health services. The third and final section of this assistance act pertains to transportation. Under McKinney-Vento, Chicago public schools must provide bus transportation to and from the kid’s school or origin. A child’s school of origin is simply the school that they attended when they were permanently housed, or the school they began the school year off at. Additionally, children who become permanently housed during the school year are still eligible for transportation to their origin school until the end of the year (Chicago HOPES, 2022).

During Chicago HOPES parent enrichment programs, the agency informs parents about the rights their children have through the McKinney-Vento Act. Many parents may be unaware of these rights, and when parents don’t actively pressure school faculty to adhere to the McKinney-Vento policies, schools may not always abide by these criteria. HOPES is an agency committed to advocating on behalf of underresourced communities as well as empowering those communities to stand up and advocate on their own behalf. The transportation section of McKinney-Vento also impacts HOPES in the sense that children involved in HOPES after-school programs are from many different schools. Sometimes kids have to come to the program late because their commute to school is much further than the local school district would be. In the same way, kids have different types of homework and teacher expectations because everyone staying at one of HOPES homeless shelter sites are not from the same school. This is one of the reasons Chicago HOPES creates individual tutoring plans for each child enrolled in their programs. Recognizing that the children in the programs have a diverse array of experiences, abilities, and academic skills, is an important step to meeting the kids where they are at. Individualized curriculum is not always an easy task, but it’s one of the aspects that makes HOPES programs so effective in improving children’s academic performance.

References:
Chicago HOPES for Kids. (2022). Resources. https://www.chicagohopesforkids.org/resources.html 

Entwisle DR, and Alexander KL 1998. “Facilitating the Transition to First Grade: The Nature of Transition and Research on Factors Affecting It.” The Elementary School Journal 98 (4): 351–364. 

Government Accountability Office 2010. K-12 Education: Many Challenges Arise in Educating Students Who Change Schools Frequently. No. GAO-11–40. Washington, DC: Government Accountability Office. 

Grigg J 2012. “School Enrollment Changes and Student Achievement Growth: A Case Study in Educational Disruption and Continuity.” Sociology of Education 85 (4): 388–404. doi: 10.1177/0038040712441374. 

Hemmeter, Mary Louise; Michaelene Ostrosky, and Lise Fox. "Social and Emotional Foundations for Early Learning: A Conceptual Model for Intervention."School Psychology Review 35(4) (2006): 583–601. 

Matt Masterson, WTTW News. “How Chicago Public Schools Tracks and Supports Its Unhoused Student Population: FIRSTHAND: Homeless.” WTTW Chicago, 19 Feb. 2024, interactive.wttw.com/firsthand/homeless/how-chicago-public-schools-tracks-and-support s-its-unhoused-student-population#:~:text=According%20to%20district%20data%2C%2 0the,were%2010%2C836%20STLS%20students%20identified. 

"Moving On": Residential Mobility and Children's School Lives Author(s): C. Jack Tucker, Jonathan Marx, and Larry Long Source: Sociology of Education, Vol. 71, No. 2 (Apr., 1998), pp. 111-129 Published by: American Sociological Association Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/2673244 
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Pribesh S, Downey DB. Why are residential and school moves associated with poor school performance? Demography. 1999; 36(4):521–534.