Homeless Student Counts in California Are Up. Some Say That's a Good Thing
In Kern County, the first rule in counting homeless students is not saying 'homeless.'
Instead, school staff use phrases like 'struggling with stable housing' or 'families in transition.' The approach seems to have worked: More families are sharing their housing status with their children's schools, which means more students are getting services.
'There's a lot of stigma attached to the word 'homeless,'' said Curt Williams, director of homeless and foster youth services for the Kern County Office of Education. 'When you remove that word, it all changes.'
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Largely as a result of better identification methods, Kern County saw its homeless student population jump 10% last year, to 7,200. Those students received transportation to and from school, free school supplies, tutoring and other services intended to help them stay in school. For the purposes of this data, the definition of homelessness is broader than the state's point in time count.
The trend is reflected statewide. In the latest state enrollment data released last month, California had 230,443 homeless students — a 9.3% increase from the previous year. Some of the increase is due to the state's ongoing housing shortage, but most of the increase is because of better identification, advocates and school officials said.
Homeless students face numerous obstacles in school. They have higher rates of discipline and absenteeism, and fare worse academically. Last year, only 16% of homeless students met the state's math standard, some of the lowest scores of any student group.
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'Schools can't solve homelessness, but they can ensure the students are safe in the classroom and getting the education they need to get out of homelessness,' said Barbara Duffield, executive director of Schoolhouse Connection, a national homeless youth advocacy group. 'That starts with identifying the child who's homeless.'
Challenges of counting homeless students
Under the federal McKinney-Vento Act, schools are required to count their homeless students throughout the school year and ensure they receive services. Homeless students also have the right to stay enrolled in their original school even if they move.
For many years, schools struggled to identify homeless students. Under state law, schools must distribute forms at the beginning of the school year asking families where they live — in their own homes, in motels, doubled-up with other families, in shelters, cars or outdoors.
Some schools were less-than-diligent about collecting the form, or reassuring families understood the importance. Often, homeless families were reluctant to submit the form because they were afraid the school might contact a child welfare agency. Immigrant families sometimes feared the school might notify immigration authorities. And some families didn't realize that sharing quarters with another family — by far the most common living situation among homeless families – is technically defined as homeless, at least under McKinney-Vento.
A 2021 bill by former Assemblymember Luz Rivas, a Democrat from Arleta in the San Fernando Valley, sought to fix that problem. The bill requires schools to train everyone who works with students — from bus drivers to cafeteria workers to teachers — on how to recognize potential signs of homelessness. That could include families who move frequently or don't reply to school correspondence.
The bill seems to have helped. Last year, the state identified 21,000 more homeless students than it had the previous year, even as overall enrollment dropped.
Still, that's probably an undercount, researchers said. The actual homeless student population is probably between 5% and10% of those students who qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, according to the National Center for Homeless Education. In California, that would be a shortfall of up to 138,713 students.
Influx of funding
Another boost for identifying homeless students came from the American Rescue Plan, the federal COVID-19 relief package. The plan included $800 million for schools to hire counselors or train existing staff to help homeless students. Nearly all schools in California received some money.
About 120 districts in California won grant money through the McKinney-Vento Act, which last year dispersed about $15.9 million in California to pay for things like rides to school, backpacks, staff and other services. Districts are chosen on a competitive basis; not all districts that apply receive funds.
But those funding sources are drying up. Most of the pandemic relief money has already been spent, and President Donald Trump's recently approved budget does not include McKinney-Vento funding for 2026-27.
The cuts come at a time when advocates expect steep increases in the number of homeless families over the next few years, due in part to national policy changes. Republican budget proposals include cuts to Medicaid, food assistance and other programs aimed at helping low-income families, while the immigration crackdown has left thousands of families afraid to seek assistance. For families living on tight budgets, those cuts could lead to a loss of housing.
And in California, the shortage of affordable housing continues to be a hurdle for low-income families. Even Kern County, which has traditionally been a less pricey option for families, has seen a spike in housing costs as more residents move there from Los Angeles.
Joseph Bishop, an education professor at UCLA and co-author of a recent report on homeless students nationwide, said the loss of government funding will be devastating for homeless students.
'California is the epicenter of the homeless student crisis, and we need targeted, dedicated support,' Bishop said. 'Folks should be extremely alarmed right now. Will these kids be getting the education they need and deserve?'
Better food, cleaner bathrooms
In Kern County, identification has only been one part of the effort to help homeless students thrive in school. Schools also try to pair them with tutors and mentors, give them school supplies and laundry tokens, and invite them to join a program called Student Voice Ambassadors. There, students can tour local colleges, learn leadership skills and explore career options.
As part of the program, staff ask students what would make school more enticing — and then make sure the suggestions happen. At one school, students said they'd go to class if the bathrooms were cleaner. So staff improved the bathrooms. At another school, students wanted better food. They got it.
Williams credits the program with reducing absenteeism among homeless students. Two years ago, 45% of Kern County's homeless students were chronically absent. Last year, the number dropped to 39% – still too high, he said, but a significant improvement.
'Without McKinney-Vento funds, the Student Voice Ambassador program would go away,' Williams said. 'How will we keep it going? I don't know.'
This article was originally published on CalMatters and was republished under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives license.
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Jacie Fasselin was on a mountain at dusk, looking for cows. She and Woodrow — a tall black horse — traversed the ledges looking for the wanderers. Fasselin did not know what to expect, especially as the darkness enveloped them later that day, and she knew they had to navigate the ledges to get off the mountain. 'He is in his young mind, but we were not going to give up.' She built a trail of sorts to help them get off the mountain. Armed with just a spotlight and an untested horse, they began to make their way down. 'I kept expecting him to make mistakes on the switchback,' she said. 'I knew if he remained calm we would be all right. If he panics, we would not be all right — not at all." It was perilous, but the moment was about faith and putting your trust in something higher than you. Fasselin said Woodrow turned to look at her and headed off to the left. 'He was just saying: I think we need to turn left here. He was like an old pro. He made the leap like I asked him to. 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Will trying ever not be worth it? No.' Fasselin and Bernard don't know each other, but their stories are similar. Being a farmer and rancher is tough. Being a farmer and rancher as a woman, well, it can be tougher in a traditionally male-dominated tradition. Despite the challenges, women across the country are called to farm, to ranch, to carry on the tradition etched in small towns and born out of heritage. Maya Fasselin, Jacie's sister-in-law, said determination is the common theme with this woman who has grown to be an inspiration for her. 'She is extremely determined and when her mind is made up, there's no going back. Jacie is the first to help others, find solutions and get the job done.' In Elmo, where Fasselin lives, the nearest high school is about 20 miles away, but there is a post office in town and the Elmo branch of the Emery County Library is there to serve a population of about 368 people. That suits this single mother just fine, giving her room and space to flourish. 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'The agriculture producers, they are kind of stuck with needing to make adjustments now that maybe their open ditch, or their open canal has been put into a pipe and it's pressurized,' he said. 'Now they have to make changes to accommodate that pressurized water, and maybe their old irrigation system can no longer be (workable). With WaterSMART, we can write a proposal to secure funds for what we call the on farm improvements — separate from the Bureau of Reclamation grant.' That means money to move from flood irrigation to a sprinkler system, a wheel line or a pivot — while improving the water efficiency. Emily Fife, NRCS state conservationist for Utah, said since the start of this joint-coordination effort, NRCS has invested $4 million in Cache, Morgan, and Summit counties, assisting 64 producers across more than 4,700 contracted acres to reduce drought stress on crops, protect crop health and conserve water. 'Our work is about identifying science-based solutions to complex problems,' she emphasized. Fasselin, who has a master's degree in natural resources, set about negotiating to get some money to help in her own quest that started years ago. 'The more information you have the more powerful you can be, the more effective you can be,' she said. 'There's amazing people willing to help.' But it was no easy task. The men in charge knew who she was, knew about her roots, but they cast a wary eye at her because of her gender. 'I spent the first 10 minutes talking before I convinced them I was worth listening to. I was young and I was a woman.' Fasselin's determination worked. She now owns Desert Lake Livestock, with 120 cultivatable acres where she grows hay to support the 50 head of beef cattle she raises. They summer in the mountain ranges, then usually return to Elmo for the winter or spend those months in the desert. Fasselin rides her horse like she was born on one, deftly guiding the cattle to the desired location. Moving the cattle consists of long days that start early and end late — a ritual she embraces wholeheartedly. And her approach to farming is saving precious water. In 2023, her operation used 276 acre-feet of water. Last year, growing similar crops and tackling an additional 17 acres of farming small grains, she used only 82-acre feet of water. That counts in the parched Colorado River Basin. Fulfilling a destiny The land was homesteaded by her family from generations ago so for Fasselin, it feels like destiny was right alongside her in her fight to get the land and the water, to basically get her start. Fasselin secured a cost share funding investment for a $450,000 system that includes technology like a pivot with solar-powered wheel line, soil sensors and even a weather station with some NRCS funding. 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'Every time we do something hard or every time we're covered in hay laying underneath a baler trying to decipher what is wrong with it, we just say 'we love cows,'' Maya said. 'It's our answer to when anything on the farm gets tough or hard: We love cows.' The intricacies of farming and water Since she's been around farmers her entire life, Fasselin knows the challenges and the many rules, so many of which are unspoken and instinctive. She follows the 'rule of the boot,' which means if your boot sinks more than a quarter of an inch into the ground, your seed bed needs to be firmed up. It has been a struggle. Highs and lows like an addict who still hangs on to the thing that gets them through the day. In this case, it is land. 'I had this massive amount of change and at the same time planted $10,000 worth of seed. I literally felt like I was going to have a heart attack,' she said. 'I went out onto the farm and laid on the ground and cried and I knew it was out of my control. It is easy to get caught up in the moment and then you remember the perspective. If you pray.' Powering through She knows, too, that much like energy, the best water used is the water that isn't, especially given the state's long-term relationship with drought and the arid nature of the region she lives in. Her roots of growing up on farm land with ancestors who did it long before she came along taught her the value of being efficient with the water rights she obtained. Flood irrigation, she said, is tough and not effective — especially when you're talking about acres upon acres of land that need the finite resource. 'Flood irrigation is labor intensive,' she said. 'Your shovel is your best friend.' When she used flood irrigation at her ranch, the water seeped deep into the ground, bringing extremely alkaline soil to the top infused with sodium bicarbonate, or salt, unsuitable for planting. Her system avoids that and allows her to utilize cutting edge technology to track all aspects of her farming and ranching operation when it comes to irrigation. She does that by monitoring a variety of conditions on her phone, even remotely. The systems pay off. According to the NRCS, pivot irrigation uses a lot less water — perhaps as much as 30% less, industry estimates say — than flood irrigation. Pivot sprinklers apply water more evenly across fields than flood irrigation. Also, less water is lost to evaporation and there is less risk of soil erosion, fertilizer and chemical runoff, and nutrient leaching — so aside from helping farmers there are environmental benefits and improvement in public health via cleaner waterways. The hard, good life As a single mom, farmer and rancher, Fasselin has plenty to do. Her boys, Jace, 10, and Jaxten, 7, are learning early about the culture of having land that you work. There's crops to be planted and harvested, cattle and horses to be managed. Jaxten proudly drives the tractor, but his feet dangle from the seat. Perhaps it is a throwback to the way Jacie was raised, when her mother would put her in a basket as she drove the tractor. The ranching life Both boys know their way around horses, relishing the freedom of the ride, the smells and the bond that comes with an animal that outweighs them by factor of nine or 10. They're cautious, but they have learned that the hard way with their own mishaps on the ranch. Fasselin is breaking Boondock, a 2-year-old, for Jaxten. She has another mare, Smoky, who is young and coming up. At the end of the day, Fasselin gathers the boys around the dinner table. They say their prayers. She never stops feeling grateful. These experiences that come from ranching and farming embody a way of life she says she hopes will teach her boys about their roots, their history — so one day they can pass it on. Even with all her daily challenges and learning the rough life of ranching, she never loses sight of being a mother and helping them to learn in the most patient of ways. For anyone else, this could be frustrating and tiring. But she takes the time to sing songs and cuddle with them at night. It is, after all, the most important job she does — being a mother and role model. Even though her days always seem to start early and end late, and she gets tired, it's a good tired and she has no regrets. 'I chose this life 100%.' Solve the daily Crossword
