SAN DIEGO COUNTY, Calif. — Nearly 18,500 San Diego County students experienced homelessness during the 2022-23 school year.
That’s about 4.5% of total students enrolled in K-12 schools across the county, according to data from the California Department of Education.
San Diego County schools also reported an increase of 11% in homeless student enrollment from the 2021-22 to 2022-23 school year. The California Department of Education measures this number by a count on a single day each school year.
"It's a crisis," San Diego Youth Services CEO Walter Philips previously told CBS 8. "One child on the streets is too many. This should not happen in a country, in a city, as rich as ours. Just one child without a place to lay their head, or a blanket to put over them, is completely unacceptable."
The number of people experiencing homelessness is rising across the state and country. A point-in-time count in 2023 found 10,264 people were experiencing homelessness in the San Diego region. That was an increase of 14% from the year prior.
Which districts reported the highest enrollment of homeless students?
San Diego Unified, the second largest school district in the state, reported more than 8% of its students were homeless at the start of this academic year. That’s a seven-year high, according to data obtained by CBS 8.
San Ysidro Elementary recorded the largest percentage of homeless students during the previous academic year, identifying a quarter of its students as homeless. National Elementary recorded its total number of students experiencing homelessness at around 9%. Escondido Union and Fallbrook Union High each counted about 7%.
Students living in hotels or motels
More than 1,700 students stayed in temporary shelters while going to San Diego County schools in the 2022-23 academic year. Almost 1,140 students stayed at hotels or motels, and nearly 740 students were temporarily unsheltered.
At San Diego County’s largest district, San Diego Unified, close to 370 students were living at hotels or motels during that school year.
The San Diego County Office of Education started a temporary housing program in April 2022, using federal funds specially set aside for education services for homeless and youth.
Susie Terry, who launched the program in collaboration with San Diego Youth Services, said it has served more than 1,450 families in that time.
The program recently saw the highest demand yet as San Diego’s Jan. 22 winter storm displaced students and their families, especially at San Diego Unified and National School District.
Close to 100 San Diego Unified families had received motel vouchers in the two weeks after that storm.
Resources available for unhoused students, families
Schools offer a number of resources for students experiencing homelessness, including transportation, supplies, academic support and even connection to temporary housing.
A spokesperson for San Diego Unified previously told CBS 8 the district offers school enrichment programs, tutoring or counseling for students who are unhoused or living in temporary shelters.
Every district has a homeless student liaison who is tasked with counting the number of homeless students and making resources available to them. These positions are often filled by people who are tasked with other roles, too – some superintendents even double as homeless student liaisons, said Terry, who supports district liaisons from the county level.
The COVID pandemic – and the federal funding it prompted – allowed school districts to drastically increase the services they provide to homeless students. That funding is set to end in September.
Terry said the American Rescue Plan Act made a “huge difference.”
"In the world of homeless education, it's just funding we've needed for a really long time, COVID or not," she said.
Terry has used the federal funds to expand shelter outreach, launch community collaborations and start emergency housing for students. She has worked with San Diego Unified to do monthly visits to local shelters to make sure children are enrolling in school and accessing supplies, transportation and other resources.
“We still find students in shelters or families in shelters, that, you know, were unaware that they could keep having their kids in school during periods of homelessness,” she said.
Terry's office also works on higher education collaborations for young students who are experiencing homelessness and seeking post-secondary education opportunities.
"We're very much a resource-connector," Terry said.
CBS 8 reached out to several school districts for more details on their resources for homeless students.
A spokesperson for Chula Vista Elementary School District said the district works "closely with community-based agencies to support our students and families. This involves coordinating temporary placements in emergency shelters and hotels/motels, facilitating access to medical and dental services, providing eyeglasses and hearing aids, offering counseling services, assisting with enrollment in state programs, and, when necessary, making referrals for legal services."
Other services the district offers unsheltered students include: clothing to meet school uniform requirements and allow students to participate in physical activities, student fees for field trips, and before- and after-school programs and intersessions.
WATCH RELATED: San Diego student homelessness at seven-year high (Jan. 25, 2024)
