California’s Homeless Infants and Toddlers Surge 15% as Thousands Remain Outside Early Learning System
In California, almost 86,000 infants and toddlers were homeless in the 2023-24 school year, and the question remains: Is the state’s early learning system reaching some of its youngest and most vulnerable children?
The estimate, from SchoolHouse Connection and the University of Michigan’s Poverty Solutions, is over 5% of California children ages 0-3 and a 15% increase from the prior year when approximately 74,000 young children were estimated to be homeless.
But just 12,000 of the children in the new estimate were in early learning programs, such as Early Head Start and home visiting services.
The low enrolment rate could indicate that there are issues in identifying families who are experiencing housing instability and linking young children to early education and other critical services, child homelessness experts say.
California’s early childhood system is fragmented and agencies do not share data well, adding to the complexity of the situation. Experts also say that the funding that has been provided to bolster homelessness identification during the pandemic has dwindled.
California recently passed a $116 million one-time grant to help identify children and families experiencing homelessness, but advocates say it will take a long-term investment.
In addition, the federal McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act mandates that some children experiencing homelessness, including some children under the age of four, be identified and served by certain education agencies.
Early identification of housing instability may have a negative impact on children’s development and be difficult for schools to address in the future when children have learning needs.
