1.5 Million Homeless Students: The Crisis We Can’t Ignore

A new analysis from SchoolHouse Connection confirms what Covenant House has long known from our work on the ground: youth homelessness in the United States is not only persistent, it’s growing, and it's severely undercounted.

According to the report, more than 1.5 million public school students were identified as experiencing homelessness during the 2023–24 school year, the highest number ever recorded in federal education data.  

Behind that staggering number are children and young people doing their best to learn, grow, and survive while lacking something most of us take for granted — a stable place to call home.

Hidden Homelessness Is Still Homelessness

One of the most important findings in the SchoolHouse Connection analysis is that most students experiencing homelessness are not living on the streets or in shelters. Instead, they are doubled up with other families, staying in motels or cycling through temporary arrangements. This is what we refer to as hidden homelessness, and it is especially common among young people.

Because it is less visible, hidden homelessness is often misunderstood or dismissed. But the impact is real: frequent moves, disrupted schooling, chronic stress, and trauma that can follow young people well into adulthood. Many of the youth who eventually come to Covenant House sites first experienced homelessness this way, years earlier, while still in school.  

Experience of homelessness in youth strongly correlates to eventual experiences of chronic adult homelessness. (source: SchoolHouse Connections report Dec. 2024)

Education and Housing Stability Are Inseparable

SchoolHouse Connection’s findings underscore the deep connection between housing instability and educational disruption. Students experiencing homelessness face higher rates of absenteeism, academic setbacks, and disengagement from school.  

At Covenant House, we see the downstream effects of these barriers every day. Young people who were unable to stay connected to school often face greater obstacles to employment, stable housing, and long-term independence.

That is why Covenant House programs place such a strong emphasis on education, workforce development, and holistic supports. Safe housing is critical, but to achieve sustained independence, young people need these transformative resources and people who believe in their potential.

An Underestimate with Tangible Consequences

Importantly, SchoolHouse Connection notes that even this record-breaking number likely undercounts the true scale of student homelessness, since identification depends on families and youth disclosing their housing instability to schools.  

Fear of stigma, family separation, or system involvement often keeps young people silent. The result is fewer resources, less funding, and delayed intervention.

Covenant House has long advocated for policies that recognize the full scope of youth homelessness, invest in early identification, and remove barriers that prevent young people from seeking help.

What This Research Calls Us to Do

The findings from SchoolHouse Connection reinforce the urgency of what Covenant House has always stood for:

• Invest in prevention and early intervention, before housing instability becomes a lifelong crisis.
• Strengthen school‑based supports so homelessness does not derail a young person’s education.
• Expand access to safe, affordable housing for young people and families.
• Listen to youth voices, especially those whose homelessness is hidden from view.

Youth homelessness is not inevitable. Sound policy choices that center young people can help drive change and begin to build solutions to the crisis.

Standing with Young People

For more than 50 years, Covenant House has stood beside young people experiencing homelessness with unconditional love and absolute respect. This new research affirms the urgency of that work — and the need to do more, together.

When we recognize homelessness early, respond with compassion, and invest in stability, we change lives. And when we listen to the data, and to young people themselves, we move closer to a future where no young person has to experience homelessness as we know it today.

Find out more about Covenant House's blueprint to end youth homelessness.