when homeless children miss days, even weeks of school?
There are many barriers between homeless children and school attendance. The policy of the State Department of Education is that homeless children must be immediately admitted to a school in the district in which they are residing or the district in which they began the school year. Nevertheless, for a number of reasons this policy is difficult to implement. Sometimes it is a matter of a parent not knowing how to go about re-registering a child or of being too caught up in the multiple crises of sudden homelessness. Sometimes parents cannot afford the necessary sneakers, backpacks, and school supplies that a child wants or is required to have. Transportation can be a problem, as can moving in and out of emergency shelters when 30-day rules apply. For any of these reasons, therefore, many homeless children miss days – sometimes even weeks – of schooling and change schools often. It’s been estimated that each move of a homeless family puts the children at risk of falling some six months
