1. Homeless Student Stability Act (SB 5065)
Casey Trupin Coordinating Attorney Children & Youth Project

3. A Problem in Towns Big and Small
428 Bellingham
508 Wenatchee
80 Colville
107 Port Angeles
1,220 Spokane
30,609
1,872 Seattle
221 Clarkston
440 Olympia
332 Kennewick
557 Vancouver
486 Yakima

5. 30,609 45.1% Homeless Students Struggle to Learn
The Learning Gap: Proficiency by Subject
students in Washington State are homeless, up 82% since These kids are highly mobile, moving often to wherever they can find shelter and frequently changing schools. Instability at home hurts homeless students’ ability to learn, as each time a student moves to a new school, he or she loses between 4-6 months of academic progress.
of homeless students graduated in the class of 2013, compared to 78% among their housed peers. In other words, 2,283 homeless seniors did not get to walk across the graduation stage. Schools spend $17 million each year transporting highly mobile kids to school; each student that drops out represents a net lifetime cost of $200,000 to taxpayers.
Only 38% of homeless students are proficient in math, versus 64% among their housed peers. This learning gap extends across all subjects.

6. The Importance of Stability

8. SCHOOLS LACK CAPACITY Other Job Duties (38 hours)
Liaisons Can Only Devote 2 Hours Per Week
Other Job Duties (38 hours)
Liaison Duties (2 hours)

9. Lack of State & Federal Money

10. Everett Tukwila Statewide
Students receiving out of district transportation:
: 492
Total costs of transportation: 
: $809, Average Cost per Homeless Student
~$1646 per student
Tukwila
Students receiving out of district transportation:
: 132 students
Total costs of transportation: 
: $205,275
Average Cost per Homeless Student
~$1555 per student
Statewide
Students receiving transportation:
: estimate of /30,609 students

11. A district has identified three students as homeless
A district has identified three students as homeless. Each student will have to move at least 30 miles outside of the district to live in the nearest shelter. Over the course of the school year, it will cost the district $45,000 ($15,000 each) to transport these students to and from the school of origin to their local residence. Without housing the district will pay to transport these students. + + + = 1 2 3
$45,000

12. But if a school-housing partnership could offer families in-need housing supports1 =
$2,000
Cost of housing support
+$13,000
Savings to District =
$6,000
Cost of housing support 2
+$9,000
Savings to District = 3
$500
Cost of housing support
+$14,500
Savings to District

13. Homeless Student Stability Act (SB 5065) Bi-Partisan Support
The HSSA provides dedicated staff support for homeless student education liaisons
The HSSA creates a grant program serving up to 15 districts by providing each with $500,000 per year to directly increase housing stability for homeless students and families.
schoolhousewa.org
During the school year, 30,609 students in Washington schools were identified by school districts as homeless—a 12% increase from the previous school year and an 82% increase from