Youth Homelessness: Beyond The Surface
TOLEDO, Ohio — The issue of youth homelessness is a problem across the country. But one important factor in addressing the issue is starting with outreach in schools.
“Prior to COVID, we [Toledo Public Schools] had the highest number of youth homelessness in the state of Ohio. And we were maxing out over three thousand students. At this time, we are in between seventeen hundred and two thousand homeless youth,” explained Heather Baker, executive director of community engagement and student supports, Toledo Public Schools.
While that assessment of the district’s situation may seem dire, just think about the sheer amount of youth homelessness that exists in Ohio as a whole. State data for the 2022–2023 school year identified 24,046 students as homeless — a number that could be, in actuality, much higher — as student homelessness is self-reported, Baker says. And she notes: it’s not just a TPS or income-specific problem.
“Some people are, especially post-covid, just one paycheck away from really bad situations happening. We have people in our community that have amazing jobs and are still finding themselves struggling or having been evicted or living out of their cars — even with a great job — because of the situation with our economy.”
And Baker adds that because of this need, there are supports available through the district for students that may not even have transportation, if they’re homeless.
“Even if we have to send a cab to where they’re at to pick them up and get them to school, we’ll make it happen, but if we don’t know- They’re trying to figure these things out for themselves, so, unfortunately, can have a huge impact on school.”
Anxiety that hits hard in the developmental stage, due to learned trauma responses that students can carry with them throughout life.
“Someone was just saying they never buy more than a half-gallon of milk, even though they experienced the homelessness fifteen years ago, fifteen/twenty-plus years ago, but all their things being set out on the curb and all the food in the refrigerator they’d lost because they couldn’t pack those things up. So they now only buy small amounts of things that go in the refrigerator and a lot of perishable items that can be packed up. And they were like, ‘this is behavior I’m still working to unlearn all these years later.’”
The National Network for Youth says Black youth face an 83% higher risk of homelessness, Hispanic youth a 33% higher risk, and LGBTQ+ youth are more than twice as likely to experience homelessness. Child abuse, neglect, domestic violence, substance use, and conflict were cited as the main reasons for homelessness among youth overall. And youth are exactly who Baker says should be included in the process of finding solutions.
“We’re really beginning those conversations and beginning to put those pieces together and in place — and keeping youth voices at the front and center of things is definitely our next step.”
