Rural Homelessness

NCHE Resources

Transportation for Homeless Children and Youth: Strategies for Rural School Districts
This NCHE tip sheet highlights strategies for providing transportation for homeless students in rural areas provided by local homeless education liaisons, state coordinators for homeless education, and state pupil transportation directors.
Download Transportation for Homeless Children and Youth: Strategies for Rural School Districts.

Other Resources

Challenges and Opportunities in Addressing Rural Youth Homelessness Report

This report from Chapin Hall presents the results of a qualitative study examining challenges and strategies for identifying, preventing, and ending youth homelessness in rural areas. The report and accompanying brief summary present key findings from seven focus groups with young adults and cross-system stakeholders from five rural regions, as well as with state and national stakeholders.
Read Challenges and Opportunities in Addressing Rural Youth Homelessness.

Homeless Children: Addressing the Challenge in Rural Schools
This ERIC Digest article considers the challenge of homelessness in rural areas, the meaning of homelessness for rural children, the educational problems of homelessness, causes of rural homelessness, and remedies and resources for rural educators and human service providers.
Read Homeless Children: Addressing the Challenge in Rural Schools.
Homelessness in Rural America
This report from the National Advisory Committee on Rural Health and Human Services examines the unique needs and characteristics of individuals and families experiencing homelessness in rural America and provides policy and practice recommendations.
Download Homelessness in Rural America.
Missed Opportunities: Youth Homelessness in Rural America

From Voices of Youth Count, the fifth in a series of Research-to-Impact briefs by Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago on understanding and addressing youth homelessness. Check out Missed Opportunities: Youth Homelessness in Rural America.

NCPR News: Close to Homeless
North County Public Radio explores the issue of rural homelessness, including how transiency affects kids' education and the schools they attend, in this series of online audio broadcasts.
Visit the Close to Homeless webpage.
Poverty, Housing Insecurity and Student Transiency in Rural Areas
This article, published by the Center on Rural Education and Communities at Penn State University, discusses the issue of residential mobility among low-income households and its effect on students, schools, and school districts. It provides a suggested plan of action for supporting highly mobile students for rural schools and school districts and links to additional resources.
Read Poverty, Housing Insecurity and Student Transiency in Rural Areas.
Results of Support Systems for Rural Homeless Youth Demonstration Projects 2008 - 2015
The Administration for Children and Families' Family and Youth Services Bureau (FYSB), in coordination with the Manhattan Strategy Group, has released the final report for the the Support Systems for Rural Homeless Youth (SSRHY) Demonstration Projects. FYSB awarded demonstration grants to six states - Colorado, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Vermont - to implement projects designed to improve support for rural homeless youth by enhancing their connections to supportive services, the community, education and employment. The report outlines the quantitative and qualitative outcomes of their projects, best practices, and promising approaches to assist FYSB and RHY organizations with offering comprehensive and collaborative support and services for rural homeless youth.
Download Results of Support Systems for Rural Homeless Youth (SSRHY) Demonstration Projects 2008 - 2015.
Rural Children At A Glance
This study by the USDA's Economic Research Service provides compelling facts about rural child poverty.
Download Rural Children At A Glance.
Rural Homelessness
This paper was developed for the National Symposium on Homelessness Research held on March 1-2, 2007, and covers topics such as the prevalence of rural homelessnes, the characteristics of rural homelessness, and effective service models for rural homelessness.
View Rural Homelessness.
Rural Mentoring Toolkit
Rural communities have a unique set of strengths and challenges when working with young people. Close-knit neighborhoods, strong family support systems, and a strong community ethic combine with scarcity of resources, lack of opportunities, and vast geographical service areas to form social systems that require a tailored approach to service delivery. This toolkit from MANY, based on input from partners in rural areas, features concrete best practices and techniques to help rural mentoring programs succeed.
Visit the Rural Mentoring Toolkit webpage.
Strengthening Systems for Ending Rural Homelessness: Promising Practices and Considerations
This report from the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH) focuses on both the strengths rural communities possess for and the challenges rural communities face in preventing and ending homelessness. It also recommends a set of strategies for consideration for rural communities that want to build a comprehensive response to homelessness in their area.
Download Strengthening Systems for Ending Rural Homelessness: Promising Practices and Considerations.
Student Mobility in Rural Communities: What Are the Implications for Student Achievement?
This article from the North Central Regional Educational Laboratory provides readers with a thorough understanding of student mobility, demonstrates the prevalence of mobility and its effect on students and schools, and highlights federal, state, and local initiatives to address student mobility. Also provided are suggestions, strategies, and additional resources that can be used by virtually any district in its efforts to comply with the McKinney-Vento Act.
Download Student Mobility in Rural Communities: What Are the Implications for Student Achievement?.
Understanding Homelessness in Rural America
Check out ICPH's new webpage on Understanding Homelessness in Rural America. Resources and a report on the research are available.