By Greg Hurst, Centre for Homelessness Impact 

Many headteachers and college principals will be all too aware that homelessness goes beyond people sleeping rough on the streets. Increasingly, it means school-aged children moving further away to cramped home environments after their family is placed in temporary accommodation. Or college students sleeping on a friend’s sofa when relationships with their parents are under strain.

Evidence shows that housing precarity can damage both children’s development and their attainment. International research has shown that children experiencing family homelessness are more likely to face stress and ill-health and that traumatic episodes in families can be replicated among their children.

The Children’s Commissioner for England overlaid data on children’s postcodes with test scores in the national pupil database and found a direct correlation between housing stability and academic results. Just 11% of teenagers who moved home ten times since starting primary school achieved five “good” GCSE grades, including English and Maths; 50% of teenagers who moved home three times did so; while 65% of candidates whose postcode never changed achieved at least five GCSE passes, with English and Maths.

It is critical, therefore, to deploy a prevention-first approach, and intervene early before children, young people and their families reach crisis. While local authorities are legally responsible for preventing and relieving homelessness, the Government’s national plan to end homelessness is clear that responsibility for primary prevention of homelessness in England should sit across all public services. Scotland and Wales are bringing in legal duties for all public authorities to “ask and act” about an individual’s housing status where concerns exist.

So, what can school and college leaders do?
Several secondary schools in London, Manchester, central Scotland and south Wales have tested a screening tool called Upstream - a short digital questionnaire - to assess risks of homelessness among pupils, in order to make a rapid referral for support if needed.

The Welsh schools found 6% of secondary school pupils who took this survey had experienced youth homelessness. While there was strong correlation between homelessness and disengagement with school, almost half (48%) of those impacted by youth homelessness appeared to be relatively engaged with school, which would not have been picked up by observational or data monitoring.  

For children and young people already exposed to homelessness, such as staying with families in temporary housing, there is a strong case for targeted additional support. This could be well-evidenced interventions such as one-to-one or small-group tutoring and safe, accessible opportunities for independent study or homework. Equally, pastoral support might be appropriate. Stress and trauma arising from housing precarity may adversely affect children’s behaviour, and these pupils may benefit from psychological support.

Research in America shows that cohorts in certain educational settings have much higher risk of homelessness, notably special schools and pupil referral units or their equivalent. For these, leaders should consider site-specific homelessness prevention, such as an on-site social worker or partnership with a specialist non-profit organisation.

Supporting post-16 students
FE colleges are also more likely to have students impacted by homelessness, which is associated with financial instability. More than one in five college students aged 16-18 were previously entitled to free school meals due to low family income, almost twice the proportion in school sixth forms. It is unfortunate that this is not better acknowledged: the national plan for ending homelessness refers to schools 27 times, but just once to colleges. 

Principals should have access to data on their students’ family circumstances, as happens with schools, so they can target bursaries at those in greatest need. We should acknowledge the critical work that so many college tutors and support staff do in supporting students facing difficulty. West Lothian College, for instance, has a washing machine for students experiencing homelessness. 

Andy Burnham’s early commitment as Prime Minister to end long-term rough sleeping means that homelessness is likely to be given political salience. Perhaps this will be uncomfortable to leaders in public service. But it should also be an opportunity.

We should not accept that some college students have no alternative than to wash their clothes on campus, just as we should not accept pupils achieving lower GCSE grades linked to housing instability.

Asking schools and colleges, with other public bodies, to engage in primary homelessness prevention must mean that local authority housing teams and other support services provide clearly sign-posted contact points and act on referrals in a timely manner. It offers the prospect of improving outcomes for many thousands of children and young people.

Further reading and information 
Greg Hurst is a former education editor of The Times and reported extensively on education over many years. His other roles at the newspaper included political correspondent and social affairs editor. For the past five years he has worked at the Centre for Homelessness Impact, the UK’s what works centre for homelessness, where he is director of communications and public engagement. 

This article draws on his chapter in How to Use Evidence to End Homelessness, a collection of essays commissioned by the Centre for Homelessness Impact and published by Bristol University Press on August 27.

Resources
Information on the Upstream homelessness prevention screening tool
Guidance for schools from the Shared Health Foundation
Toolkit for responding to homelessness in further and higher education

Policy
The national plan to end homelessness (England)
Duty on public bodies to “ask and act” about homelessness (Scotland)
Duty on public bodies to “ask and act” about homelessness (Wales)

Image provided by Centre for Homelessness Impact resource space.