THE STUDENT HOMELESSNESS CRISIS AND THE ROLE OF SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGY: MISSED OPPORTUNITIES, ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT, AND FUTURE DIRECTIONS

Affecting more than 1 million youth, student homelessness is growing at an unprecedented rate in the United States. This is alarming because homeless students face significant barriers to their academic success and positive life outcomes. Unfortunately, despite the significant risks and challenges they face, homeless students often are overlooked and not provided with important educational and social-emotional supports. In addition, information on student homelessness is relatively limited in the school psychology literature and practice guidelines, which can forestall efforts to help these students. To date, only a few empirical articles have been published on student homelessness in school psychology journals and in practitioner-related literature. To help address this paucity, this article discusses barriers to the academic success of homeless students, as well as ways to reduce these barriers. Additionally, important protective factors, resilience, and ways to overcome homelessness-related stigma are reviewed. Lastly, ways that school psychologists can become key stakeholders in efforts to help support the academic and life success of homeless students are discussed. The overall goal for this article is to encourage school psychologists to redouble their efforts to support a highly at-risk yet often neglected student population.