50,030 children and youth were identified as homeless in Pennsylvania 50,030 children and youth were identified as homeless throughout the Commonwealth in School Year (SY) 2023-24, according to reports from the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE).

50,030 children and youth identified as experiencing homelessness in Pennsylvania! Too many to be seated at Citizens Bank Ball Park!!! Read our latest Substack summary of new data. Read at bit.ly/484mc5T

Sneak Preview of Report on Pennsylvania's Young Children Identified as Homeless 13% Increase in the number of children since School Year (SY) 2020

Today's Substack post is a sneak preview of a report on young children experiencing homelessness in Pennsylvania. bit.ly/4nmwWkM

Our latest Substack article highlights the numbers of children and youth identified as homeless in Southeastern Pennsylvania. The numbers increased 47% since 2019, and more than 18,000 children were identified in 2024. Read at bit.ly/3I3WCmL

Looming Federal Cuts to Public Education Threaten Communities in Every State Educators say the cuts will hit already vulnerable low-income, unhoused, disabled, migrant and refugee students hardest.

Eleanor Bader interviewed me for an article on education. Read the article at bit.ly/4ltVyWX

Supporting students exp homelessness succeeds at increasing graduation rates, lowering chronic truancy, and more. Read our policy brief bit.ly/47x4VSr

We are planning to release an update of our January 2025 report on the prevalence of young children identified as homeless in September. Here is one chart as a sneak preview:

Senate Committee Advances EHCY Funding, Rejects Block Grant The Senate Committee rejects EHCY elimination, preserving $129M in funding. Learn what’s next and what else is included in the FY2026 education bill.

US Senate Appropriations 'blocks' the block-granting of US Dept of Ed. It approved providing $129 million for Education for Homeless Children & Youth, $146.3 million for Runaway & Homeless Youth, and funds Head Start and child care. Read SchoolHouse Connection summary. bit.ly/3UcKFxG

How Trump plans to dismantle the Education Department after Supreme Court ruling Education Secretary Linda McMahon is expected to move quickly now that the Supreme Court has cleared the way for the Trump administration to continue unwinding her department.

“Without enough staff and resources, students will face more barriers to educational opportunity and have fewer places to turn to when their rights are violated,”

apnews.com/article/trum...

Connecting Families to Food Resources amid the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Cross-Sectional Survey of Early Care and Education Providers in Two U.S. States Pennsylvania is one of the states.

Pennsylvania is included in new study on children's access to food. Read at open.substack.com/pub/joewilla...

My prediction is that if they do this, the emergency shelters will be flooded once again. So much progress has been made but the Trump proposal will take us back to before the 1990s.

Taking Care With Data ... for the Babies! Responding to a recent posting on SchoolHouse Connection's Infant-Toddler Report

The federal government needs to improve its data collection on babies experiencing homelessness, DOGE or no DOGE. See our latest Yay Babies edition bit.ly/4lWAn0U

Looks like US House Appropriations Com rejected Trump proposal to block grant HUD programs. It also:
• added $100M+ to Homeless Assistance Grants;
• rejected Trump’s elimination of Project-Based and Tenant-Based rental assistance, & CDBG;
• keeps Trump elimination of HOME;
See bit.ly/4kMI7kv

A Family-Centered Approach to Considering Access to Housing Access to affordable housing remains a top priority in addressing families’ health, well-being, and overall economic stability.

Read new Yay Babies contribution "A Family-Centered Approach to Considering Access to Housing," by Dr. Sara Shaw & Dana Thomson bit.ly/3H1OWRy

Press Release: New State Law to Increase Transparency in Funding for Homeless Students - Chicago Coalition to End Homelessness

Congrats to Illinois homeless advocates for passing legislation creating transparency of how school districts spend Title 1 dollars on students experiencing homelessness. Read at
bit.ly/3IwH0bc

Children's Hospital is asking to help advocate to protect Medicaid. Check out nwmd.social/s/email/4AmO...

FY26 Senate LHHS Testimony Barbara Duffield, Executive Director SchoolHouse Connection United States Senate Committee on Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health & Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies United St...

Read Barbara Duffield of #schoolhouseconnection testimony to U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations re: Trump plan to eliminate homeless education supports. Read at bit.ly/4l3mEoJ

Federal government is abandoning its commitment to homeless students : The Commonwealth of PA Must Step Up Now! Child and youth homelessness in Pennsylvania has grown to crisis proportions over the past few years, with 46,714 children and youth identified as homeless in 2023. Despite this unprecedented increase...

PA State Representative Ismail Smith-Wade-El from Lancaster County is a partner with our homeless education advocacy efforts. Read his latest press release at bit.ly/4l8GC0K

Dr. Janette Herbers of Villanova & Dr. JJ Cutuli of Nemours just published on our Yay Babies newsletter "What is the latest research on children experiencing family homelessness?" Read at bit.ly/4mZC8eJ

Family homelessness as a context of risk to health and development. | Request PDF Request PDF | Family homelessness as a context of risk to health and development. | Family homelessness represents a context of considerable risk for healthy child development. Numerous studies since ...

What's the latest science on family homelessness? New review chapter just released with Janette Herbers of Villanova University:
www.researchgate.net/publication/...

@nemours.bsky.social @villanovapr.bsky.social

New Report Reveals Sharp Increase in Infant and Toddler Homelessness Nationwide Nearly 450,000 infants and toddlers estimated to have experienced homelessness in 2022–2023; only 10% accessed early childhood programs

SchoolHouse Connection releases report on infants/toddlers experiencing homelessness sort by each U.S. state. Read at bit.ly/4kWNgXN

Clinical Research Coordinator The Center for Healthcare Delivery Science (CHDS) at Nemours Children’s Health is seeking a full-time Research Coordinator (RC). The position is available mid-summer and is based in Wilmington, DE. Th...

Hiring! Please share. Seeking research coordinator for resilience studies with families & young children. Community engaged in DE, PA, & NJ. In-person. Appropriate for those w/ BA/BS or MA/MS degree. Interviewing soon, apply today!

epyz.fa.us2.oraclecloud.com/hcmUI/Candid...

#DevSci #AcademicJobs

Homelessness in High School: 2023 More students were homeless, associated with poor outcomes

New findings:
Adolescent homelessness UP 26%

2x-3x the risk for other problems:
Suicidality
Substance Use Problems
Alcohol Use Problems
Risky Sexual Behavior
Poor Grades

Summary:
open.substack.com/pub/joewilla...

Request:
www.researchgate.net/publication/...

@nemours.bsky.social

Homelessness in High School: 2023 More students were homeless, associated with poor outcomes

New publication on homelessness in high school in 2023. New data showing a 26% increase in student homelessness among high school students from 2021 to 2023. Read at bit.ly/4kwy2sQ

Trump Budget Proposal Eliminates Homeless Education Funding The Trump Administration’s FY2026 budget proposal eliminates all funding for the McKinney-Vento Act’s Education for Homeless Children and Youth program. Learn what’s at stake—and how you can take acti...

Trump/US House propose eliminating homeless education. Read more, and take action by viewing bit.ly/3FGzqKd

Adversity in Adolescence: Modeling Risk for Different Purposes Experiencing adversity can contribute to multiple developmental problems

Two Yay Babies newsletters coming out this week. The first is "Adversity in Adolescence: Modeling Risk for Different Purposes." It is authored by resear chers Dr. JJ Cutuli, Dr. Janette Herbers, Dr. Dan Treglia, and Dr. Claire Flatley. Read at bit.ly/4kuvVpr

Yay Babies! - Resilience and Adversity | Joe Willard | Substack We work on public policy relating to child and family homelessness and on poverty-related issues. Yay Babies! will explore issues surrounding resiliency and adversity with contributions from experts a...

Our Yay Babies Substack newsletter has 299 subscribers! Can you make it 300? We write about children who experience homelessness. Read us at joewillard.substack.com

Join our Children Work Group Early Childhood Conference to engage w/ Dr. Annette Pic of U of Delaware to discuss her paper "'Exploring the Role of Play and Family Activities Among Families Experiencing Homelessness." The meeting is 9:30 AM to 11 AM. Register at bit.ly/4k70i51

Urge your U.S. Representative to support FY2026 funding for homeless children and youth Congress is drafting the FY2026 budget. Urge your U.S. Representative to sign a bipartisan letter supporting critical funding for children and youth experiencing homelessness through the EHCY and RHYA...

Tell your Congressperson to support homeless education and don't support Prez's proposal to eliminate funding and programming! bit.ly/4djzT19

How Might the President's FY2026 Budget Proposal Effect Pennsylvania's Strategies on Homelessness? This is about leadership and management

Read our latest Yay Babies newsletter on Substack. We discuss the President's budget on homelessness in Pennsylvania. Read at bit.ly/3S2cHek

Join Zoom call w/ researcher Dr. Annette Pic of the U of Delaware talk on "Exploring the Role of Play and Family Activities Among Families Experiencing Homelessness"
bit.ly/44VpOFz