Housing instability is an escalating and often concealed crisis that profoundly affects families with school-age children across the United States. A newly published comprehensive policy analysis, spearheaded by USC Rossier Professor Huriya Jabbar alongside researchers from the University of Texas at Austin and UCLA, reveals the complex interplay between education systems and housing agencies attempting to mitigate the growing consequences of eviction and displacement. This meticulous environmental scan exposes not only existing collaborative efforts but also significant gaps in preventive measures, research, and sustainable funding critical for the academic success and well-being of vulnerable students.
The research underscores a pivotal challenge: schools frequently remain oblivious to students’ housing turmoil until such instability tangibly disrupts educational engagement. Manifestations such as chronic absenteeism, mid-academic-year relocations, and deteriorations in both academic performance and mental health often surface only after a family’s housing situation has deteriorated significantly. This latent nature of housing instability poses profound obstacles for educators, who primarily observe its symptomatic outcomes rather than encountering the root causes directly affecting their students.
Existing school-based interventions predominantly pivot around responses to acute homelessness, employing frameworks such as those provided by the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act. While indispensable for addressing immediate crises, these supports often activate only once families have already endured eviction or displacement. There is, the study highlights, a critical urgency for upstream strategies that proactively stabilize housing conditions before they spiral into homelessness. Such upstream policies include rental assistance programs, eviction mitigation initiatives, and city-enforced moratoria on evictions during the academic year—all aimed at intercepting housing instability before it systematically undermines student outcomes.
The analysis unearths diverse and innovative cross-sector models aiming to bridge housing and educational resources. Some programs integrate housing counselors directly within school environments, thereby facilitating real-time intervention alongside academic and social services such as tutoring and mental health support. Others focus on data-sharing agreements between housing agencies and schools, enhancing early identification of families at imminent risk of losing housing stability. Yet, these promising partnerships frequently face sustainability challenges, as many rely heavily on temporary, pandemic-era funding streams that are now expiring.
The sustainability dilemma is further compounded by an alarmingly sparse empirical research base that rigorously evaluates the efficacy of these interventions. Despite a clear logical framework affirming that housing stability is foundational to academic success, concrete data linking specific housing policies to measurable educational improvements remain limited. Researchers call for robust, mixed-methods studies combining quantitative data integration across housing and education systems with qualitative investigations into the lived experiences of affected families, all designed to elucidate the mechanisms by which stable housing fosters educational resilience.
Jabbar and her colleagues emphasize that housing instability is not merely an ancillary socioeconomic issue but a core educational equity challenge. The interplay between soaring housing costs, particularly in marginalized communities, and the risk of displacement creates cyclical barriers that erode student potential. Early displacement frequently results in attendance disruptions, loss of continuity in schooling, and exacerbated mental health difficulties—factors collectively known to impede long-term academic trajectories and broader well-being.
Intriguingly, the research illuminates a range of policy interventions that vary in complexity and inter-agency coordination requirements but nonetheless demonstrate measurable promise. For example, some municipalities have enacted eviction bans during the school year as a strategy to maintain educational stability. These policies, though structurally simple, yield significant reductions in school disruptions linked to evictions. In contrast, interwoven service delivery models that embed housing assistance within school settings require deeper inter-sector collaboration, posing greater logistical and financial challenges but offering potentially transformative impacts.
Researchers remain cautiously optimistic about the proliferation of innovative collaborations nationwide but reiterate that many face precarity without sustained investment. The post-pandemic withdrawal of emergency funding threatens to unravel the fragile scaffolding upon which many pilot programs are built. Without a strategic policy emphasis on embedding housing stability within education frameworks, these efforts risk fading before their full impact can be assessed or scaled.
One of the most compelling dimensions of the study is its identification of data infrastructure deficiencies, hampering comprehensive evaluation and policy design. Effective cross-sectoral partnerships necessitate interoperability between education and housing data systems—an infrastructural ambition yet to be fully realized. Such integration would enable continuous monitoring of at-risk families, evaluation of intervention outcomes, and adaptive policy refinement. Currently, privacy concerns, disparate data standards, and bureaucratic silos obstruct the cohesion needed for these initiatives to reach their potential.
The study’s authors advocate for policymakers, education leaders, and researchers to prioritize the development of preventive housing policies aligned with educational goals. Establishing early warning systems within schools, investing in rental assistance and eviction prevention programs, and reinforcing collaborative governance structures emerge as critical components in a holistic strategy. In acknowledging housing as a fundamental determinant of student success, education systems can broaden their remit to include housing security as a key factor in equitable access and achievement.
Importantly, this research situates housing instability within a broader societal context, linking it to systemic inequalities that disproportionately impact low-income and marginalized communities. Rising housing costs continue to outpace wage stagnation, forcing families into precarious living conditions that jeopardize children’s educational trajectories. The researchers stress that while schools alone cannot resolve the housing crisis, their strategic alignment with housing policies and agencies offers a powerful avenue to safeguard students’ learning environments and developmental outcomes.
In synthesizing insights from varied state and federal policy landscapes, this environmental scan acts as a catalytic resource aimed at galvanizing cross-sector innovations. By spotlighting successful models alongside persistent shortcomings, it invites replication and adaptation across diverse localities. More critically, it demands a paradigm shift within education policy—framing housing stability not as peripheral but as integral to the mission of ensuring that every student has the opportunity to thrive.
Ultimately, the study delivers a clarion call for systemic rethinking and research investment. It underscores the imperative that housing and education sectors evolve from operating in isolation to forming cohesive ecosystems. Through sustained collaboration, enhanced data infrastructure, and a focus on prevention, society can significantly diminish the educational disruptions wrought by housing instability, paving the way for more equitable and resilient student futures.
Subject of Research: Not applicable
Article Title: Harmonizing Systems to Reduce Eviction and Homelessness: An Environmental Scan of Innovative School-Housing Partnerships
Web References: http://rossier.usc.edu/documents/harmonizing-systems-reduce-eviction-and-homelessness
Keywords: Education policy, Housing
