HOUSING Invisible evictions: How housing insecurity a ects Houston ISD students
2023 EDUCATION EDITION
EVICTIONS ON THE RISE Eviction lings jumped in 2022 in Bellaire, Meyerland, West University Place and surrounding areas. Experts have been tracking the e ects of evictions on students at Houston ISD.
BY MELISSA ENAJE
his research to suggest that, in areas where large numbers of eviction lings are taking place, vulnerable student populations are attending schools located close by. Wraparound Services are available at every HISD school and provide campus-speci c plans to assess student needs and integrate critical noninstructional support for their physical, mental and social-emo- tional development, according to HISD information. HISD o cials said they were not able to comment for this story as the department under- goes a reorganization under new Superintendent Mike Miles. Hepburn said he thinks HISD is taking the issue seriously, but more could be done to reduce the overall number of evictions in the county. “Otherwise, not only are you creating a problem for families, but you’re shifting a greater burden onto the school,” he said. For more than 30 years, Sharon Reynerson has represented low-in- come families throughout Texas facing education-related issues, such as eviction or unjust disciplinary actions, as litigation director with Lone Star Legal Aid. “You could have 100 lawyers doing all this in a third of Texas, and it would not be enough,” she said. Reynerson said she wishes more families knew about the federal McKinney-Vento Act, which states schools must allow students who are considered homeless to remain enrolled until the end of the aca- demic year and provide them with transportation to the school. Out of the roughly 10% of HISD students facing repeated threats of eviction, students of color were most at-risk for having an eviction led against their parent or guardian, Hepburn said. More than 70% of the students living in a household facing eviction were Black, roughly 25% Hispanic and less than 5% white. “The big picture here is that evic- tion is something that is happening to a lot of kids in your community,” Hepburn said. “It’s costing them, and it’s sort of setting them back on their educational trajectories.”
EVICTIONS FILED ANNUALLY
Bellaire 2020: 55 2021: 21 2022: 90 2023*: 53 Braeswood 2020: 219 2021: 291 2022: 752 2023*: 264
Meyerland 2020: 338 2021: 432 2022: 683 2023*: 436 West U Place 2020: 19 2021: 32 2022: 39 2023*: 22
As families across the largest school district in Texas prepare for the upcoming academic year Aug. 28, some of the 189,000-plus students will face challenges related to unsta- ble housing situations. Close to 10% of Houston ISD students face the threat of eviction on multiple occasions throughout the school year, according to ongoing research from the Kinder Institute’s Houston Education Research Consortium and the Eviction Lab at Princeton University. “When we look at those kids and what happens to them after that [eviction] ling comes through, we see that they’re much more likely than their peers to change schools; they’re much more likely than their peers to simply not be in the HISD records the subsequent academic year,” said Peter Hepburn, associate director of the Eviction Lab and assis- tant professor of sociology at Rutgers University-Newark. “They either move to another district or drop out entirely. They have much lower levels of stability year after year.” The Eviction Lab reached out to school districts across the U.S. to match data about school enrollment with eviction ling records. They developed an algorithm that found close to 20,000 HISD students faced the threat of eviction multiple times in a single academic year during the 2002-2016 timeframe. Before the pandemic, Harris County recorded close to 60,000 eviction lings in a given year, according to data from the analytics rm January Advisors. Since pan- demic protections for renters lapsed in July 2022, the number of lings spiked to almost 80,000 that year, according to the rm’s March housing report. Connect the dots In Bellaire, Meyerland, West University Place and surrounding areas, January Advisors found more than 3,700 eviction cases were led between January 2020 and July 24, 2023. Hepburn said there is evidence in
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*AS OF JULY 24
SOURCES: JANUARY ADVISORS, HARRIS COUNTY JUSTICE OF THE PEACE COURTS, EVICTION LAB COMMUNITY IMPACT
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AT-RISK RACIAL AND GENDER DISPARITIES Students of color enrolled in Houston ISD face the largest risk of having an eviction led against their parent or guardian, according to district data analyzed by researchers from 2002-2016.
In Houston ISD: • Close to 20,000 HISD students faced the threat of eviction multiple times in a single academic year. • 3 months was the typical length of time between multiple eviction lings in a single academic year. • Out of a 189,934 student population, 150,922 students are considered economically disadvantaged.
When an eviction was led: • 70% of households were Black. • Around 25% were Hispanic. • Less than 5% were White.
SOURCES: KINDER INSTITUTE FOR URBAN RESEARCH AT RICE UNIVERSITY, THE EVICTION LAB, HOUSTON ISD COMMUNITY IMPACT
UNDERSTANDING STUDENT RIGHTS Under the federal McKinney-Vento Act, youth experiencing homelessness and economic hardship are entitled to certain rights and services. Until the end of the academic year, student rights include: • Transportation to the school, including preschool, is required. • At a local level, schools must designate a liaison who coordinates services, such as keeping students enrolled in a school, even if they lack documents or missed applications during any period of homelessness. • States must have procedures in place that ensure children can participate in academic and extracurricular activities.
Other resources available to families in need: The Covenant House:
The Montrose Center: www.montrosecenter.org Star of Hope Mission: www.sohmission.org Coalition for the Homeless: www.homelesshouston.org
www.covenanthousetx.org Bread of Life Inc. Houston: www.breado ifeinc.org Houston Area Women’s Center: www.hawc.org
SOURCES: SCHOOLHOUSE CONNECTION, NATIONAL CENTER FOR HOMELESS EDUCATION COMMUNITY IMPACT
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BELLAIRE MEYERLAND WEST UNIVERSITY EDITION • AUGUST 2023
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