Hundreds of Tri-City homeless kids continue their education

Just because kids are in school doesn’t mean they have a home.

It’s estimated about 400 students are without permanent homes attending Pasco schools. Another 300 homeless kids are believed to be in the the Kennewick School District, and more in Richland.

They are part of 1.26 million students who don’t have permanent housing, according to the federal McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act.

The families of the majority of the students, 76 percent in 2015, are living with a friend or a relative after they lost their home because of economic hardship, according to the most recent figures from the U.S. Department of Education.

Children living in shelters represented 14 percent of the homeless students, while motel stays made up 7 percent.

And the National Center for Homeless Education’s most recent report for the 2014-15 school year says the problem is not limited to one area. Across the 17,395 public school districts in the U.S., 91 percent reported homeless students.

Kindergarten through third grade have the largest groups of homeless students — more than 453,000.

Tim Sullivan, Pasco School District’s director of student life, said his goal is to give the students in Pasco as much stability as possible.

“Every story is unique,” he said. “We ride fast to make sure they are in school, and they are getting to and from school.”

Sullivan and Yesenia Chavez, the Students in Transition and Homeless Coordinator in Kennewick, said their goal is to make sure homeless students stay in school.

Richland School District officials were not available last week to talk about homeless students.

However, a year ago, about a third of Richland’s students were receiving free or reduced-price meals and, in the past, the district worked to bring in Communities In Schools, a support organization that connects students and families with those providing food, shelter and other services.

Chariss Warner, the women and children’s shelter director for the Tri-City Union Gospel Mission, also coordinates with area school districts in an effort to maintain consistency for the kids.

A smaller group of homeless kids are classified by the school districts as “unaccompanied minors.”

Mark Lee is one of the founding board members for My Friend’s Place — a shelter for homeless middle school and high school students.

In the past year, the shelter housed 51 students and 93 youth visited for a short time to use services such as taking a shower.

“On a given night, there are nine to 13 youth,” he said.

Lee said they come from every community, every school and all walks of life. Some attend and graduate from high school, while others struggle, use drugs and don’t finish school.

“We had two youth from Richland a couple of years ago that had been homeless for three years, and when we called their parents, they’re like, ‘Yep. We know.’ ” he said. “That 16-year-old got into school, got a job and spiraled his life up all on his own.”

Depending on the student, they may only need a place to sleep, and others might need a complete support system to succeed, Lee said.

This story was originally published December 24, 2016 at 1:41 PM with the headline "Hundreds of Tri-City homeless kids continue their education."