In Monterey County, California, the number of children attending school while homeless has doubled. Yet they remain out of sight, tucked beneath the vibrant and busy agricultural patchwork. Brigitte is a bright and intelligent 9-year-old girl. She’s been living the last year with her newly retired parents in their converted garage. This scenario is not just an outlier – it’s becoming the new normal. In Monterey County, 16% of children enrolled in public schools have experienced homelessness at some point. This percentage has shocking risen from only 4.2% ten years ago, emphasizing a growing crisis.
Brigitte’s family has lived in an unpermitted garage behind a main house in Salinas. Her dad Cruz works at a nearby car wash. At the same time, her mother, Nancy, packs cauliflower, artichokes, and broccoli in Castroville. They still share a refrigerator with other people living in the same housing situation but go out of their way to keep others away from their food. Nancy hides their groceries in their bedroom to prevent theft, stating, “They didn’t respect your food and would eat it.”
First, the rapidly deteriorating situation for homeless students in Monterey County. An alarming 13% of these patio children are migrants, which is double the statewide percentage of a mere 3%. This partnership has led the school district to establish a new team of homeless liaisons. This dedicated team fast tracks the enrollment process for impacted students and works diligently to obtain the required documentation. This new effort is sorely needed to make sure these children get the education they should be getting.
As an executive director of Monterey County’s housing resource center, Alexa Johnson saw the pain and plight of these migrant families. After seeing these families in her district fight to find stable housing, she navigated her advocacy from migrant education towards housing issues.
“Sometimes there’s a couple of families living together, sometimes three,” noted Donna Smith, a representative from the school district. She added, “I’ve seen converted garages – or unconverted ones – where a whole family is living.” This reality only highlights the precarious housing conditions most kids in Monterey County are living in.
The broader economic environment is changing quickly. As the price of living steadily increases, families are finding it harder to maintain stable, permanent housing. In Monterey County, more than half of all renters—57.1%—pay more than 30% of their income on housing and utilities. This monetary pressure has driven countless families into housing insecurity or temporary residences.
Throughout California, the number of children experiencing homelessness has more than tripled in recent years. Even more worrisome to experts, though, is what this disturbing trend bodes for the long-term. Brett Guinan, an author of a report from the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC), remarked on the paradox facing Monterey County: student homelessness is increasing at a time when overall school enrollment is at its lowest point in history.
“I suspect that the numbers of homeless students will probably go down as we lose our ability to identify these students,” Guinan stated. He mentioned that having sufficient, consistent funding was crucial for having a dedicated staff. Without this assistance, schools will not be able to accurately identify the scope of the problem.
Dr. Deneen Guss, the school chief for Monterey County’s 72,000 students, recently expressed her dismay at the administration’s immigration policies and their effect on children’s education. In particular she is concerned that potential ICE raids will keep students out of school. “Our kids are fearful. Our families are fearful, and as these ICE raids ramp up, I can tell you, we are going to see our attendance at school in the fall decline,” she warned.
“This fear is palpable,” Dr. Guss continued. “Well, we already know that it’s going to happen because we’re already hearing from families that they don’t want to go to the doctor. They don’t want to leave their house.”
In fact, the funding landscape for homeless students has changed dramatically. Those $99 million in federal pandemic relief funds for homeless students have almost completely dried up. Unfortunately, this has left educators and advocates with limited resources for these at-risk populations on the chopping block.
“Our job in the school district isn’t to fix homelessness,” said Donna Smith. “It’s to provide services to students experiencing homelessness.” She said she understood the ‘knotty’ nature of the question. She pointed out that most of these children are not from migrant families.
Even in the face of these hardships, families such as Brigitte’s are still forced to live in unsafe housing conditions. As they strive for stability in their lives, advocates urge for greater awareness and resources to support vulnerable children and their families.
At the end of a season, where are you supposed to come up with the cash to pay your rent? At least tens of millions of workers will be drawing unemployment insurance during that time. Those dollars aren’t enough to pay for all of their expenses or pay rent. Johnson explained.
The plight of homeless children in Monterey County calls for immediate attention and action from community leaders and policymakers alike.