Child Homelessness

FACTS about Rock County’s Children

• 1 in 4 children live in poverty.
• Approximately 1,000 students are identified as homeless each school year. 
• 160+ homeless teens are living without a parent or guardian. 
• Only 60–75% of unaccompanied homeless seniors graduate high school on time without intervention. 
• 21–37%  of unaccompanied and homeless high school girls are or become pregnant. 
• The increased lifetime contribution to society of a student who receives his/her diploma is $127,000. 

FACTS about Homeless Children in the U.S.

• Homeless Children suffer three times as many stomach problems, 50% more ear infections and twice as many hospitalizations as non‐homeless children.
• Homeless children are hungry more than twice as often as other children.
• 14% of homeless children are diagnosed with a learning disability — double the rate of other children.
• 21% of homeless children repeat a grade because of frequent school absences.
• Within a single school year, 41% of homeless students attend two different schools, 28% attend three or more.
• Research show a loss of 3–6 months of academic progress each time a child changes schools.

FACTS about Unaccompanied Homeless Youth

• 1.3 Million youth lived on the streets of America every day in 2004 (National Runaway Switchboard).
• 20–50% were sexually abused at home.
• 40–60% were physically abused at home.
• 66% indicated that at least one parent abused drugs or alcohol.
• 5,000 street youth die every year from assaults, illness or suicide.