Building Futures
Through Education
Access to extra-curricular activities for students experiencing homelessness
Background
In the 2011-12 school year, CA public schools identified 248,904 students experiencing homelessness. Data
show that students who experience homelessness even one time while in high school have higher dropout
rates than other economically disadvantaged students.1
For many students, participation in extra-curricular activities makes the difference between dropping out of
school and graduating. Studies have found that when compared to students generally, those who participate
in activity programs have:
 Higher grade-point averages
 Better attendance records
 Lower dropout rates
 Fewer discipline problems
 Lower rates of drug use and teen pregnancy
 Greater success after high school- in college, a career and becoming a contributing member of society.2
However, despite this research, CA law does not facilitate homeless students’ participation in activities.
Homelessness is by nature mobile—students move from motel to shelter, from couch to car. The federal
McKinney-Vento Act allows these students to remain stable in one school despite their residential mobility.
However, California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) rules do not address their ability to participate in
activities, as there is no extra-curricular residency exception for homeless students. Interestingly, there is a
statutory exception for youth in foster care.
Three-fourths of California homeless youth surveyed for the California Research Bureau’s report, Voices from the
Street: A Survey of Homeless Youth by Their Peers (http://www.library.ca.gov/crb/08/08-004.pdf) were not in
school. Most of the 54 youth surveyed were between 17 and 24, yet only six had graduated from high school or
attained a GED. In Virginia, students who were homeless at any time in their high school career had the lowest ontime graduation rate (66.1%) compared to any other subgroup, including economically disadvantaged students
(74.7%). Students who were homeless at any time in high school had a drop-out rate (19%) that was more than
twice the state average (7.1%), and higher than any other subgroup other than Limited English Proficient students.
Data from the Colorado Department of Education also show that the graduation rate for homeless students is the
lowest compared to other subgroups; at 49.7%, it is lower than the rate for economically disadvantaged students
(62.2%) and for all students in the state (73.9%). Additional data available from NAEHCY.
2
National Federation of State High School Associations (2008). The Case for High School Activities. These
benefits are even more significant for girls and minorities. And the benefits are amplified for disadvantaged
students—A study in the Harvard Educational Review found that participation in extracurricular activities in high
school appears to be one of the few interventions that benefit disadvantaged students as much or more than their
more advantaged peers.
1
Building Futures
Through Education
As a result, homeless students often cannot participate in extra-curricular activities due to their homelessness.
It is common for this barrier to go unnoticed, as most homeless students simply accept it when they are told
they can't play sports-- to them, it is just one more thing they have lost along with their home. However, we
have heard reports of this barrier from across the state. For example, from Monterey:
“The issues with CIF came up over the CIF rules of residency when a student was staying in school of origin
when she/he was living in another school’s enrollment area. Because of the very strict rules about residency
for CIF, and the fact that schools could lose eligibility for play if a non-resident student was playing, this is a
hard decision for schools, with lots of legal issues.”
A clear legal exception for homeless students would eliminate this dilemma.3 It would clarify the
legislature’s intent that both homeless and foster students be able to participate in interscholastic sports or
other extracurricular activities.
Proposed new legislative language
Amend Cal. Education Code section 48850(a)(2) as follows:
“A foster child who changes residences pursuant to a court order or decision of a child welfare worker or a
homeless child shall be immediately deemed to meet all residency requirements for participation in
interscholastic sports or other extracurricular activities.”4
Add a new paragraph (a)(3):
“(a)(3) HOMELESS CHILD.—The term ‘homeless child’ has the meaning given the term ‘homeless
children and youths’ in section 725 of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11434a).”
3
While CIF Bylaws do allow for hardship waivers to residency requirements, homeless students should not be
forced to submit documentation and potentially even be subject to a lengthy appeal when their homelessness forces
them to move. This would violate the McKinney-Vento Act’s requirement of immediate enrollment and run
counter to the stated intent of the California state legislature.
4
This amendment would eliminate internal inconsistency in Section 48850(a) of the Education Code, which
specifically mentions homeless students in (a)(1), but inexplicably leaves them out of (a)(2). Section 48850(a)(1)
states:
“It is the intent of the Legislature to ensure that all pupils in foster care and those who are homeless as defined by
the federal McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. Sec. 11301 et seq.) have a meaningful
opportunity to meet the challenging state pupil academic achievement standards to which all pupils are held. In
fulfilling their responsibilities to these pupils, educators, county placing agencies, care providers, advocates, and
the juvenile courts shall work together… to ensure that each pupil… has access to the… extracurricular and
enrichment activities that are available to all pupils, including, but not necessarily limited to, interscholastic sports
administered by the California Interscholastic Federation.”