National Institute 2026

Rates of homelessness for families with children are increasing more than for any other population in the United States. Housing instability and homelessness is known to have serious, long-term impacts on children's physical, emotional, and educational well-being, including disruptions to their learning and school attendance. Libraries can be an important resource for families at-risk of or experiencing homelessness but barriers to library use often prevent families from accessing these resources. At the same time, families often hide their housing status out of embarrassment or fear they will be targeted by child welfare agencies. 

Federal education law requires every school district to have a homeless education liaison who can be a powerful partner for libraries. These McKinney-Vento liaisons will have insights into what family homelessness looks like in your community and will be a vital link to connect to families through their programming and in collaboration with the other agencies they work with. 

This presentation will show you how to find and connect with your local McKinney-Vento liaison, as well as how to access state- and district-level data on student homelessness in your community. We will also examine the impact of homelessness on student learning, especially literacy, and explore outreach and other programming that can support the needs and interests of children and parents in homeless situations.