More than 15,000 children in Maryland's schools last year identified as homeless, and with rising rents and evictions, officials don't expect this school year to be much different. Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images
Two brothers with big dreams were among the more than 15,500 children identified as homeless in Maryland’s public schools last school year, 1.7% of the student body. Together with their parents, they lived in Anne Arundel County, one of the state’s wealthiest jurisdictions, showing homelessness can happen anywhere.
“I never imagined in a million years that we would be homeless,” their mother told me. “Life suddenly changed for all of us. We lived out of bags and suitcases.”
Their story is reflective of the thousands of Maryland students, prekindergarten through high school, expected to be homeless at some point, if not most of, this school year.
Amid rising rents, increasing evictions, and an estimated housing shortage of 96,000 units, Gov. Wes Moore recently signed legislation to make housing more plentiful and affordable, and provide limited financial assistance to some at-risk renters. But it will take time to kick in.
Jennifer Laque, homeless education liaison for Anne Arundel County Public Schools, said at least initially, “I anticipate our numbers being equivalent to what they were last (school) year,” when 1,256 children, 1.4% of the county’s student body, were identified as without a fixed address.
The brothers’ family became homeless after their landlord told them she had decided to sell the townhouse she rented them, instead of renewing the lease. Around the same time, the parents lost their jobs, got COVID-19 and couldn’t afford a new place.
Like most without a permanent address, the family spent nights in a relative’s or friend’s home, often on a couch. Others in homelessness take refuge in shelters, campgrounds, cars, motels or hotels.
Some are homeless for a day, a week or a month. The brothers and their parents were homeless month after month, living with one relative and then another.
“We all had difficulty sleeping,” their mother says. “A lot of stress.”
The family was part of America’s growing homelessness, blamed primarily on the lack of affordable housing. One winter night last year, an annual federal count identified 653,104 people as experiencing homelessness, a 12% rise over 2022.
According to RentHop, an online rental service, the average monthly rental for a two-bedroom listing in Anne Arundel County last month was $2,400, up 28% from 2021. U.S. Census data puts the county’s median household income at $113,125.
Princeton University’s Eviction Lab reports that of the 32 cities nationwide where it has “complete data,” 25 had an increase in eviction filings from 2022 to 2023.
“People are one paycheck from being unable to pay rent,” says Laque. “There are weeks when four or five families (in Anne Arundel County) are evicted.”
Laque is in the Office of Pupil Personnel, part of a statewide team that assists homeless children via the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, a federal law dating back to 1987. It mandates a host of aid, from food, clothing and school supplies to academic support and transportation.
The two brothers remained in their respective schools, though getting back and forth to class from their relatives’ homes required riding multiple buses.
“We made it a priority that they get to school each day,” the mother says.
The father eventually got a new job, and with the help of a nonprofit, he and his family moved into a new rented home, ending seven months of homelessness.
Through it all, the two brothers kept up with their schoolwork and maintained their dreams of pursuing higher education, one in science and the other in music.
Many in homelessness see their dreams threatened or shattered. They are less apt to attend class and graduate from school and, thus, more likely to end up without a job, in poverty, and again homeless.
Maryland’s new Rental Assistance for Community School Families Program will provide $5 million to assist at-risk student families in paying their rent and another $5 million to help others in such need. However, it’s unclear when the relief will begin and how many it will help.
A 2023 study with the Maryland Center on Economic Policy found the state would need to spend $40 million annually to help prevent the eviction of 15,000 families. The study concluded it would save Maryland about $92 million in reduced safety-net costs.
For now, the mother of the two brothers offers this advice to parents who lose their homes: “You’ve got to keep going. Don’t be too proud to ask for help. The school is a great resource.”
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