I recently read an article in the Juneau Empire called “Lives in Transition: Our Homeless Youth.”  The article spoke about the struggles faced by homeless Alaskan youth who are in school.  I’ve written before about what we’ve learned – homeless youth are much less likely to graduate high school.  The Juneau Empire  elaborates further, talking about the problems faced by homeless young people still trying to attend school. Frequent moves might cause them to change schools repeatedly within a school year.  Each move tends to set a youth back several months academically, compared to their peers.  A few school transfers might result in a student falling a year behind.  The school district works to ensure that homeless students don’t have to change schools.  As transportation remains the biggest barrier to education, their parents can be reimbursed for gas, bus tokens given to teens, or, through partnerships with cab companies, transportation provided. Schools also work to provide afterschool homework help, activities, and snacks for homeless and impoverished youth.  For youth without stable, adequate housing,  homework can fall behind other concerns, like where they’ll sleep or what they’ll eat.  For unaccompanied youth – runaways or ‘throwaways’ – those struggles are more pronounced as they labor without adult guidance or supervision.

Here in Fairbanks, there is a lot of support available to help homeless students stay in school. The school district works hard to make sure that homeless children and teens have their needs met and are able to continue  in school, including afterschool programs at many schools and a district Homeless Liaison who works with homeless youth to ensure their needs are met.  Adult Learning Programs of Alaska works with teens and adults to get their GED.  Access Alaska provides an afterschool “Recharge Time” to offer young people a comfortable, welcoming place to make friends, hang out, and work on schoolwork.  The Fairbanks Rescue Mission offers afterschool tutoring to students at the shelter, as well as anyone in the community interested.  These programs can be contacted for more information, or if you’d like to help.