Logo courtesy of Washington Unified School District

On any given day in Yolo County classrooms, there are students trying to focus on reading and math after sleeping in cars, moving between relatives’ homes, or worrying about where they will stay that night. As a school social worker in a K–8 district, I see firsthand how housing instability is not just a housing issue it is an educational and mental health crisis hiding in plain sight.

We often talk about closing achievement gaps, improving attendance and addressing youth mental health. Yet we rarely name one of the most powerful drivers of all three: housing inadequacy. For marginalized students, especially those already navigating systemic inequities, unstable housing creates a cascade of challenges that schools alone are not designed to absorb.

In Yolo County alone, nearly 1,000 individuals were experiencing homelessness in 2024, reflecting a significant increase in recent years, according to local county data. Across California, the scope is even more striking: about 1 in 25 students experience homelessness, based on data from the California Department of Education. These numbers are not abstract they represent students sitting in our classrooms every day.

First, housing instability disrupts learning in ways that are immediate and cumulative. Students who frequently move or lack stable housing are more likely to miss school, struggle with concentration and fall behind academically. Learning requires consistency: consistent attendance, routines and emotional safety. When a child’s living situation is unpredictable, education becomes secondary to survival.

Second, schools can unintentionally reproduce the very inequities students bring with them. Educational systems are often structured around assumptions of stability regular attendance, parental availability, and predictable routines. When students experiencing housing instability cannot meet these expectations, their behaviors are frequently misunderstood. Instead of being recognized as responses to stress, they may be labeled as defiance or disengagement. Research has long shown that school discipline practices disproportionately impact marginalized students, reinforcing patterns of exclusion rather than support. As scholars have noted, schools can function as sites where structural inequities are reproduced.

Third, and most concerning, housing instability is deeply connected to student mental health and rising suicide risk. Chronic stress associated with instability, uncertainty, lack of safety and disruption of social connections can significantly impact a child’s emotional well-being. National data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show rising rates of youth depression and suicidal ideation, particularly among marginalized populations. When we fail to address housing as a foundational need, we are also failing to address a key driver of this crisis.

To be sure, schools cannot solve the housing crisis alone. Washington Unified School District has a “Families in Transition” specialist, yet the program has been impacted by community resource budgets shrinking consistently since the COVID-19 pandemic ended. Educators and school staff are already navigating limited resources, increasing student needs, and systemic constraints, especially in small districts. However, ignoring housing instability as an educational issue ensures that inequities will persist. If we continue to focus only on in-school solutions without addressing the conditions students live in, we will continue to see limited progress.

What would it look like to take this issue seriously? It would mean strengthening partnerships between schools, housing agencies and community organizations. It would mean increasing funding for school-based mental health supports and ensuring that students experiencing housing instability are identified early and supported consistently. It would also mean shifting how we interpret student behavior, moving from punishment to understanding, from compliance to compassion.

Most importantly, it would mean recognizing that housing stability is not separate from educational success, it is foundational to it.

If we want students to show up, engage and thrive, we must first ensure they have a stable place to land. In Yolo County and beyond, the path to educational equity does not begin at the classroom door. It begins at home.