The local school systems are seeing rapidly rising numbers of homeless students that officials attribute to the troubled economy and the fact that many parents who have lost their jobs can’t find new ones, leading to a record number of home foreclosures.

“I would say that the reason our numbers are going up is because the economy is so bad,” said Denise Kuzy, homeless liaison and social worker at Carroll County School System. “I keep hearing on the news, keep hearing that it’s getting better, it’s getting better. But, as a social worker, I just haven’t seen that with my clients. It seems like they’re struggling now more than ever.”

The county school system had registered 397 homeless students by December 2009, nearly as many as the 412 homeless students identified during the entire school year last year. Kuzy expects to have served around 800 homeless students by the end of the year, nearly double last year’s number.

The Carrollton school system is seeing similar increases. It had registered 211 homeless students by December 2009. Last year, it identified 225 during the entire school year.

The school systems have become more adept at identifying homeless students. All new students who register have to fill out a survey to help identify those who are homeless. However, it’s trickier with students whose families become homeless during the year. The families may not notify the schools of their change in situation, or the students may be embarrassed to tell. But teachers may notice changes in the students that worry them or bus drivers may notice a student is no longer at the same bus stop. If they voice their concerns, a counselor can investigate.

“It’s kind of word-of-mouth,” said Carrollton City Schools Homeless Coordinator Kathy Romo.

That means the number of identified homeless students typically rises during the school year. That doesn’t mean all those students will be in the system at the same time, Kuzy said.

“Today, we’ve registered two new families that were homeless,” Kuzy said. “It’s a very fluid number. It changes. We keep the count of all the kids all year, but some of those kids will move out and move to other counties and other places, because they don’t have a permanent place here.”

A homeless family will move three times during the year, on average, Romo said. That can have educational repercussions for the students who have to adjust to new teachers, new students, new rules and new classes every time they move.

“That’s a big barrier to learning,” Romo said. “Every time that you move your child from one educational system to another those children lose, I would say, on the average, three to six months educationally.”

The school systems work hard to keep homeless students in their school of origin whenever possible, providing transportation even from outside the system if they can. Other school systems from neighboring counties do the same and that can provide some stability to the students who are facing a lot of uncertainty in the rest of their lives.

“We try to intervene whenever we can,” Romo said.

For a student, being homeless doesn’t always mean they live in a homeless shelter. Homeless students, under the federal McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, are defined as students who live in substandard housing or temporary housing. So, students who live in a hotel or students who move in with another family because of economic hardship, even if it is their extended family, are considered homeless under the act.

The school systems receive federal grants to provide assistance to the homeless students and their families. It allows the schools to provide some extra help for those students.

“The main goal of the grant is to make sure these students achieve academically and stay on track,” Romo said.

The students are ushered through the registration process even if they don’t have all the required documentation at the time of registration. They are given extra time to come into compliance with vaccination records for instance. They receive free lunches during the school year, transportation and emergency clothing assistance. The systems make sure the students have bookbags and all the school supplies they need.

Homeless students also receive extra help in their school work. According to school officials, homeless students may have a hard time focusing when they’re in school; they are worried about their circumstances, or they may arrive at school hungry, making it hard for them to concentrate. They may also have difficulty getting their homework done because they don’t have resources available to them such as computers or even a place to do their homework where they are staying.

Homelessness can have a psychological impact on the students, as well, Romo said.

“We line up psychologists to work with them,” she said. “The psychological impact this has on them, we don’t even know. It could be very traumatic to them.”

The systems will also provide referrals to relief agencies such as the Carrollton Housing Authority and Kuzy has been very impressed with the response the community has had for the families.

“The community is very supportive,” Kuzy said. “When we refer to the Housing Authority, to the shelters and to local churches, it’s harder because there are so many people in need these days, but we do have a good response and I’m always proud of that.”