John Bridgeland co-authored the GradNation report after seeing a documentary on homeless youth that opened his eyes to the profound challenges they face. [The number of U.S. homeless students has doubled since before the recession]Homeless youth spend more energy surviving than kids who have a stable place to live. It’s not just schools that have a responsibility to ease the lives of homeless youth, he said, so do local housing authorities and transportation departments. [Coming of age in a city coming apart]The new federal education law — the Every Student Succeeds Act — may help bring a new focus to the plight of homeless youth. She said she wants the federal government to make it easier for homeless students who are applying for financial aid to prove that they are homeless and living independently from their parents.

Source: Washington Post June 17, 2016 13:07 UTC