Peoria Public Schools currently has 326 children identified as homeless.
Superintendent Sharon Desmoulin-Kherat said that number changes month to month, but it includes all students receiving extra support from the district through McKinney-Vento assistance, which refers to the federal McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act that provides funding to schools for students experiencing homelessness.
“Every school has sort of a cabinet or a closet filled with items such as hygiene items, school supplies, uniforms, socks, underwear, laundry detergent,” Kherat said. “Bus passes are purchased to ensure that our kids come to school with supplies and clothes. Every school has a washer and dryer also to assist with that.”
The act covers any children who don't have a fixed nighttime residence. Most homeless students in Peoria aren't on the streets, but they are in a doubled-up household or couch surfing with their families.
McKinney-Vento also establishes rights for students experiencing homelessness that includes exceptions during the registration process.
“So even if they come in and they don't have the documentation ... you know, there's a different step that we take, and it automatically goes towards following the McKinney-Vento process, and transportation is provided, addresses are not necessarily a big deal,” Kherat said.
The act also allows students to still attend their home school, even if they move into a different school district.
District 150's homeless rate has fluctuated in the last 10 years, reaching a high of 4.2% in 2017 and a low of 1.2% in 2021. Their rate last year was 2.3%, a little lower than the state average of 2.6%.
The district also offers services for families through The Wraparound Center. Annette Coleman oversees The Wraparound Center as the director of Community-Based Social-Emotional Learning.
“We also have a food pantry here,” she said. “We have a diaper pantry. We have unsheltered closets where we don't have clothes, but we have supplies for our unsheltered population. We have an independent attorney within the building, you know, she does workshops and things for people in the community. The Regional Office of Education has an office here that helps with truancy. Carle Health has an office here.”
Coleman said most families are referred from schools. She said the center then works to help meet the family's needs.
“Food is probably the biggest one right now,” she said. “As the weather gets colder, we'll need hats and gloves and coats and things of that nature, and we have a nice supply of those, not necessarily the coats, but we know where to get coats, like we know we have a community partner who collects coats so we can reach out to them. But yeah, as the temperatures drop, we definitely have a need for blankets and things of that nature.”
Coleman said the need for food spiked during the pandemic and continues to rise, even now. That's a city-wide trend.
The Wraparound Center is available for all families in District 150. Coleman said the goal is to support families so students succeed academically.
“In my experience, I've been an educator for over 30 years, we have a lot more students dealing with those mental health issues, a lot of anxiety and depression and things like that nature which causes students to stay home,” she said. “So what we're trying to do is address that by providing the resources.”
Coleman wants to partner with more community agencies. She said funding is always a concern, especially after a key grant was decreased earlier this year. But she said they continue to explore other grant opportunities.
Kherat said the main priority is that students graduate and are set up to succeed afterwards. That includes older students who are kicked out of their homes for any reason
“They do want to work and they're working and so we tend to help them adjust their schedule, their schedules so that they can work,” she said. “We have some that are working half of the day and then they come to school the other half of the day. So the good thing is, we have so many non-traditional options.”
She said the district advocates that all high school students have a five-year plan so they know what they want to do after school and can “break the cycle of homelessness.”
