A State-Wide Comparison between Homeless and Non-Homeless School-Attending Youth on Substance Use Off and on-School Grounds

Introduction: About 1.3 million homeless students attend schools across the US, yet little is known about homeless students’ substance-use patterns off and on school grounds. This study utilizes a representative school-based sample from California and examines differences in substance-use patterns off and on-school grounds between non-sheltered school-attending homeless youth (HY), sheltered school-attending homeless youth (SHY), and non-homeless youth (NHY) who attend school. Additionally, the role of homelessness on substance use on school grounds is explored. This exploratory study reviles information relevant particularly to social workers and school-social workers who work with these youths.

Methods: A sample from the ongoing large-scale California Healthy Kids Survey, administered biennially statewide (2011-2013), was utilized. The study includes 9th and 11th grades (total N= 390,028). Students who responded living on the street, no fixed housing, car or van, park campground, or abandoned building were categorized as HY (2,822). Students who responded living at other relative’s home, friend’s home, hotel/motel, shelter, or other transitional or temporary housing were categorized as SHY (14,123), the rest were categorized as NHY (368,569). To assess substance use, students were asked to report on their use of the following substances past 30 days use: cigarettes, alcohol, marijuana, inhalants, cocaine or crack, methamphetamines and LSD. Students were also asked to report about their first time of use and their use of substance in the past 30 days on school grounds: cigarettes, alcohol, marijuana and other illegal drugs. Substances used on school-grounds were dichotomized into yes/no responses. Control variables included gender, ethnicity and grade. Bivariate and multivariate analyses were used to reveal differences in substance-use both off and on school-grounds. Logistic regressions examined the relationship between substance-use on school-grounds and homelessness.

Results: A majority of NHY reported never using substances while HY demonstrated much higher rates substance-use than the other groups for first time use under the age of 10 (between 30.8-41.2). For recent use (past 30 days), the majority of NHY reported no use of substances while over 50% of HY indicated recent use. For substance-use on school-grounds in the past 30 days, about 50% of HY reported having used substances. All four logistic regressions models were significant All of the models were significant (p=0.000), and the goodness of fit of Nagelkerke R² ranged between 0.131 and 0.176. Findings indicate that homelessness (HY and SHY) is associated with the use of substances on school-grounds, particularly for HY (cigarettes: b=1.18, p=0.000, OR=17.41, 95% CI = 15.88-19.09, alcohol: b=2.49, p=0.000, OR=12.09, 95% CI = 11.06-13.22, marijuana: b=2.43, p=0.000, OR=11.36, 95% CI = 10.36-12.45, other illegal drugs: b=2.87, p=0.000, OR=17.59, 95% CI = 16.03-19.30 )

Discussion: Findings demonstrate the urgency of addressing substance-use of HY on school-grounds, especially with recent amendments under the Every Student Succeeds Act. A holistic approach focused on the school-experience of HY, school-based-health and prevention could benefit students and their schools. These findings are especially relevant for school-social workers who often serve as the school homeless coordinator or district homeless liaisons, and provide services and interventions for this as risk population.