CSCU and Connecticut Coalition to End Homelessness Release Report on Student Housing Insecurity

July 9, 2018 – Today, the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities (CSCU) and the Connecticut Coalition to End Homelessness (CCEH) released a report on “Homelessness and Housing Instability in Connecticut Colleges and Universities.” The report is a result of surveys conducted on college campuses across the state during the week of January 24 – 31, 2018. The project is known as The CT Youth Count, where volunteers from college campuses and local youth teams survey close to 2,000 college students in Connecticut.

Highlights from the report include:

• 15% (296) of the students surveyed were experiencing homelessness or housing instability.
• 31% said they could not stay where they currently were sleeping for as long as needed.
• 23% of students disclosed where they were currently staying was not safe.
• 10% of students between the ages of 18 – 24, admitted to ever being in a situation where they were encouraged, pressured, or forced to exchange sexual acts for money, drugs, food, clothing or protection. 44% of these students indicated they were currently experiencing this.
• Of the students who reported as being homeless, the most common reason for being homeless was family conflicts, followed by “couldn’t find/lost a job and couldn’t pay rent”
• The majority of homeless and unstably housed students indicated they needed transportation improve their well-being
• Homelessness and housing instability affects students from both urban locations and affluent suburbs across all parts of CT

“Our students are constantly juggling real life issues including work and family responsibilities and they still come to class and do well,” said CSCU President Mark Ojakian. “We want our students to have the assistance they need to succeed in our schools. This information will help us determine what other support services are needed so our students can graduate and move on to gainful employment in our state.”

View the full report on “Homelessness and Housing Instability in Connecticut Colleges and Universities” here and the view the interactive data dashboard here. For more information about this report, please contact Mimi Haley at mhaley@cceh.org or Lesley Mara at LMara@commnet.edu.