Study’s Purpose:Highly Mobile Youth (HMY)—including students experiencing homelessness, foster care involvement, migratory status, and participation in the juvenile legal system—represent some of the most underserved populations in the U.S. These young people often face instability that disrupts schooling, limits access to supportive relationships, and contributes to poor educational and health outcomes. This brief provides an overview of the characteristics, challenges, and intersecting risk factors that shape the experiences of HMY, with attention to structural inequities and systemic barriers that contribute to their disproportionate representation among marginalized groups.
Research Methods:This report synthesizes publicly available national datasets and existing literature to analyze trends in HMY populations. Data sources include federal education, child welfare, and juvenile justice statistics from 2013–2022. The study examines demographic characteristics (e.g., race, gender, grade level, region), overlapping needs (such as English Learner and disability status), and instances of dual-system involvement. Additionally, the review highlights data limitations that constrain a full understanding of HMY across systems.
Key Findings:Findings reveal that Black and Latine youth are disproportionately represented among HMY and face compounded educational challenges, including higher rates of disability identification and English Learner status. Migratory youth remain among the most underserved groups, while dual-system youth in both child welfare and juvenile justice are subject to particularly stark racial and gender disparities. Youth in foster care and the juvenile legal system are also at heightened risk of homelessness, further destabilizing their education and development. Across all groups, gaps in national data obscure the full extent of these inequities and hinder the ability to design effective supports.
Conclusion:Highly Mobile Youth face compounded disadvantages that span education, health, and economic outcomes. Their instability is rooted in systemic inequities, including structural racism and poverty, which increase the likelihood of involvement in multiple child-serving systems. Addressing the needs of HMY requires improved cross-system collaboration, more robust data collection, and targeted supports that disrupt cycles of displacement and disadvantage.
INTRODUCTION Highly mobile youth (HMY) represent the most underserved and marginalized
youth populations in the U.S. (i.e., youth experiencing homelessness, youth in
foster care, migratory youth, and youth in the JLS).
A youth who is “highly mobile” frequently moves or does not have a stable place to reside and engage in typical activities such as attending school, developing lasting peer relationships, or forming attachments with caregivers or supportive adults (Sulkowski & Michael, 2020). We provide an overview of four highly mobile youth groups in the U.S.: youth experiencing homelessness, youth in the child welfare system (CWS), migratory youth, and youth in the juvenile legal system (JLS). Extensive research points to the subpar outcomes of HMY, including low academic achievement (Cutuli et al., 2013; Fantuzzo & Perlman, 2007), negative health outcomes (Braverman & Morris, 2011; Edidin et al., 2012; Jackson et al., 2016), and economic disadvantage (Baetz, 2015; Font et al., 2018; Nadon et al., 2022; Sandman, 2022; Skoba et al., 2018). In school year (SY) 2021-22, there were nearly 2 million HMY in the U.S., constituting 2.6% of the 2022 national youth (0-17) population (72.5 million) (Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics, 2023). Notably, Black and Brown youth
are disproportionately represented among HMY (Children’s Bureau, 2022; Puzzanchera et al., 2023; U.S. Department of Education, 2023a).HMY share a combination of risk factors that result in their contact and involvement with more than one child-serving system, including poverty, low parental education, language barriers, neighborhood violence, and childhood maltreatment. It’s important to note that family- and community-level factors stem from systemic and structural inequities. For instance, the inequitable outcomes and unequal distribution of risk factors for child abuse and neglect
among Black children and families in particular serve as proof of the structural racism that has created inequitable health, education, and economic outcomes for the Black community. Being Black is not an inherent risk factor for child abuse and neglect. Yet, Black children have the highest rates of child abuse and neglect compared to white, Latine, and Asian children (U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, 2024).
While children from military families also experience high levels of mobility and face challenges commonly associated with academic difficulties, such as lower parental education levels and eligibility for free or reduced lunch, research shows that these students achieve academic outcomes equal to or exceeding national averages for public schools (Popp et al., 2003). In this executive summary, we will focus on four more-vulnerable populations of HMY, who often lack the resources and structured support systems available to children from military families.
THE ORIGINS OF MOBILITY
HMY (i.e., youth experiencing homelessness, youth in foster care, migratory youth, and youth in the JLS) share various and simultaneously occurring risk factors that result in their contact and involvement with more than one child-serving system. The factors that help explain disproportionate rates of high mobility among youth experiencing homelessness, youth in foster care, migratory youth, and JLS-involved youth are multi-layered and often overlap across these different subgroups of youth. These risk factors include family poverty, low parental education, language barriers, family dysfunction, low parental engagement and supervision, and a history of childhood maltreatment. There is extensive research supporting the link between childhood
maltreatment, homelessness, and CWS- and JLSinvolvement (McGuinness & Schneider, 2007;
Perlman & Fantuzzo, 2010; Vidal et al., 2017).Youth in foster care, who comprise one group of HMY, have usually experienced child maltreatment, including neglect or physical, emotional, or sexual abuse (Oswald, Heil, & Goldbeck, 2010). The consequences of childhood maltreatment and other trauma for many youth in foster care includes psychological maladjustment and psychiatric problems in greater proportions than those in the general population (Burns et al., 2004; Garland et al., 2001; Orton, Riggs, & Libby, 2009; Pilowsky & Wu, 2006) as well as those in socioeconomically comparable samples (Pilowsky, 1995). Moreover, maltreatment is among the most common risk factors associated with dual-system involvement (Herz et al., 2012; Mersky, Topitzes, & Reynolds, 2012). In other words, youth with prior histories of childhood maltreatment and who are involved in the CWS are also more likely to enter the JLS.
Due to systemic and structural inequities, youth experiencing homelessness, youth in foster care, migratory youth, and JLS-involved youth are at an increased risk for experiencing childhood adversities including but not limited to childhood maltreatment and neglect. For instance, the inequitable outcomes and unequal distribution of risk factors for child
abuse and neglect among Black children and families in particular serve as proof of the structural racism that has created inequitable health, education, and economic outcomes for the Black community. Being Black is not an inherent risk factor for child abuse and neglect. Yet, Black children have the highest rates of child abuse and neglect compared to white, Latine, and Asian children (U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, 2024).
A large body of research also demonstrates that there is a strong social gradient in child maltreatment across both the socioeconomic status (SES) spectrum and racial categories (Drake & Jonson-Reid, 2014; Kim & Drake, 2018; Pelton, 2015; Sedlak, Mettenburg, Basena et al., 2010). According to the Fourth National Incidence Study, maltreatment risk was 5.8 times
higher for children in lower SES families (Sedlak et al., 2010). In the absence of SES controls, maltreatment risk was observed in the same study to be 1.7 times higher for Black children than for white children (Sedlak et al., 2010). Another study based in California found that the future risk of maltreatment reporting was 2.5 times higher for newborns on Medicaid than for non-Medicaid recipients, and was 2.3 times higher for Black children than for white children (Putnam-Hornstein & Needell, 2011). The literature strongly confirms that stressors like structural racism, poverty, and discrimination can lead to family dysfunction, which in turn, are associated with negative developmental outcomes such as maltreatment (Dodge, Greenberg, & Malone, 2008; Beyers, Bates, Pettit, & Dodge, 2003).HMY often exit the CWS and the JLS into homelessness and with few stable adult figures to provide them economic and socioemotional support (Bender et al., 2017; Riebschleger, Day, & Damashek, 2015; University of Michigan Poverty Solutions, 2021). For unaccompanied migrant youth, they often endure significant pre- and in-transit migration traumas upon placement in local communities, including family separation, limited or interrupted schooling, and unauthorized legal status (Cardoso et al., 2019). During pre-migration, youth often experience
poverty, community and/or family violence, and family separations that are linked to increased
psychological distress (Kennedy, 2013; Perreira & Ornelas 2013; Stinchcomb & Hershberg, 2014; Suárez-Orozco, Bang, & Kim 2010). During migration, they are vulnerable to hunger, thirst, assault, accidental injuries, kidnapping, and sexual and physical violence (Aldarondo & Becker, 2011; Infante et al., 2011). Following migration, in addition to challenges associated with family reunifications, undocumented young people may struggle with acculturative stress,
social isolation, discrimination, unsafe schools and neighborhoods, vulnerability of unauthorized status, and navigation of complex social service and legal institutions (De Genova & Peutz, 2010; Perreira & Ornelas, 2013; Pumariega & Rothe, 2010). These stressors place them at increased risk for mental health disorders including depression, anxiety, and PTSD (Carlson, Cacciatore, & Klimek, 2012).
While children from military families also experience high levels of mobility and face challenges commonly associated with academic difficulties, such as lower parental education levels and eligibility for free or reduced lunch, research shows that these students achieve academic outcomes equal to or exceeding national averages for public schools (Popp, Stronge & Hindman, 2003). Several factors contribute to this success, including positive societal perceptions of the military, which differ from the stigma associated with poverty-related mobile populations, and the strong support systems embedded within the military culture (Popp et al., 2003). These systems foster robust partnerships between schools, families, and the military, emphasizing high expectations for school success and college study, support from well-trained school counselors, and a culture that encourages parental involvement in their children’s education. For this brief, we will focus on four more-vulnerable populations of HMY (i.e., youth
experiencing homelessness, youth in foster care, migrant youth, and youth engaged in the JLS), who often lack the resources and structured support systems available to children from military families.PURPOSE OF STUDYDespite the evidence documenting a shared combination of risk factors associated with high mobility for vulnerable youth groups and their contact with multiple child-serving systems, there is limited research on how to best serve these displaced and often traumatized children and youth (Larson & Meehan, 2011; Masten et al., 2015; Miller & Bourgeois, 2013).
Additionally, there are very few studies explaining how child-serving systems can collaborate to meet the multifaceted needs of these youth, including their health, education, and psychological needs (see Herz et al., 2012; Wright et al., 2017 for exceptions). Current data challenges limit our understanding of the overlapping characteristics and needs of HMY.
This executive summary and research brief uses publicly available data from national sources and existing literature to:
Highlight the key characteristics of HMY populations, including their racial/ethnic composition, gender composition, grade level and age composition, where in the U.S. they are most concentrated, and their numbers over the last decade; Examine the overlapping characteristics of HMY (e.g., English Learner status, disability status, unaccompanied youth status, dual-system involvement, and homelessness); and Outline the limitations of national data sources.KEY FINDINGS Racial Disparities: Black and Latine Youth are Overrepresented Among HMY Intersecting Educational Challenges: English Learner and Disability Disparities Among HMY Regional Variations Among HMY Trends in HMY Group Counts From 2013 to 2022 Age Distribution and Concentration Among HMY Migratory Youth: An Underserved and Disenfranchised HMY Group Racial and Gender Disparities Among Dual-System Youth Homelessness Among CWS- and JLS-Involved Youth Data Limitations in National Data Sources
