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*Note: Data was unavailable for some counties. Source: Pennsylvania Department of Education. Map by Nick Malawskey

There are homeless students in every county in Pennsylvania and at least 96 percent of its school districts, the state's Department of Education reports. Most of them are white. Many under the age of six.

Since the Great Recession, homeless student numbers have mushroomed across the state and country to reach an all-time high, nationwide, in 2014.

This new high-water mark was the result of two factors, primarily: the lingering after-effects of the economic crisis and the improved tracking of these students and, when applicable, their families.

In the Commonwealth, their highest concentrations are found in cities, as might be expected, but the highest rates of student homelessness, per capita, often belong to rural counties and districts.

*Note: Data was unavailable for some counties. Source: Pennsylvania Department of Education. Map by Nick Malawskey

For example, McKean County, in the north-central part of the state, has around 43,000 residents and just 6,260 public school students. It claims a student homelessness rate of three percent, nearly identical to that of urban Philadelphia County, the most populous county in Pennsylvania with more than 1.5 million residents.

There is a middle, too, with homeless students found, to lesser extents, in every one of Pennsylvania's 67 counties and at least 96 percent of its 500 public school districts.

In order to protect confidentiality, the Department of Education does not list homeless student totals for counties and districts with fewer than 10.

"Homelessness is an issue that impacts communities around the state, not just urban or very rural areas," Pennsylvania Secretary of Education, Pedro Rivera, said.

States like Pennsylvania, he added, are doing a better job of identifying homeless students now through programs such as pre-kindergarten, which is partially responsible for the increase in numbers.

The rise in homeless youth numbers has also followed the implementation of new procedures for identifying, reporting and assisting homeless youth who previously would have lived in the margins or in secret, rarely compelled to come forward.

There are still those who fail to report their status, experts say, meaning numbers are likely higher than even state or federal officials know.

In the short term, advocates say improved reporting practices are a good thing, drawing greater attention to the problem and hopefully new resources to help address it.

But so far funding has been slow to keep up with the rise.

As homeless student numbers grew nationwide, by as much as 100 percent between 2007 and 2014, federal funding for homeless youth programs remained almost level.

Federal allocations through the McKinney-Vento Act, a federal law providing protections for homeless students and money to assist them, went from $61.8 million in 2006-2007, down to $61.7 million in 2013 and then up again slightly to $65 million in 2014.

Pennsylvania's share of that money -- once the eighth largest share in the country -- see-sawed from $1.7 million in 2009-2010 to $2.5 million in 2010-2011; from $2.3 million the following year to $2.5 million the year after that; and then back to $2.3 million in 2013-2014.

The fluctuations are attributed to "federal budget constraints" and budget wrangling by lawmakers.

Perhaps more surprising is the lack of state funding to fall back on, with Secretary Rivera citing no existing state appropriation for "educating homeless students in Pennsylvania." Some other states, including Massachusetts, home to roughly 7,000 fewer homeless students, supplement federal allocations with state money.

Pa. Gov. Tom Wolf's office confirmed that the state appropriates no money for homeless students, saying the administration is still working to restore education and human services cuts he inherited.

"Gov. Wolf wants to restore funding to human service programs that have been cut in recent years ... The governor wants to ensure that at school, a child is focused on learning," press secretary Jeff Sheridan said. "Additional funding for schools and human services will help schools and communities ensure that homeless students have stability and access to vital programs that help them stay on track with their education."

Rivera said the legacy of those education cuts includes "countless layoffs of professional staff including nurses and counselors, the elimination of after-school and other vital support programs, and forcing schools to enact bare-bones budgets that limited supports for all students, including homeless students."

At the Harrisburg School District, much of the money used to help the more than 400 homeless or "displaced" students enrolled there comes from private sources and charities.

"The cuts have not hit our displaced program as hard because we have money coming in from the Rotary Club," Saundra James-Goodrum, a school social worker and homeless liaison with the district said, name-checking one of the program's largest benefactors.

There are donations from local churches and organizations as well, providing items such as clothing and toiletries to students, while federal Title I funding is used to cover budget items, including salaries for program staff.

Much of their day-to-day work involves keeping the students coming to class and connected to resources.

For this reason, school often transcends its educational purpose for homeless children, becoming the only lifeline linking them to food, clothing, counseling and hygiene facilities.

During the snowstorm that gripped the midstate and Northeast in January, leaving dozens dead in its wake, the School District of Lancaster continued to feed more than 6,300 meals to low-income students despite being closed for the week. The LancasterOnline news site said district officials wanted to ensure the children didn't go hungry.

The district was home to roughly 930 of Lancaster County's 1,650 school-age homeless youth last year, state records show.

In Harrisburg, Marianne Peters, a student services supervisor with the Harrisburg School District, said there's a psychological component, too, with homeless students who are in flux often clinging to school as the last vestige of stability in their lives. This is particularly true for those of them who attended the same school before and after becoming homeless.

"For many kids coming into school every day is the only stability they know," Peters said.

"For all of our (homeless) students, but especially our elementary kids, knowing that when they come in in the morning that their teacher will be there, and that they have a routine they go through everyday. That is certainly something they can rely on."

She added, "Once they walk out of our doors at 3:30 p.m., it may not be the same as last week."

In fact, where they go at that point varies greatly -- from day to day and from child to child.

Of Pennsylvania's homeless students, roughly 60 percent live "doubled" or "tripled-up," with friends or family, while an estimated 30 percent live in shelters, transitional housing or awaiting foster care placement, the Department of Education reports.

An additional 6 percent lived in hotels or motels; 1 percent were unsheltered; and 1 percent were unknown.

Nationwide, something like 75 percent of homeless children live "doubled-up," and 15 percent in shelters or transitional housing.

Of Pennsylvania homeless students known to state officials, an estimated 30 percent were white. Additionally, 28 percent were black, 15 percent Hispanic and six percent classified as American Indian/Alaska Native, Asian, Multi-Racial, or Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander.

A total of 42 percent of homeless children in the state are 6 years of age or younger.

"You can see generationally how this can continue if this is all you've ever known," James-Goodrum, the homeless liaison at the Harrisburg School District said.

"There's a family that I worked with. The mother was homeless and now I have her kid as a homeless mom."

Without funding that keeps pace with the problem, James-Goodrum said the cycle is certain to continue.

"That's why you see cycles of abuse occurring and homelessness and all the other ills of society. If the programming is out there and the funding is there, people tend to do better."